all day MuseumAs America reasserts, and perhaps...

all day Museum

As America reasserts, and perhaps reassesses, its role in maintaining peace around the globe, the exhibition “Peaceful Warriors” at the Museum of Tolerance serves as a reminder that the strongest leaders don’t always carry guns. Artworks, photographs and archival objects document the convictions of legendary nonviolent heroes, including Sojourner Truth, Lech Walesa, Jane Addams and Desmond Tutu. Original letters from Ghandi and speeches from the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. are also part of the display.

“Peaceful Warriors,” Museum of Tolerance, Simon Wiesenthal Plaza, 1399 S. Roxbury Drive, West L.A. Mondays to Thursdays, 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Fridays, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Ends April 4. $9, children under 12 are free. (310) 553-8403.

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8pm Dance

Even if you can’t tell Mozambique from Maracaibo, Manchuria or Muskogee, the first local visit by the 25-member National Song and Dance Company of Mozambique should turn you into a budding Africanist with a display of warrior dances, celebration rituals and a cappella singing that the New York Times called “exhilarating” on a previous tour. “Age-old traditional dance and music were filtered through a modern sensibility to produce an extraordinarily vital and subtle new art,” the Times explained. Based in the capital city of Maputo, the company’s repertory reflects an array of vivid cultures: Portuguese, Arab and sub-Saharan African traditions all footloose in a young nation that achieved its independence only in 1975.

National Song and Dance Company of Mozambique, Campbell Hall, UC Santa Barbara campus, Mesa Road, Santa Barbara, 8 p.m. $16-$28. (805) 893-3535. Also Friday, 8 p.m., in Marsee Auditorium, El Camino College, 16007 Crenshaw Blvd., Torrance. $12 (children) to $26. (310) 329-5345.

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8pm Theater

Cirque du Soleil has pitched the blue-and-yellow big top in the parking lot next to the Queen Mary for its circus fantasy, “Dralion,” the first show from the French Canadian circus to play in Long Beach. You won’t see dancing bears or elephants--there are no live animals in this theatrical spectacular--but the title character, “Dralion,” should suffice: It’s part dragon, part lion. But, as usual, the most amazing animals are the humans, who balance, swing, jump and contort in remarkable fashion.

“Dralion,” Queen Mary, 1126 Queen’s Highway, Pier J, Long Beach, today, 8 p.m. only. Regular schedule: Tuesdays-Wednesdays, 8 p.m.; Thursdays-Fridays, 5 and 9 p.m.; Saturdays, 4 and 8 p.m.; Sundays, 1 and 5 p.m. Ends March 31. $31.50-$65. (800) 678-5440.

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8pm Pop Music

The Blasters’ recorded output was concentrated into a few short years in the early ‘80s, but they remain a legendary force in Los Angeles rock history and in the roots-rock movement. Dave Alvin has since carved out a distinctive solo career, and his brother Phil has soldiered on with a revamped Blasters, but when Rhino Records puts out a two-CD retrospective, it’s time to rally the troops. Dave and Phil, along with pianist Gene Taylor and the rhythm section of Bill Bateman and John Bazz, will play together for the first time since 1987 to mark this week’s release of “Testament: The Complete Slash Recordings.”

The Blasters, with the Kelly Bowlin Band and the James Theroux Band, Galaxy Theatre, 3503 S. Harbor Blvd., Santa Ana, 8 p.m. $26.50. (714) 957-0600. Also Friday at the House of Blues, 8430 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, 9 p.m. $20. (323) 848-5100.