BEST BETS Friday 8/25

IRVINE

11 am & 3pm

Dance

Since Aug. 7, 100 young dancers, 13 to 18, have been studying in American Ballet Theatre’s first summer intensive workshop to be held in Orange County. The results of their studies will be on view in two performances today. The faculty included former and current ABT soloists and principal dancers, including Leslie Brown, Rebecca Wright and Robert Hill, among others.

* ABT Summer Intensive concert, Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive. 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. $12. (949) 854-4646.

SANTA ANA

8 pm

Pop Music

Rapper Vanilla Ice hasn’t had much success trying to establish himself as more than the flavor of the month--in his case, that month was a decade ago, September of 1990, when his “Ice Ice Baby” single hit No. 1 and made him the first white rapper to achieve major commercial success. The public seemed to take the title of his hard-core rap album at its word, “Hard to Swallow”--it didn’t crack Billboard’s Top 200 Albums chart. But the Florida-born, Dallas-based singer is persistent: He’s on the road again, this time in a club tour that includes Santa Ana.

* Vanilla Ice, Galaxy Concert Theatre, 3503 S. Harbor Blvd., Santa Ana. With Lickwid X, the Bredrin Daddys. 8 p.m. $16.50 to $18.50. (714) 957-0600.

SANTA ANA

8 pm

Poetry

The ninth annual Performance Poetry Contest--Orange County’s only annual poetry contest with established criteria for professional judging--is back. Anyone who wants to compete--and pay a $5 entry fee--can sign up for the contest, but only the first 15 poets who sign up 90 minutes beforehand will be allowed to read. As usual, the contest motto is “Anything goes as long as it’s good.”

* Performance Poetry Contest, the Gypsy Den Grand Central Cafe in Artist’s Village, 125 N. Broadway, Santa Ana. 8 p.m. Free. (714) 835-8840.