11:20 am: Culture

“A Season for Nonviolence--Carry the Vision,” a 64-day international campaign marking the dates between the 50th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination (Jan. 30) and the 30th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination (April 4), begins with a free celebration of multicultural music and dance. Celebrities will be on hand for the opening celebrations, and events will continue for the next 63 days, with the goal to celebrate people and organizations that work using nonviolent means in Los Angeles.

* “A Season for Nonviolence--Carry the Vision” opening ceremony, Culver City Veteran’s Coliseum, 4117 Overland Ave. 11:20 a.m.-2 p.m. Free. (310) 815-0222.

4 pm: Art

Come Saturday, visitors to the Hollywood Department of Motor Vehicles will have something to entertain them as they while away the minutes (or hours) in line. “While U Wait: Time Travel” is an exhibition that brings the work of Los Angeles-based artists to a public space not traditionally considered an arts venue. This, the first of four independently curated exhibitions opening at the DMV this year, presents multimedia works that deal with how we relate to, and move through, time and space.

* “While U Wait: Time Travel,” Hollywood Department of Motor Vehicles, 803 N. Cole St. between Santa Monica Boulevard and Melrose Avenue. Opening reception Saturday, 4-7 p.m. DMV hours: Monday, Tuesday and Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.; Wednesday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Thursday, 8 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Ends March 13. (213) 953-6123.

8 pm: Music

There’s the “cuchi cuchi” and the campy persona, to be sure, but Charo’s partisans will also point out that before Albita, Selena and Gloria, she was out there carrying the torch for Latin music when few others were. Now a resident of Hawaii, the singer-dancer-guitarist makes a rare Southland swing with shows at Carpenter Center and Cal State Northridge.

* Charo at the Richard & Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center, Cal State Long Beach, $30. Also Sunday at the Performing Arts Center, Cal State Northridge, 3 and 7 p.m. $30. Information for both shows: (818) 785-8885.

8 pm: Music

Country, jazz, folk and avant-garde stylings fuse in the music of the Texas-based, fun-loving six-piece ensemble Cafe Noir. The string-heavy group includes violin, viola, guitar, mandolin and drums, but various members double on accordion, clarinet and the bandore for a truly wild, worldly sound.

* Cafe Noir, Veterans Wadsworth Theater, Wilshire Boulevard at the San Diego Freeway, West Los Angeles, $22-$25, UCLA students $9. (310) 825-2101.

8 pm: Music

A lot of symphonic music is fun, and some of it is thrilling. Those works that are both, and have outlasted their composers’ temporal fame and notoriety may sometimes be called masterpieces. Jorge Mester conducts three such works, all products of this century, when the Pasadena Symphony plays Roy Harris’ Symphony No. 3, Paul Hindemith’s “Mathis der Maler” and Rachmaninoff’s 3rd Piano Concerto, with the distinguished Russian musician Dmitri Ratser as soloist.

* The Pasadena Symphony, Pasadena Civic Auditorium, 300 E. Green St. $17.50-$60. (626) 584-8833.

8:30 pm: Dance

Jose Greco II began his dance career in the early ‘80s with his sister Carmela’s company, Ballet Estampas, and only five years later teamed up onstage with his famous father. This weekend, however, it’s Carmela’s turn to join her brother’s company in performances of Spanish music and dance at the University of Judaism. Expect classic flamenco presented with great technical sophistication and seasoned with influences from ballet and contemporary dance-theater. And expect as well to find Jose Greco’s wife, Cristina, helping keep flamenco a family affair.

* Jose Greco II Flamenco Dance Co., Gindi Auditorium, University of Judaism, 15600 Mulholland Drive, Bel-Air. Saturday, 8:30 p.m; Sunday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Also Feb. 3, 8 p.m. and Feb. 8, 2 and 7:30 p.m. $22 and $27. (310) 476-9777, Ext. 201 or 203.

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FREEBIE: Burbank Chamber Orchestra performs Mozart, Hall of Liberty, Hollywood Hills, 7:30 p.m. (818) 848-8841.