The Associated Press

NEW YORK - Thirty dance companies will share the stage for six nights this autumn at the first Fall for Dance Festival.

The festival will run Sept. 28-Oct. 3 at the New York City Center, it was announced this week by City Center president and CEO Arlene Shuler.

To entice new and younger audiences, tickets for each evening's performance of five companies will cost $10. Typically, City Center tickets start at around $20 for the rear mezzanine and soar to $80 for premium orchestra seats.

With a host of funders behind them, including the Peter Jay Sharp Foundation and Time Warner, City Center promises a diverse festival. Works by such big-name modern choreographers as Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham will be presented along with works by rising hip-hop company Rennie Harris Puremovement, and Japanese-born duo Eiko and Koma, the 2004 recipients of the Samuel H. Scripps/American Dance Festival Award. American Ballet Theatre and Dance Theatre of Harlem will be among several ballet companies performing.

"My main reaction is like a kid in a candy store - I'm going to buy tickets for every night," said choreographer Susan Marshall.

Reggie Wilson, whose "Big Brick: a man's piece" will be performed Oct. 1, sees the festival as a chance to attract audiences, which have declined in recent years, discouraged by expensive tickets and wary of a "difficult" art form.