7:30 pm Movies

“Robert Altman’s America: A 30th Anniversary Retrospective” begins this evening at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences with his 1975 ensemble piece “Nashville,” described by a Times critic as “a hip, comic, half-surreal vision of Nashville’s country music community.” Film historian (and Times Arts Editor Emeritus) Charles Champlin will lead a post-screening discussion with Altman and members of the cast and crew.

* “Nashville,” 7:30 p.m. at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 8949 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills. $5. Sold out. (310) 247-3600.

“Robert Altman’s America: A 30th Anniversary Retrospective” continues on Friday and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. through July 22 at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Bing Theater, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. $5-$7. (323) 857-6010. See Special Screenings listings.

7:30pm Dance

From Russia with love: Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet performs two full-length vehicles with alternating leads in two Southland venues. Whether you see the company’s new version of “Don Quixote” or its classic staging of “Romeo and Juliet” at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion or the Orange County Performing Arts Center, you’ll be experiencing classical dance on the grandest possible international scale.

* Bolshoi Ballet, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. “Don Quixote”: today, 7:30 p.m. Also Sunday, 2 p.m. “Romeo and Juliet”: Friday, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, 2 and 8 p.m. $25 to $90. (213) 365-3500.

Also Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. “Don Quixote”: June 27-29, 7:30 p.m. “Romeo and Juliet”: June 30, 7:30 p.m.; July 1, 1:30 and 7:30 p.m.; July 2, 2 p.m. $20 to $85. (714)-556-ARTS.

8:30pm Dance

Experimental New York choreographer Neil Greenberg goes Hollywood with “This Is What Happened” and “Sequel,” two examples of contemporary “dance noir” set to excerpts from Bernard Hermann’s scores for Alfred Hitchcock films. The result is long on atmosphere, tantalizing clues and narrative blind alleys. Projected supertitles often deliberately undercut the dance action (“Don’t believe her; she’s lying,” for example), encouraging each member of the audience to come up with a personal interpretation--which, Greenberg suggests, is what all creative dance should do.

* Dance by Neil Greenberg, Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., L.A. 8:30 p.m. $18. (323) 655-8587.

10:30am & 7pm Family

Preschoolers can help friendly little pup Blue, Steve, Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper, Tickety Tock and other “Blue’s Clue’s” pals search for “The Most Spectacular Place” during Nickelodeon’s special stage show, “Blue’s Clues Live Tour.”

* “Blue’s Clues Live Tour,” Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Today, 10:30 a.m. and 7 p.m.; Friday, 7 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. (Sign-language-interpreted on Saturday at 5 p.m.) $16.50 to $29.50. (714) 556-ARTS, (714) 740-7878; (213) 365-3500.

Freebie

“Common Ground Festival 2000,” A.S.K. Theater Projects’ annual performance fest, offers new works by Mabou Mines, Bottom’s Dream, Ruben Martinez, Dan Froot, John Fleck and others. At UCLA, North Campus, Westwood. 7 and 9 p.m. Also Friday, 7, 8 and 9 p.m.; Saturday, 1, 3:30, 6 and 8 p.m.; Sunday, 1, 2, 3:30, 6, 7 and 9 p.m. Parking, $5. Reservations required. Call for schedule. (310) 478-9ASK.