All of the hats fit

She’s done the fundraising and the marketing, including mailing 5,000 postcards, doling out scores more and blasting 2,500 e-mail accounts. She’s made sure to get extra insurance for rigging apparatus -- besides, of course, overseeing the sound and lighting.

The only question remaining is: How many of the 1,324 seats in the Alex Theatre will be filled Saturday when the curtain goes up on producer Jamie Nichols’ third annual “Celebrate Dance” concert?

“It might be a labor of love,” Nichols said the other day, “but it is not impractical. If I don’t fill at least 1,100 or 1,200 seats, I’m in big trouble.”

If last year’s nearly sold-out house was any indication, however, the 50-year-old Pasadena resident can rest easy. Indeed, in recent years she’s been on a roll.

Despite folding her 23-year-old contemporary dance troupe, Fast Feet, in 2003 (although she still teaches 10 classes a week), she remains a fixture on the L.A. dance scene. Not only does she produce “Celebrate Dance,” but last year she also took on modern dance veteran Marion Scott’s “Spirit Dances 10” at Highways Performance Space and co-produced “Frost and Fire,” a musical theater work adapted from a Ray Bradbury story.

She also co-presents the Los Angeles Dance Invitational, which began in 1999, and in September will honor Miami City Ballet’s Edward Villella at the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center.

For the moment, though, Nichols has a full plate with “Celebrate.” Saturday’s event will feature eight dance companies, including the hyperphysical Method Dance, break dancer Kujo Lyons’ troupe and Maria de la Palme’s aerial group, Motion Tribe.

Adding to its cross-section of Southern California choreographers, the evening will also offer the debut of a local troupe, Body Traffic, and the return of the Bay Area-based Viktor Kabaniaev and Dancers. With L.A. dancers having no dedicated building to call their own, such as the Joyce Theater in New York -- and with self-producing the rule rather than the exception here -- choreographers often turn to festivals and series to showcase their work.

Learning from others

Nichols, who has also danced in films, choreographed music videos and performed on Rose Parade floats, said she absorbed the essentials of producing by being part of other people’s events.

“You learn how to do things that you like,” she explains, “but you also learn by being in events that are poorly produced -- when things are disorganized, backstage is uncomfortable and the marketing isn’t good. What I try to do is take very good care of everybody and make sure everything runs as smoothly as possible.”

The criteria for making the “Celebrate Dance” cut are simple: The performers have to be “amazing,” she says, “and I have to be touched in some way personally by what they do.”

Nichols invites groups she deems worthy to be on the roster -- she says she is drawn to anything innovative -- and pays each company director a small stipend. She receives dozens of DVDs for review, but she prefers to stay current by attending dance concerts, often several times a week.

“I go to almost everything in L.A.,” she says. “I also go to the ‘Dance Under the Stars’ festival in Palm Desert. That’s where I met Viktor. When I see people who are wonderful, I visualize them in a beautiful theater with real lighting and a great sound system -- all the bells and whistles.”

Nichols also believes in making dance visible and affordable to young people. With aid from the Alex and Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich, she has been able to donate 150 “Celebrate” tickets to schoolchildren. She maintains that, apart from the exposure it gives to dancers, her mixed-bill programming benefits audiences.

“One of my greatest pleasures is when I walk into the lobby and I don’t know 50% of the people,” she says. “It’s not just a dance audience but all kinds of people, which is what we need to do in L.A. -- bring affordable, beautiful dance to Joe Public.”

Among local producers with similar goals is Deborah Brockus, whose “Spectrum: Dance in L.A.” took root in 1997. With 25 productions under her belt, Brockus knows the performance landscape and applauds Nichols’ efforts.

“She’s a wonderful mover and shaker for dance in L.A., and I’m glad she’s in our community,” Brockus says. “This upcoming program is a nice lineup with a lot of great new artists.”

One of those is Bradley Michaud with his Method Dance. When he was invited to participate, Michaud says, he agreed before even knowing the date.

“I’ve worked with Jamie on a couple of shows on the production end, and she’s the ultimate producer,” he says. “The ‘Celebrate Dance’ series is the cream of the crop in local talent. They’re polished professionals, and that’s what I want to be associated with.”

Organization is key

Nichols says that when she folded her own company, it was simply because she didn’t have a burning desire to continue.

“My work was going well,” she recalls, “but there were a lot of family issues I was dealing with, and having a company is like having another family, only you’re not quite as emotionally attached. I just walked away, and I’m fine with that.”

But these days, she says, she applies some of the same creative juices to presenting as she did to running Fast Feet: “With producing, it’s about being organized. I don’t have to do the work, rehearse, get the coffee, all of that. It’s great watching everybody else.”

She hopes eventually to offer “Celebrate” more than once a year. And although she has underwriters helping finance some of the companies, she says she plans to seek corporate sponsorship.

“I can give them spreadsheets and budgets -- I have a track record,” she says. “This is good for everybody, and audiences are hungry, especially when concerts are well-produced. Every weekend there are things going on, there are people creating things in little studios, there is brilliant dance and not so brilliant dance. I believe there is heart in everything, and everybody is dedicated to their work.”

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‘Celebrate Dance’

Where: Alex Theatre, 216 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale

When: 8 p.m. Saturday

Price: $17 to $35

Contact: (818) 243-2539