TODAYDANCEReadingsthat move”I feel heavily the trouble I...

TODAY

DANCE

Readings

that move

“I feel heavily the trouble I read about,” postmodern pioneer Simone Forti wrote three years ago in “Oh, Tongue,” her book of poems and reminiscences. And now, in a collaborative evening titled “101,” Forti joins Terrence Luke Johnson, Sarah Swenson and Douglas Waddle in readings that inspire thought, feeling, debate and improvisational dance. A sequel to “Unbuttoned Sleeves,” which rocked REDCAT audiences last summer, “101” is subtitled “words picked at random from the Federalist Papers” and it affirms Forti’s belief in dance as “a solid and nourishing interest that gives shape to my life. And a tool for thinking about things.”

“101,” Highways Performance Space, 1651 18th St., Santa Monica, 8:30 p.m. $15. (310) 315-1459 or www.highwaysperformance.org.

* Also 8:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 7:30 p.m. Sunday.

MUSEUMS

Western influences

The best-known Japanese woodblock prints are the Edo period’s sexed-up “floating world” images of beautiful women and common folk at play. However, the exhibition “From Heart to Hand: Modern Japanese Prints From the George and Marcia Good Collection” focuses on prints created between 1951 and 1977 by a generation of postwar artists influenced by European and American Cubism and abstraction.

“From Heart to Hand: Modern Japanese Prints From the George and Marcia Good Collection,” Pacific Asia Museum, 46 N. Los Robles Ave., Pasadena. $5 to $7; 11 and younger, free. Opens today. (626) 449-2742.

* Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays, except 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Fridays. Ends Sept. 17.

ART

Now LAAA heads south

Since its inception in 1925, the Los Angeles Art Assn. has had a tradition of fostering the careers of emerging Southern California artists and exhibiting a range of talents that include Man Ray, Hans Burkhardt and Lita Albuquerque. There are LAAA galleries in Santa Monica and West Hollywood, with a third site, LAAA South: The Michael Napoliello Gallery, devoted to the South Bay’s art community, opening this week. The inaugural show “Biannual” is curated by MOCA’s director and head curator Jeremy Strick, who has handpicked about 25 pieces by local artists.

“Biannual,” LAAA South: The Michael Napoliello Gallery, 936 Hermosa Ave., No. 105, Hermosa Beach. Opens today, 7 to 10 p.m. (310) 652-8272.

* Regular hours: noon to 5 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays. Ends Sept. 2.

WORDS

Patti Smith, in verse

New York poet. Paris performance artist. Muse to photographer Robert

Mapplethorpe and playwright Sam Shepard. Patti Smith has been many things to many people, but she’s always remained steadfastly herself, an unconventional beauty whose 1975 debut album, “Horses,” paved the way for misfits, poets and art-punkers everywhere, including R.E.M. frontman and Smith fan Michael Stipe, to record their own musings. Smith also has written well-received poetry collections, including “Witt,” “Wool Gathering” and “The Coral Sea.” Tonight she’ll read from “Complete,” the retrospective edition of her poems and lyrics dating to the 1970s.

Patti Smith, Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center, 681 Venice Blvd., Venice. 9:30 p.m. today. $15. (310) 822-3006.

FRIDAY

EVENTS

A slice of

the Big Easy

As New Orleans braces for the start of a new hurricane season, a taste of the Big Easy can be found in the Southland this weekend. The Long Beach Bayou Festival will re-create New Orleans’ Bourbon Street, with live blues, Cajun and zydeco music, plus Creole food, arts and crafts vendors, dancing and other family fun.

Long Beach Bayou Festival, Queen Mary Events Park, 1126 Queens Highway, Long Beach. 5:30 to 10 p.m. Friday. $12 to $25; 9 and younger, free. (562) 427-8834. www.longbeachfestival.com.

* Also Saturday and Sunday, noon to 10 p.m.

JAZZ

Bland in name only

Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Bobby “Blue” Bland headlines at the Leimert Park Blues Festival this weekend at the Vision Arts Theatre Complex. Starting in 1960, the singer scored several Top 10 R&B; hits, including “I’ll Take Care of You,” “I Pity the Fool,” “That’s the Way Love Is” and “Turn On Your Love Light.” Bland will close the show on all three nights of the festival. Other artists performing will be Tony Award-winning Linda Hopkins, Barbara Morrison, Mickey Champion, Sonny Green and others.

