11 am: Photography

Cruising. On a Saturday afternoon. Cruising to Riverside, that is, for the opening of “Rear View Mirror: Automobile Images and American Identities,” a car-themed survey of photographs from the collection of the California Museum of Photography, which is host of the exhibition, and the Automobile Club of Southern California’s Corporate Archives. Looking to explore how automobiles have “civilized the nation’s wide open spaces” (a premise that may be questionable to some Angelenos), the exhibition traces the image of automobiles in film, advertising, historic travel photography and fine art in works by Margaret Bourke-White, Ed Ruscha and Ansel Adams, among others.

* “Rear View Mirror: Automobile Images and American Identities.” UC Riverside/California Museum of Photography, 3824 Main St., Riverside. Tuesdays-Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Ends Aug. 13. Free. (909) 784-FOTO.

7 & 10 pm: Theater

It’s controlled comic chaos from Down Under as “THWAK” has its West Coast premiere featuring the Umbilical Brothers (David Collins and Shane Dundas) in their off-the-wall, sound-effects-filled theatrical New Vaudeville show.

* “THWAK,” Tiffany Theater, 8532 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood. Saturday, 7 and 10 p.m.; Sunday, 7 p.m.; also April 13-14, 8 p.m.; April 15, 7 and 10 p.m.; April 16, 3 p.m. Beginning April 19: Wednesdays-Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 7 and 10 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m., except May 21, 3 and 7 p.m. Ends May 21. $35 to $45. (310) 289-2999.

8 pm: Dance

Guys who accompany their dancing by kicking pots tied to their behinds may not enchant the “Giselle” crowd, but Paul Gordon, Andy Horowitz and Greg O’Brien of the Second Hand have been earning acclaim and popularity for 13 years for their distinctly off-the-wall fusion of dance, gymnastics and physical comedy. All artists in residence at Binghamton University in New York, where they met as students, the three delight in finding new uses for castoff clothing and household objects--hence the group’s name. So expect flashlight tangos, maneuvers involving pompoms hurled at Velcro hats, plus performance skills that result in what the Boston Globe called “preposterous, wonderful stuff.”

* The Second Hand, Smothers Theatre, Pepperdine University, 24255 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, 8 p.m. $30. (310) 456-4522.

8 pm: Pop Music

The heir of Afro-beat knows his roots in more ways than one. Femi Kuti, son of the late Nigerian legend Fela Anikulapo Kuti, carries on his father’s rhythmic tradition on his new album, “Shoki Shoki,” and he also gets his song “Blackman Know Yourself” memorably remixed by Philadelphia rap group the Roots.

* Femi Kuti, Vynyl, 1650 Schrader Blvd., Hollywood, 8 p.m. $22.50 in advance, $25 day of show. (323) 465-7449).

all day: Festival

Cal Poly Pomona celebrates the arrival of spring with BroncoFest 2000. The festival will offer swing, country, salsa and alternative bands; cultural, theatrical and equestrian performances; salsa and country dance lessons; carnival games; a farmer’s market; and plenty of food. The Kids’ Zone will feature clowns, pony rides, arts and crafts, face painting, and a bouncing house.

* BroncoFest 2000, University Union and University Park, Cal Poly Pomona, 3801 W. Temple Ave., Pomona. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free. (909) 869-5335.

8 pm: Music

Led by its founder, conductor and violinist Vladimir Spivakov, the Moscow Virtuosi returns for two local stops Saturday and Sunday. The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is host of the ensemble in a mostly Mozart program first. Sunday afternoon, the group plays a completely Mozart agenda in Orange County.

* The Moscow Virtuosi, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown Los Angeles, 8 p.m. $10 to $70. (323) 850-2000. Also Sunday at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, 3 p.m. $15 to $55. (949) 553-2422.

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FREEBIES: Second annual World Tai Chi Day will be celebrated with expert demonstrations, exercise classes and discussions about the benefits of the martial-arts forms tai chi and qigong, at Brookside Park (softball diamonds Nos. 2 and 3) near the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, 8 a.m to 3 p.m., with opening ceremonies at 10 a.m. (213) 484-8908 or https://www.taichila.com.

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Friends of the Los Angeles River will lead an easy walk along the Arroyo Seco, examining the flora and fauna and area history, beginning where Pasadena Avenue and York Boulevard meet the Arroyo in Highland Park. Walkers will assemble at 9:30 a.m. for the 10 a.m. walk, which will last 90 minutes to two hours. (323) 222-0546.