THE VALLEY This Weekend

Salsa

Dance promoter Albert Torres will present Orquesta Costazul on Friday night at the Sportsmen’s Lodge in Studio City. Times music critic Don Heckman has described Orquesta Costazul as first rate.

* Orquesta Costazul, Friday, 10 p.m. Sportsmen’s Lodge, 4234 Coldwater Canyon Blvd., Studio City. (310) 450-8770. $15.

Comedy

Hillel at Pierce and Valley colleges will present its “Comedy Nite 2000” fund-raiser with a special tribute to film director Arthur Hiller on Saturday night at Pierce College. Comics Mel Kohl, J. David, Jim Tavares and Harv and Mollie Tretsky will perform and a silent auction will be held. Hiller directed “Silver Streak,” “Love Story,” “The Americanization of Emily” and many other films.

* “Comedy Nite 2000” fund-raiser, Saturday, 8 p.m., Pierce College, 6201 Winnetka Ave., Woodland Hills, (818) 887-5901. $10-$12.

Classical

Soprano Kathleen Roland will be the featured soloist when the Pasadena Symphony, under the direction of Jorge Mester, performs Manuel de Falla’s “El Amor Brujo” on Saturday night in Pasadena. The program will include Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 11. Earlier on Saturday, from 8:30 a.m.-noon, the Pasadena Symphony will stage a free musical circus for children 4-10 years old that includes a musical “petting zoo” where youngsters can toot horns, pluck strings and bang drums.

* Pasadena Symphony, Saturday, 8 p.m., Pasadena Civic Auditorium, 300 E. Green St. (626) 584-8833. $3-$62.

Year of the Dragon

The Los Angeles Zoo will ring in the Year of the Dragon this weekend with its second annual Chinese New Year celebration featuring lion dancers, Chinese alligators, ethnic treats and other attractions. Lion dancers from Northern Shaolin Kung Fu will perform 30-minute programs Saturday and Sunday. The Southern California Chinese Folk Dance Troupe and the Hwa Yi Chinese Ethnic Dance Company also will perform, and a reptile keeper will talk about the zoo’s Chinese alligators and Komodo dragons.

* Second annual Chinese New Year Celebration, Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., L.A. Zoo’s Eucalyptus Grove, 5333 Zoo Drive, Griffith Park. . Open daily, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. $8.25 adults, $5.25 ages 65 and older, $3.25 ages 2-12. (323) 644-4273 or https://www.lazoo.org.