Leimert Park Blues Festival, Vision Arts Theatre Complex, 3341 W. 43rd Place, Leimert Park Village. Music starts 4 p.m. Friday. $30 to $50. (310) 330-0178.

* Also Saturday and Sunday, 1 p.m.

MOVIES

Rights abuses?

Filmmaker Michael Winterbottom can never be accused of slacking. The exceptionally prolific director weighs in this week with “The Road to Guantanamo,” his 14th feature since 1995. Co-directed with Mat Whitecross, it’s a mix of documentary and drama detailing the ordeal experienced by three British Muslim youths who travel to Pakistan for a wedding and wind up in the U.S. military prison in Cuba, held without charges for two years.

“The Road to Guantanamo,” rated R for language and disturbing violent content, opens Friday in selected theaters.

EVENTS

They’re good folk

Have you ever wanted to learn to play the fiddle? Or maybe try your hand at the hammered dulcimer or dance an Irish jig? The two-day Summer Solstice Folk Music, Dance and Storytelling Festival offers more than 200 hour-long workshops in which attendees can learn to play musical instruments such as fiddle, pan pipe, recorder, dulcimer, guitar, mandolin and harp. Some classes even provide loaner instruments. At other workshops, you can learn dances, storytelling techniques and other folk art and craft skills. Additionally, there will be folk music concert performances all day Saturday and Sunday, as well as evening programs Friday and Saturday.

Summer Solstice Folk Music, Dance and Storytelling Festival, Soka University of America, 26800 W. Mulholland Highway, Calabasas. 7:30 to 11 p.m. Friday. Festival, $21 to $30 per day; 12 and younger, free; evening activities $10 to $50. (818) 817-7756. www.ctmsfolkmusic.org.* Also 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

SATURDAY

EVENTS

From a diaspora

The ArtWallah Festival presents the works of artists of the South Asian diaspora. The works include film, literature, spoken word, music, dance, theater and visual arts. Artists are selected according to the quality and content of their work, which must address political, social, personal or cultural celebrations and struggles reflective of the South Asian diaspora experience.

ArtWallah Festival 2006, Japanese American Cultural & Community Center, 244 S. San Pedro St., L.A. 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday. $12 for daytime programs; $25 to $70 for evening events. (310) 391-3330. www.artwallah.org/festival.

WORDS

A heated message

OK, so he didn’t win the presidency or invent the Internet. But no one can give Al Gore a hard time for his unflagging dedication to protecting the environment. Continuing to argue that the issue presents “the kind of

challenge that ought to completely transcend

partisanship,” Gore has found a new venue

for his message: the increasingly omnipresent political documentary. “An Inconvenient Truth,” in theaters now, is Gore’s succinct and chilling analysis of the effects of global warming, based on his book of the same title, which he’ll be signing at Dutton’s.

Al Gore, Dutton’s Beverly Hills Books, 447 N. Canon Drive, Beverly Hills, 3 p.m. Saturday. (310) 281-0997.

SUNDAY

MUSIC

A Capitol idea, indeed

Brahms’ String Sextet in B-flat, the first of his two immortal string

sextets, overflows with memorable melodies and romantic expression. It will be played by the

Capitol Ensemble and guests: violinists Philip Levy and Julie Gigante,

violists Simon Oswell

and Brian Dembow, and cellists Andrew Shulman and David Low. Their

Music Guild program

also includes Mozart’s monumental Viola Quintet in C, K. 515. Sweetening the already delectable music, the guild also provides complimentary coffee and cakes before the concert and at intermission.

Capitol Ensemble, University Synagogue, 11960 Sunset Blvd., Brentwood. 3 p.m. Sunday. $6 to $30. (323) 954-0404.

WEDNESDAY

THEATER

A dose of ‘Courage’

La Jolla Playhouse and Berkeley Repertory Theatre present David Hare’s adaptation of Brecht’s antiwar epic, “Mother Courage and Her Children,” with a new score by Gina Leishman. Lisa Peterson directs, with Ivonne Coll as the itinerant peddler who follows death and destruction

in her grim quest for survival.

“Mother Courage and Her Children,” La Jolla Playhouse, 2910 La Jolla Village Drive, La Jolla. Opens 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. $28 to $56. (858) 550-1010. www.lajollaplayhouse.com.

* Also 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, p.m., 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays. Ends July 23.