Have a hoot with a toot

Please don’t feed the ... instruments?

Flutes and fiddles (er, violins), trumpets and trombones, cellos, drums, cymbals and all manner of other orchestral instruments will be part of the Pasadena Symphony’s “petting zoo” in its latest family-friendly Musical Circus, a free event for children 10 and younger, Saturday morning at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.

Beginning at 8:30 in the lobby, attendees will watch some young musicians demonstrate how the instruments work, then be invited to toot, pluck and drum for themselves.

That’s just for starters.

At 9 a.m., everyone will adjourn to the auditorium’s Gold Room for a performance by the Shin Dance Academy, one of the area’s leading Chinese dance and theater companies. Dressed in vividly colored traditional costumes, the troupe will perform dances drawn from 5,000 years of Chinese history.

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Musical Circus, Pasadena Civic Auditorium, 300 E. Green St., Pasadena. Saturday, 8:30 to 10 a.m. Free (reservations not required). (626) 793-7172, Ext. 10.