8pm Performance

8pm Performance

Laurie Anderson says her parents told her: “You don’t have to decide what you’re going to be, ever. You can be something different every day if you want.” On Saturday, she’ll embrace that idea. For “Happiness,” her new mix of staging, music and storytelling, Anderson went in search of experiences to yank her out of her artistic doldrums. She served burgers at McDonald’s. She worked on an Amish farm. She canoed through Utah with a Zen master. And then the Sept. 11 attacks--10 blocks from her New York apartment--gave a new spin to everything.

Laurie Anderson’s “Happiness,” Royce Hall, UCLA, Westwood, 8 p.m. $25 to $40. (310) 825-2101.

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8pm Dance

How many gymnasts can fit on a moving bicycle? How many chairs can be stacked up as a platform for handstands and other feats of balance? How small a hoop can a contortionist dive, slink or wiggle through? These may not be the burning questions of our age, but the answers generate plenty of oohs and ahhs whenever the Peking Acrobats perform. A successor to the Great China Circus of the 1920s, the company became a professional acrobatic troupe in 1958 and, to date, has made 16 American tours. As family-oriented movement theater, their show is hard to beat. But, as the company recommends, warn the kids: Don’t try this at home.

Peking Acrobats, Marsee Auditorium, El Camino Center for the Arts, 16007 Crenshaw Blvd., Torrance, 8 p.m. $12 to $26. (310) 329-5345.

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8pm Theater

Carrie Fisher dissects her Hollywood pedigree, Julia Sweeney adopts a Chinese baby girl, Sue Murphy travels with her aging father, and identical twins Randy and Jason Sklar search for their individuality in “A Family Affair,” a night of stories about family in the new millennium.

“A Family Affair,” Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., L.A., 8 p.m. $15. (323) 655-8587.

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8pm Festival

Can’t make it to Rio this weekend? Brazilian Carnaval 2002 at the Hollywood Palladium will bring a bit of that South American city to Los Angeles. This Brazilian party will feature 12 dancers from Samba School Imperatriz, winner of Rio’s Samba School Parade the past three years. Katia Moraes and Badaue Band will provide Brazilian music while the TropiDANZA Dancers, a local ensemble, will perform samba, lambada and other styles. Authentic Brazilian food and clothing will be on sale, plus there are prizes for best costumes.

Brazilian Carnaval 2002, Hollywood Palladium, 6215 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. $30 to $45. (818) 566-1111.

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8pm Music

The Robin Cox Ensemble takes chamber music several directions at once--toward jazz, improvisation and avant-garde music. His ensemble, which brings together cello, violin, marimba, vibraphone and drums, will play music by Cox, Evan Ziporyn and Steve Reich on its latest program, as well as new music written for the group by Hye Kyung Lee.

Robin Cox Ensemble, Mark Moore Gallery at Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Ave., Santa Monica, 8 p.m. $10. (805) 569-2391.

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10pm Pop Music

Dr. Alex Paterson makes a house call at the Knitting Factory Hollywood. One of the principals of the illustrious, pioneering English dance-music duo the Orb, Paterson mans the decks for a DJ set.

Dr. Alex Paterson, with Robin Porter and Alex Gordon, Knitting Factory Hollywood, 7021 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, 10 p.m. $12 in advance, $15 at the door. (323) 463-0204.