Three-day forecast

MOVIES

Dance and its attendant drama

Robert Altman, a longtime master of the cinematic ensemble form, pays tribute to another collaborative art in the drama “The Company.” Set in the world of dance, the film stars Neve Campbell, James Franco, Malcolm McDowell and the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago and explores the working lives of the artists: the sacrifices, the tempered aspirations -- not to mention the blistered and bloodied feet -- and all that goes into their creation of beauty.

“The Company,” PG-13 on appeal for brief strong language, some nudity and sexual content, opens today in selected theaters.

THEATER

Genres that mix, borrow and bend

It’s hardly news that stage musicals often borrow from the movies nowadays, but the new touring production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 1984-vintage “Starlight Express” pushes the trend a little further down the track. The show, in which trains personified by actors on roller skates race across North America, uses three-dimensional film sequences to portray some of the action, and audiences will don 3-D glasses to watch them. Lloyd Webber has added some new songs for the tour, collaborating with David Yazbek, lyricist of “The Full Monty.”

“Starlight Express,” Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Tuesdays to Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 2 and 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Ends Jan. 4. $23.25 to $58.25. (714) 556-2787.

JAZZ

It’s an oasis in the desert

Los Angeles is home to some of the world’s finest musicians. And some of L.A.’s finest will travel en masse to Palm Springs this weekend for an end-of-the-year celebration of straight-ahead jazz. The third annual Desert Big Band and Jazz Party, on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday at the Riviera Resort & Racquet Club, offers about 12 hours of nonstop music each day. Reedman Ken Peplowski will perform and act as master of ceremonies. Other featured performers include Frank Capp, John Clayton, Gilbert Castellanos, Sal Cracchiolo, Tierney Sutton, Carl Saunders, Tom Ranier, Chuck Berghofer, Larry Koonse, Herman Riley, Art Hillery, Jeff Clayton, Rickey Woodard, Charles Owens, Jeff Hamilton, Christoph Luty, Ernie Watts, Kim Richmond, Anthony Wilson, Tamir Hendelman and many others. For complete schedule, see www.desert jazzparty.com.

Desert Big Band and Jazz Party, Riviera Resort & Racquet Club, 1600 N. Indian Canyon Drive, Palm Springs. Sunday to Tuesday, noon to midnight. $60 to $100 per day. (805) 496-5400.

FESTIVAL

Celebrating the seven principles

It’s only fitting that Los Angeles should host a Kwanzaa Heritage Festival, as it was here that the modern Kwanzaa holiday was first celebrated in 1966 by Maulana Karenga, a professor of Cal State Long Beach. The two-day Pan African fest will feature drumming and other entertainment, plus music, dance and spoken word performances, children’s activities, arts, crafts and foods from around the world. Saturday’s parade will start at Dorsey High School, go east on Rodeo Road to Crenshaw Boulevard, south to Leimert Park Village.

Kwanzaa Heritage Festival, Leimert Park Village, 43rd Place and Crenshaw Boulevard, Leimert Park. Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; parade starts noon Saturday. Free. (213) 955-5239.

ART

Form and color united

German artist Herbert Hamak is part sculptor, part painter and equally daring in either role. The size and color -- luminous color -- of his works on linen speak of geometric precision and artful experimentation. These works defy representational function yet appease the eye. The works bring a quieting peace, as does the full-scale “Wet Column” centerpiece of the exhibit -- a lone 8-foot-tall, red-orange tower sheathed in a constant flow of water.

Herbert Hamak, Christopher Grimes Gallery, 916 Colorado Ave., Santa Monica. Tuesdays to Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Ends Jan. 10. (310) 587-3373.

POP MUSIC

Coming up: year of the wolves

As Los Lobos helps bring 2003 to a close with two shows at the House of Blues, fans can start preparing for next year’s 30th anniversary of the original lineup’s first performances. The observance will be highlighted by a new album that includes both new material and vintage Lobos tunes remade with contributions by Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Bobby Womack, Mavis Staples and other cronies of the indestructible East L.A. band.

Los Lobos, Friday with the Paladins and Saturday with David Lindley & Wally Ingram, House of Blues, 8430 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, 8 p.m. $35. (323) 848-5100.

MUSEUMS

Designing for divas

It was a time when the wealthy produced private theatrical productions, and lavish and extravagant public productions of “Cleopatre” made the masses wild for anything “oriental.” Artists like Sonia Delaunay, Leon Bakst, Natalia Goncharova, Henri Matisse and Erte flourished designing the fabulous costumes that every diva demanded. Erte was at the forefront of this heady period, designing for Madame Ganna Walska, an opera singer and patron of the arts. Walska commissioned Erte to design several of her costumes for such operas as “Tosca,” “Rigoletto” and “Madame Butterfly.” In “Erte/Opera & Ballets Russes/Dance,” the imaginative drawings of Erte and others are displayed next to the actual costumes.

“Erte/Opera & Ballets Russes/Dance,” Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. Mondays and Tuesdays, Thursdays, noon to 8 p.m.; Fridays, noon to 9 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; closed Wednesdays. Ends April 4. General admission, $9; seniors 62 and older and students 18 and older with student ID, $5; 17 and younger, free. (323) 857-6000.

DANCE

Tribute to a tapper

To kick off its 25th anniversary season, the Jazz Tap Ensemble performs “A Tribute to Gregory Hines, the Tap Dancer,” a benefit program for the company, on Sunday at the Jazz Bakery in Culver City. The next two nights offer two different programs, “Jazzin’ It at the Bakery” and “Fabulous Taps.” Along with founder-director Lynn Dally, the dancers include Sam Weber, Channing Cook Holmes, Becky Twitchell, Dormeshia Sumbry-Grant and Derick K. Grant. Live accompaniment will be performed by company musical director Jerry Kalaf (drums), Doug Walter (piano/sax), Domenic Genova (bass) and Scott Breadman (percussion). Also featured on Monday and Tuesday: the ensemble’s professional youth company, the Caravan Project.

Jazz Tap Ensemble, the Jazz Bakery, 3233 Helms Ave., Culver City. Gregory Hines tribute, Sunday, 8 p.m., $100. Monday and Tuesday programs, 8 p.m., $25. (310) 475-4412.