The New Orleans Ballet Association heats up a winter’s night when the gorgeous Ballet Hispanico teams up with the twenty-member, Grammy Award-winning Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra for an evening of Latin music and dance. Led by artistic director Eduardo Vilaro, the company promises a program filled with the infectious rhythms of Cuban, jazz and big-band music and the stylish Latin social dances of Mambo, Rumba, Salsa, Cha-cha. The result is a fiery evening that “makes you want to get up and dance” (The New York Times). The evening’s program is comprised of three high-octane works, including Tito on Timbale, a tribute to the music of master percussionist Tito Puente. Choreographed by William Whitener, the work captures the joy and intricacies of social dance through cascading patterns and sensual partnering. The intoxicating finale Club Havana, created by Cuban choreographer Pedro Ruiz, is pure Latin dancing at its best with all of the mystique of a sultry nightclub in Old Havana. Both works feature the celebrated Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra led by artistic director Arturo O’Farrill. The centerpiece of the evening, Asuka, was created by Vilaro and honors the life of the legendary Queen of Salsa, Celia Cruz. 7:30 pm at the Mahalia Jackson Theatre. All audience members are invited to join Artistic Director Eduardo Vilaro at 6:45 pm upstairs in the Mezzanine, Level M2, of the Mahalia Jackson Theater for a pre-performance talk. 1419 Basin Street. Tickets range from $20 to $80. (504) 522-0996 or nobadance.com for tickets.

• Following the performance on Saturday, NOBA’s Ballet Resource And Volunteer Organization (BRAVO) will host a Latin Dance Party in the lobby of the Pan American Life Center at 601 Poydras Street beginning at 9:30 pm.  The dancers of Ballet Hispanico will join patrons to dance the night away to the infectious rhythms of an ensemble of the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra. Tickets are $60 (also available at nobadance.com) and include open bar, Latin-inspired buffet and complimentary parking in the Pan American Life Center garage.