Passion, sensuality, a 10-foot stepladder and the female form will all be a part of Ballet Argentino's Boccatango during the final tour of an internationally recognized ballet dancer.

The Center for the Performing Arts (CPA) will present Ballet Argentino's performance of Boccatango at 8 p.m. Friday at Eisenhower Auditorium.

Argentinean-born dancer Julio Bocca founded and leads the Ballet Argentino dance company.

This is the last tour the 40-year-old dancer will perform before he retires, said Laura Sullivan, marketing and communications director of the CPA.

"This is the last time you'll be able to see him, and he's had such an incredible career," she said.

Elisha Clark, director of the dance minor in the School of Theatre, said Bocca has become well respected in the dance world, and it will be interesting to see him before he leaves the company he created.

"The director infuses their dreams and desires in what the company becomes," she said. "It's very exciting for those of us who haven't seen them live."

A countdown on Bocca's Web site says he will retire Dec. 22 after his Ultimo farewell tour, including this performance at Eisenhower.

Clark said she is requiring students from her classes to attend the performance, so they can experience the combination of ballet and tango, even if they aren't familiar with those styles of dance.

"I nudge them to try something different," she said. "One thing that I try and stress is that while styles are different, it's all dance."

Sullivan said the company, including Bocca and six other dancers, will perform several different vignettes with an eight-piece orchestra and two singers, and also will incorporate different props into some of the pieces.

The performance includes some female nudity, but Sullivan said it adds to the emotion of the dancing.

"It's definitely passionate tango -- it's not like Dancing with the Stars," Sullivan said.

Clark said depending on the situation, nudity is often appropriate to convey the artistic expression within the choreography.

"Dance is about the body and what the body can do, so in that sense, it works," she said.

Bocca has won many awards throughout his career including a gold medal at the International Ballet Competition in 1985, when he was only 18 years old. In 1986, he was invited to join the American Ballet Theatre, where he was a principal dancer for 20 years before leaving in 2006. He formed the Ballet Argentino dance company in 1990.

Clark said she is glad the CPA is bringing in such a "phenomenal and wide range" of dance performances this year, including six more national and international events to Eisenhower Auditorium.

"The dance program will be there in full force," she said.

"We're really lucky to have the CPA," Clark added.