8:30pm DanceIt’s never too late to learn...

8:30pm Dance

It’s never too late to learn rap, break-dancing, graffiti art and the mysteries of the hip-hop DJ, all to be revealed in the interactive post-performance sessions of “Break It Down,” a comprehensive hip-hop cavalcade presented by members of the JUiCE (Justice by Uniting in Creative Energy) community center near downtown L.A. The performance explores the facets of hip-hop culture through four story lines, a number of contemporary performing disciplines and the talents of DJ Koolhurst, Stuntman, Felix, Rawbzilla, Lotuz and others. If you’re feeling out of touch with all the street vitality spilling over into fashion, advertising, pop music, movies and the graphic arts, this is the place to connect.

“Break It Down,” Highways Performance Space, 1651 18th St., Santa Monica.

8:30 p.m. Also Friday and Saturday, 8:30 p.m.; Sunday, 7:30 p.m. $15.

(310) 315-1459.

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6pm Pop Music

Hard-rock fans have a new place to hang on Thursdays: Club Vodka, which has Beautiful Creatures headlining its Fourth of July concert and barbecue. Club operators are aiming to unite two camps: fans who want original music and those who prefer tribute bands. Club Vodka will have both playing in different rooms each week on the site of Circus Disco. Beautiful Creatures, Ball, 40 Cycle Hum and others will play their own songs in the 1,000-capacity Platinum Room, and the Metallica tribute band Alcoholica will set up in the nearby 400-capacity Silver Room. A free barbecue will start at 6 for those interested in a semblance of tradition.

Beautiful Creatures, Club Vodka , 6655 Santa Monica Blvd., L.A. With Ball, 40 Cycle Hum, Smack, Chocolate Covered World, Adrian, Alexander Seeley and Alcoholica. Free barbecue starts at 6 p.m., live music at 7 p.m. $20 general admission, $13 with discount tickets. (323) 960-5125.

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all day Art

It’s hard to resist Laguna Beach, with its clean air, beaches and relaxed arts-community vibe. Beginning today, there’s even more to lure you south as the 70th annual Festival of Arts opens at a six-acre canyon park near the ocean. This year’s juried event will feature original artworks from the beach communities of Orange County and will include a junior art exhibition, youth art education days on Wednesdays, a Thursday night wine-tasting and jazz series and a Sunday classical music series. Then, on Sunday, the Pageant of the Masters begins, a show in which performers stand stock-still for 90 seconds in tableaux that imitate such works of art as Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.” This year’s theme is “Heroes and Heroines.” Paging Superman and Frida Kahlo....

Festival of Arts, 650 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach. Daily, 10 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. through Sept. 1. Free city shuttle bus service is available from Laguna Canyon lots and downtown parking areas. Adults, $5; seniors and students, $3; children 12 and younger and Laguna Beach residents, free. Pageant of the Masters, Sunday to Aug. 31. 8:30 p.m. nightly. $15 to $65. (949) 494-1145.

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all day Movies

Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones return as agents Jay and Kay to battle to purge the Earth of more alien scum in “Men in Black II,” the sequel to their 1997 mega-hit. Lara Flynn Boyle co-stars as a creepy extraterrestrial disguised as a lingerie model for director Barry Sonnenfeld. And--could it really be?--Michael Jackson makes a cameo.

“Men in Black II,” rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence and some provocative humor, opens opened Wednesday in general release.