BEST BETS Saturday 8/5

10am & 8pm

Dance

What could be a more appropriate way for the Southland’s Lula Washington Dance Theatre to mark its 20th anniversary than a celebratory retrospective featuring highlights of past successes? That’s what’s happening Saturday night. And to make sure the future isn’t neglected, the company’s Youth Dance Ensemble showcases hot trainees on Saturday morning. The juniors dance “Cinderella and Her 22 Ugly Step Sisters” and “Games.” The pros take on excerpts from “Reggae Suite,” “Encounters by the Lake on Sunday,” “A Duke for the ‘90s,” “Ceremonies,” “What About Watts?,” “01997-8” and “Women in the Streets.” A lulu of a Lula program.

* Lula Washington Dance Theatre at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East, Hollywood. Youth Dance Ensemble, 10 a.m.: $7. Anniversary retrospective, 8 p.m.: $15 to $20. (323) GO 1-FORD.

11am

Art

Notorious for once inviting a friend to shoot him with a .22-caliber rifle as an exercise in performance art, artist Chris Burden most recently utilized 5,000 toys from the United States, Japan and Europe in creating two miniature city-states at war. “Chris Burden: A Tale of Two Cities,” which will become part of the Orange County Museum of Art’s permanent collection, is composed of toy soldiers, tanks, rockets and buildings set up in a giant sandbox.

* “Chris Burden: A Tale of Two Cities” at the Orange County Museum of Art, 850 San Clemente Drive, Newport Beach. Ends Feb. 11. Tuesdays through Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. $5; seniors and students, $4; children under 16, free. (949) 759-1122.

8:15pm

Pop Music

With four nominations in the inaugural Latin Grammys, Colombia’s Carlos Vives comes to the Universal Amphitheatre with his pop interpretation of his country’s vallenato tradition.

* Carlos Vives, Universal Amphitheatre, 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City. 8:15 p.m. $54 and $59. (818) 622-4440.

5pm

Movies

The Los Angeles Film School’s Summer 2000 series takes a dip with Frank Perry’s “The Swimmer.” The 1968 film, based on John Cheever’s short story, features Burt Lancaster as a middle-aged suburbanite traveling home by swimming from pool to pool as the sun slowly fades. Eleanor Perry adapted the allegorical story, which co-stars Janice Rule, Kim Hunter and Diana Muldaur.

* “The Swimmer,” Summer 2000 Film Series, Los Angeles Film School, 6363 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood. 5 p.m. Also Sunday at 8 p.m. $5 to $7. (323) 769-2859 or https://www.lafilm.com.

8pm

Movies

A three-part film series kicks off at the Warner Grand Theatre in San Pedro with the 1974 classic “Chinatown.” Screenwriter and South Bay native Robert Towne will be on hand for the event with host Charles Champlin, The Times’ arts editor emeritus. A latter-day film noir, “Chinatown” was directed by Roman Polanski and stars Jack Nicholson as L.A. gumshoe J.J. Gittes. Cinema Encore continues with “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein” on Oct. 28 and “Casablanca” on Jan. 20.

* “Chinatown,” part of Cinema Encore at the Warner Grand Theatre, 478 W. 6th St., San Pedro. 8 p.m. $8 to $9. Series subscription, $21. (310) 548-7672.

4:30 & 7:30pm

Theater

In Annette Lee’s romantic comedy “Walk the Mountain,” presented by Wells Fargo Radio Theater in live radio play style, a young Chinese man’s journey to San Francisco to bring his father home to China is filled with surprises. Film and TV veteran Dana Lee heads the cast with Ping Wu, who plays both father and son.

* “Walk the Mountain” at the Autry Museum of Western Heritage, 4700 Western Heritage Way, Griffith Park. 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. $17. (323) 667-2000, Ext. 317 or 243.

7:30pm

Music

Conductor Rachael Worby returns to her local podium at the Pasadena Pops Orchestra for “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling,” a program of Irish music with the Celtic all-female vocal group Cherish the Ladies.

* “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” at Descanso Gardens, 1481 Descanso Drive, La Canada Flintridge. 7:30 p.m. $15 to $45. (626) 792-7677.

Freebie

Three winners of the recent Artists of the Future Vocal Competition--sopranos Corinne Larsen and Christina Borgioli and baritone Daniel Klein--sing with the Santa Cecilia Orchestra at California Plaza, 350 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. 8 p.m. (213) 687-2159.