Arts and entertainment reports from The Times, national and international news services and the nation’s press.

DANCE

L.A. Classical Ballet Folds: After 14 “Nutcracker” seasons and other periodic performances dating back to 1982, Los Angeles Classical Ballet has disbanded and will file bankruptcy papers this week, according to artistic director David Wilcox. Originally named Long Beach Ballet, the company had accumulated about $1 million in debts, Wilcox said; for several years all its sets and costumes have been held on lien by a creditor who lent the items back to the company as needed. Nevertheless, Wilcox insisted that the principal cause for disbanding was “a huge lack of interest in a big ballet company” in Southern California and “failing to find a board of directors to make it work.” For instance, “Nutcracker” ticket sales dwindled from $40,000 in 1991 to $13,000 last year, he said.

POP/ROCK

C-BO’s Next Move: Attorneys for rapper C-BO, jailed on parole violations tied to gang-related and anti-law enforcement lyrics on his new album, are hoping to file motions to have the charges overturned as early as today. Attorney Jeff Rosenbloom said Thursday that he will seek an injunction for the rapper’s immediate release; he is also filing for a Superior Court writ to have the lyric restrictions voided on 1st Amendment grounds and appealing to parole authorities. C-BO, whose real name is Shawn Thomas, has been held in Sacramento County Jail since his arrest Tuesday.

TV & MOVIES

Fox Goes Wild: Fox has pulled its low-rated Thursday comedies “Between Brothers” and “Ask Harriet,” replacing them at 8 p.m. with “World’s Wildest Police Videos,” a new series featuring real-life footage. Until that show premieres April 2, Fox will rerun the similarly themed specials “World’s Funniest Party Disasters,” “Busted on the Job!” and “When Disaster Strikes.” In addition to the long-running “Cops,” the network has had success with specials featuring video of attacking animals and police chases.

Oscar Songs: All five nominated original songs are scheduled to be performed at the 70th Academy Awards on March 23 (airing on ABC), with Celine Dion singing “My Heart Will Go On” (from “Titanic”), Michael Bolton belting out “Go the Distance” (“Hercules”) and Trisha Yearwood crooning “How Do I Live” (“Con Air”). The additional performers will be Aaliyah singing “Journey to the Past” (from “Anastasia”) and Elliott Smith doing “Miss Misery” (“Good Will Hunting”). Meanwhile, with Debbie Allen having moved on to her own stage show (“Harriet’s Return”) and movie producing (“Amistad”), this year’s Oscars will have a new choreographer: Daniel Ezralow, whose “Mandala” will be performed at UCLA on March 18-22.

QUICK TAKES

MTV will honor rapper Notorious B.I.G. one year after his death with the premiere of the half-hour “MTV Ultra Sound: Biggie: A Life Story” on Sunday at 10 p.m. Other Sunday programming devoted to the late rapper will include “Grind With B.I.G.,” at 10:30 a.m., “Notorious B.I.G. Raw” at 8 p.m. and “Top 10 Videos Featuring Notorious B.I.G.” at 9 p.m. . . . Original “Melrose Place” star Josie Bissett, who left the series in January 1997, is returning to the Fox series this summer. She will help take up the void left by a handful of cast members moving out at the end of the season, including another original, Andrew Shue. . . . Russian cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich has been named a goodwill ambassador for peace by the United Nations’ cultural agency, UNESCO. And actor Danny Glover has been appointed a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Development Program in its drive to eradicate poverty in poor nations. . . . ABC will premiere “Push,” a new drama about a group of university athletes who dream of reaching the Olympics, on April 6 in the Monday 8-9 p.m. time slot, temporarily displacing “America’s Funniest Home Videos.” . . . Morton Downey Jr. underwent surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on Wednesday to remove the remainder of his right lung. Downey, who underwent an initial surgery to remove cancerous lobes in his lung in 1996, is planning a new syndicated talk show scheduled to premiere in June. The recent surgery is not expected to delay those plans.