Noon Dance

Running through May 2, National Dance Week this year promotes “Dance for the Health of It” in events across 30 states and the District of Columbia. Local celebrations climax with a free outdoor benefit for Project Angel Food--a widely varied program featuring national spokeswoman Shirley (“God is a choreographer”) MacLaine and hosted by Oscar choreographer Debbie Allen, who will not--repeat, not--tap-dance to “Saving Private Ryan.” Instead, expect to watch Inland Pacific Ballet, Carousel Dance Company, the Lula Washington Dance Theatre, the Jazz Tap Ensemble, the Joe Tremaine Dancers, Bradley “Shooz Rapier” and the Groovaloos plus the L.A. Lakers Cheerleaders.

* National Dance Week Benefit, Watercourt, California Plaza, 350 S. Grand Ave., downtown Los Angeles. Noon. Free.

8 pm: Music/Humor

These simply must be the salad days for Capitol Steps, the group of former congressional staffers who have been poking fun at public policy since Reagan’s first term. Sex scandals, endless investigations, partisan bickering--it’s all ripe material for their scathing song parodies.

* Capitol Steps at Beckman Auditorium, 332 S. Michigan Ave., Pasadena. 8 p.m. $24 to $32. (888) 222-5832 or Ticketmaster, (213) 365-3500.

11 am: Antiques

From the 200-year-old English oak-paneled library that would look just great in your den to that vintage necklace that would drape perfectly around your neck, there will be much to peruse, eye longingly--even buy--at this weekend’s Los Angeles Antiques Show. More than 60 dealers from around the world will be in town armed with vintage toys, early American paintings and other artifacts ranging in price from less than $100 to, well, a lot more.

* Los Angeles Antiques Show, the Barker Hangar at the Santa Monica Air Center, 3021 Airport Ave., Santa Monica. 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. $15. (310) 855-3667.

all day: Movies

Sean Connery stars in “Entrapment” as Robert MacDougal, a dapper and elusive jewel and art thief who is planning the ultimate heist, on the eve of the millennium no less. Sultry Welsh-born actress Catherine Zeta-Jones plays an insurance investigator who goes undercover as a master thief herself in order to catch the legendary MacDougal.

* “Entrapment” is rated PG-13 for some language, sensuality, violence and drug content. Opens Friday in general release.

7:30 pm: Circuses

If Cirque du Soleil would just come back to town, Los Angeles could be its own three-ring circus. As it is, two sophisticated shows are competing for the local spotlight: Barnum’s Kaleidoscape, a fancy, fantasy one-ring show in a plush big-top setting, and “Cirque Ingenieux,” an extravaganza built around a child’s journey into a dream landscape. (Cirque Ingenieux review, Page 50)

* Barnum’s Kaleidoscape at the corner of Constellation and Century Park West, Century City, opens Friday, 7:30 p.m. Regular schedule: Tuesdays to Saturdays, 7:30 p.m.; Sundays, 5 p.m.; Wednesdays, Saturdays, 2 p.m.; Thursdays, 3:30 p.m.; Sundays, 1 p.m. Ends May 23. $22.50 to $48. “Cirque Ingenieux,” Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd., Tuesdays to Thursdays, 7:30 p.m.; Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 2 and 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Ends May 9. $27 to $52. (213) 365-3500.

8 pm: Theater

Nilo Cruz’s sultry drama set in 1991 Cuba, “Two Sisters and a Piano,” about an officer who is captivated by the women he is guarding, has its West Coast premiere Friday, under the direction of Loretta Greco.

* “Two Sisters and a Piano,” South Coast Repertory, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, Tuesdays through Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, 2:30 p.m. Ends May 30. $18 to $43; this Saturday matinee only, “pay what you will.” (714) 708-5555.

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FREEBIES:

Harry Shearer talks about his book “It’s the Stupidity, Stupid,” Bookstar, 100 N. La Cienega Blvd., L.A., 7:30 p.m. (310) 289-1734.

A staged reading of “Feynman Lives,” created and performed by Norman Parker, Central Library, 650 W. 5th St., downtown L.A., 7:30 p.m. (213) 228-7331.