TODAYDoing it their wayWhen Pilobolus Dance Theatre...

TODAY

Doing it their way

When Pilobolus Dance Theatre first began touring in the early 1970s, lots of people kept insisting that it wasn’t dance. Creative gymnastics maybe, movement theater certainly, but not any kind of dance that anyone had ever seen. That opinion has long since been overturned. The influential company’s current tour includes “Symbiosis” (2001), “Wedlock” (2003) and “Night of the Dark Moon: Orfeo and Eurydice” and “Megawatt” (both 2004).

Pilobolus Dance Theatre, Smothers Theatre, Pepperdine University, 24255 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu. 8 p.m. today. $45. (310) 506-4522.

* Also 8 p.m. Saturday at the California Center for the Arts, 340 N. Escondido Blvd., Escondido; program to be announced. $38 and $48. (800) 988-4253.

Variety is spice of life

An engawa, a platform found in traditional Japanese households, is usually positioned between the domestic space and Zen garden for reflection and meditation. In Taro Shinoda’s installation “Buried Treasure,” he builds an engawa but with a modern twist: a mobile structure that allows him to view various natural landscapes instead of one fabricated space. Shinoda’s contemplations and observations will be recorded and displayed with the engawa.

“Taro Shinoda: Buried Treasure,” Gallery at REDCAT, 631 W. 2nd St., L.A. Opens today. Free. (213) 237-2800.

* Hours: Noon-6 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday. Ends April 3.

Plays well with others

Philadelphia-born jazz pianist Eric Reed grew up in Los Angeles. Reed was only 18 and attending Cal State Northridge when he first got a call to tour with Wynton Marsalis in the late 1980s. Other jazz notables Reed has worked with include Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Elvin Jones, Benny Carter, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter, Cassandra Wilson, Clark Terry and Dianne Reeves. This weekend, Reed works with bassist David Wong and drummer E.J. Strickland.

Eric Reed Trio, the Jazz Bakery, 3233 Helms Ave., Culver City. 8 and 9:30 p.m. today. $25. (310) 271-9039.

* Also: 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. Friday-Sunday.

FRIDAY

Rendezvous with destiny

Unlike some other pop acts -- think Cher, Phil Collins -- New York’s Luna isn’t making a second career out of throwing in the towel. Last fall, band founder Dean Wareham announced his plans to retire, and the group’s final shows will be in the Big Apple at the end of February. Luna’s final album, “Rendezvous,” has generated some of the group’s best reviews.

Luna, El Rey Theatre, 5515 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. 9 p.m. Friday. $20. (323) 936-6400.

A dropout, a drop-in

A multicultural Buenos Aires shopping mall is the setting for the comedy “Lost Embrace.” College dropout Ariel (Daniel Hendler) fantasizes about moving to Europe while working the counter in his mother’s lingerie store. Reality drops in, however, when he learns his long-lost father is about to return from Israel.

“Lost Embrace,” unrated, opens Friday at Landmark’s Westside Pavilion Cinemas, 10800 W. Pico Blvd., West Los Angeles. (310) 281-8223.

SATURDAY

Paris when it sizzles

Blank Theatre Company’s artistic director, Daniel Henning, puts his own spin on “Les Liaisons Dangereuses,” Christopher Hampton’s play of sexual manners and manipulation, changing the setting from the eve of the French Revolution to 1920s Paris and its suburbs.

“Les Liaisons Dangereuses,” Blank Theatre Company at 2nd Stage Theatre, 6500 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. Opens 8 p.m. Saturday. $25. (323) 661-9827.

* Runs 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday. Ends March 27.

SUNDAY

The sum of its parts

A life-size lowrider constructed of wood and clay, junk-filled concrete orbs and other odd and quirky works are unveiled at “Thing: New Sculpture From Los Angeles.” Created by 20 L.A.-based artists, the 50 constructions on view at the Hammer Museum emphasize the creation of objects referential to the everyday.

“Thing: New Sculpture From Los Angeles,” Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. Opens Sunday. $3-$5; 17 and younger, free. (310) 443-7000.

* Hours: 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday; 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Thursday; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. Ends June 5.

Danish love triangle

Arnold Schoenberg’s monumental “Gurrelieder” (Songs of Gurre) -- written over a three-year period, 1900-03, but orchestrated about a decade later -- draws upon a huge number of performers to tell the Danish legend of a king whose lover is murdered by the king’s wife. Esa-Pekka Salonen will conduct the L.A. Philharmonic, the L.A.Master Chorale and six soloists (including a speaker) in one of the composer’s few works that garnered an ovation at its premiere.

“Gurrelieder” (Songs of Gurre), Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., L.A. 2 p.m. Sunday. $15-$125. (323) 850-2000.