8pm: Dance

It sounds formidable, but the name Taller Coreografico de la UNAM simply refers to the ballet company that’s been in residence at the University in Mexico City for 29 years--a professional, chamber-size troupe founded by Gloria Contreras to serve her Balanchine-influenced sense of contemporary classicism. But her creative range is wide. In the two different mixed bills this weekend, look for a tribute to Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas, along with Contreras’ formalist “Allegro Energico” (to Mahler), a pre-Columbian “Rite of Spring” (to Stravinsky), and a universalized “Romeo and Juliet” (to Tchaikovsky)--the only piece scheduled on both programs.

* Taller Coreografico de la UNAM, Luckman Fine Arts Complex, Cal State Los Angeles, 5151 State University Drive, Los Angeles. 8 p.m. Also Saturday, 8 p.m. $20-$40. (323) 343-6600.

8:15pm / Pop Music

Alejandro Fernandez combines the ranchera tradition of his father, legendary Mexican singer Vicente Fernandez, with a contemporary pop approach. The blend has put him at the forefront of the Latin pop pack.

* Alejandro Fernandez, Friday and Saturday, at the Universal Amphitheatre, 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, 8:15 p.m. $55.50 and $58.50. (818) 622-4440.

7 & 8pm: Music

Local composer Stephen Hartke has a busy night ahead of him: the West Coast premiere of his “The Ascent of the Equestrian in a Balloon” by Esa-Pekka Salonen and the L.A. Philharmonic and a performance by the USC Symphony of his “Pacific Rim.” “Ascent” was a finalist in 1998 in the first $45,000 Masterprize composition contest; “Rim” premiered in L.A. a decade ago. Hartke plans to hear both: the 11 1/2-minute “Rim” kicks of the USC concert at 7, leaving plenty of time for the trip to the Music Center where the philharmonic starts work at 8.

* USC Symphony, Bovard Auditorium, $5-$10, 7 p.m. Los Angeles Philharmonic, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., $11-$65. (323) 850-2000.

8pm: Theater

International City Theatre kicks off its 1999 season at Long Beach’s Center Theatre with the world premiere of “Frankenstein,” Carol Weiss’ musical based on the epic horror novel by Mary Shelley. And, if you can’t get enough of the bioengineered monster tale, Sledgehammer Theatre in San Diego is premiering its own adaptation of Shelley’s gothic classic, “The Frankenstein Project.”

* “Frankenstein,” Center Theatre, 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends March 7. $28-$32; opening night, $39. (562) 938-4128. “The Frankenstein Project,” Sledgehammer Theatre, 1620 Sixth Ave., San Diego. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m. Ends March 7. $10-$15; opening night, $18. (619) 544-1484.

all day: Space Rocks

Art . . . antiques . . . meteorites? Why not? Auction house Butterfield & Butterfield will display chunks of Mars, asteroids and the moon this weekend leading up to a Sunday auction. Among the 60 objects is a piece of the only known meteorite to strike Los Angeles--it’s expected to bring bids of $14,000 to $19,000. But that’s nothing compared to “Esquel,” the crown jewel of meteorites, which contains naturally occurring gemstones. It’s expected to bring bids of $170,000 to $230,000.

* Extraterrestrial material auction preview, Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday, 9 a.m.-noon; auction Sunday, 3 p.m. Butterfield & Butterfield, 7601 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles. (323) 850-7500.

all day: Movie

In “Message in a Bottle,” a new romantic drama from Mexican-born director Luis Mandoki (“When a Man Loves a Woman”), Kevin Costner plays a lonely widower who writes poetic, melancholy love letters and then sets them adrift in the ocean. Robin Wright Penn co-stars as a Chicago journalist who finds one of the letters and then tracks down the author (a la “Sleepless in Seattle”). The film, which also co-stars Paul Newman as Costner’s father, is based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks.

* “Message in a Bottle,” which is rated PG-13, opens Friday in general release.

Freebies: Story time and Valentine’s craft program at the Angeles Mesa Branch Library, 2700 W. 52nd St., 3 p.m. (323) 292-4328.

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The National Barrel Horse Assn. competes at the Fairplex in Pomona, 3-10 p.m.; through Sunday. (805) 269-5932.