DANCE The State Ballet of Georgia arrives for their Los Angeles premiere at UCLA's Royce Hall to perform Giselle. This historic Russian dance company is taking on a classic, with Nina Ananiashvili in the spotlight as the company's artistic director and prima ballerina in the title role. 8 p.m. // Royce Hall, UCLA // Westwood Plz at Charles E Young Dr S// (310) 825-2101 // $20 - 90 SPOKEN WORD It's an Anything Goes Open......

Will it be pouring buckets tonight? If you aren't already planning on holing up with some popcorn and Netflix picks, you may want to get out and get your art & culture on. Let us help! ART ART LA 2008 is billed as "the only art fair in Los Angeles exclusively dedicated to contemporary art" and runs through tomorrow at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. This year's event "features 64 prominent international and Los Angeles-based......

This looks good -- an artist not yet heard in our neighborhood and a timeless theme. Plus references to things we may know something about. In its welcome mission of bringing outstanding international artists to our local performance scene, UCLA Live is hosting the Los Angeles debut of award-winning Company Ea Sola at Royce Hall for two shows this weekend. Raised in Vietnam during the war and trained in Paris, the female choreographer-performer Ea......

There's a lot of quality going on in classical this week in Los Angeles. Deaf percussionist superstar Evelyn Glennie is coming to UCLA Live, the Steven Stucky 20th Anniversary at the Green Umbrella Series with the LA Phil and a crazy four hour concert tonight featuring 18 Squared, LA's resident Steve Reich ensemble, among others. However, the obvious choice for this week is Monday Evening Concert's season opener, Primitive Force (we spoke about Sunday......

Last week with the Holiday, we said it was slim pickings. This week, classical music in Los Angeles is bountiful and what has piqued our interest is Alternative Opera Theater's three performances this upcoming weekend at the intimate NoHo Arts District space, the Raven Playhouse. The performance will feature two chamber operas, the first being "The Telephone" by Gian Carlo Menotti where a man attempts to propose to the woman she loves. But there's......

I cannot wish the fault undone, the issue of it being so proper ~ Earl of Kent in King Lear Last week, news broke over the consumer controversy of secondary sellers like Stubhub.com and TicketsNow being investigated by a few states about music fans not being able to purchase tickets to shows on Ticketmaster, even at the minute and second they go on sale. The problem came up with popular concerts like The Disney......

It was unfortunate that we finally got to see Slava's Snowshow on closing night in January at UCLA Live because it was probably one of the coolest things and we wish we had time to warn you to go buy tickets. If it comes around again, you must see it. No questions asked. This video is taken after the show was over when Slava and the clowns let out these huge-ass balls that we......

WEDNESDAY • Tokyo String Quartet and clarinetist Sabine Meyer perform works by Haydn, Dvorak and Mozart tonight at UCLA Live beginning at 8 PM. Tickets are $22-42. • Outfest Wednesdays at the Egyptian Theatre features a sneak preview of Imagine Me & You at 7:30 PM. • AFI at ArcLight features a special screening of the 1969 classic Midnight Cowboy at 8 PM. • The Hammer Museum features "Masters of LA's Underground Comics," a......

Over the past few years, string quartet tributes to pop culture have flourished and it can seem like it's more of a prolific commodity than an artistic endeavor. Vitamin Records are the ones responsible for those String Quartet Tributes you see out there and we are curious who in their right mind made the decision to make a Clay Aiken Tribute? The L.A. based, The Section Quartet (pictured above) participated on a good number......

FRIDAY • The Earlies, The Idaho Falls, Great Northern and No North bring on the pop tonight at The Echo. Doors open at 8:30 PM and tickets are $10. [18+] • Very Be Careful and El Manifesto play Dante's birthday party at Little Pedro's. The party gets going at 9 PM. Tickets are $7. • UCLA Live features a performance by the one and only De La Soul at 8 PM. Tickets are $22-38......

FRIDAY • Avalon features Chevelle and Taproot tonight at 7:30 PM. Tickets are $22. • Modfather Paul Weller performs tonight at The Wiltern at 8 PM. Tickets are $30-37.50. • The Decemberists and Sons and Daughters are at The Glasshouse tonight at 8 PM. Tickets are $15. • The UCLA Live season kicks off with live theater, featuring plays by Charlie Kaufman and Francis Fregoli, plus music by Carter Burwell and featuring Hope Davis,......

THURSDAY • Bernhauser, Anchors for Architects, Seven Times On The Sea, Sticky Children and El Ten Eleven are playing tonight at the Knitting Factory. The show starts at 8 PM. Tickets are $5. • The UCLA Live season kicks off with live theater, featuring plays by Charlie Kaufman and Francis Fregoli, plus music by Carter Burwell and featuring Hope Davis, Peter Dinklage, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tom Noonan, Meryl Streep and David Thewlis. The plays......

WEDNESDAY • The Decemberists and Sons and Daughters perform tonight at the Henry Fonda Theater. Doors open at 8 PM; tickets are $18. • Spaceland hosts a Katrina benefit featuring Dirty Kings, Numchuck, The Ringers, The Absentee and Demo Team. Doors open at 9 PM. • The UCLA Live season kicks off with live theater, featuring plays by Charlie Kaufman and Francis Fregoli, plus music by Carter Burwell and featuring Hope Davis, Peter Dinklage,......

• Tonight at UCLA Live, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet will be speaking at 8 PM. Tickets range from $25-35, or $15 for UCLA students. • At 7 PM, the Hammer Museum, author Marilynne Robinson will be reading. Her novel Gilead was one of the top 10 books of 2004 according to the New York Times. • MOCA Pacific Design Center hosts Royal Art Lodge artist Jonathan Pylypchuk for a free art talk at......

At the New Beverly Cinema it's a Takashi Miike double feature, with his new film Gozu at 7:30 PM, followed by the wonderfully depraved Audition at 9:55 PM. Enjoy a Hammer Conversation at 7:00 PM between filmmaker David O. Russell and actress Lily Tomlin, discussing their recent collaboration on I Heart Huckabee's.  UCLA Live features The Bang on a Can All-Stars with Philip Glass, reintepreting Glass's legendary "Music in 5ths and Music in Similar......

There's too much going on Sunday, November 7th. How can we choose between the following lit events all happening on the same night? If we could, we'd start out in the west of Los Angeles at Royce Hall, UCLA in Westwood where Russell Banks converses with Michael Ondanjtee about Film and Fiction while their pal, actor Willem Defoe, just sits between them, exuding dangerous charisma. 8pm Royce Hall, UCLA Live Event Tickets: $35, 28,......