Freebie of the week: National Dance Week was founded in the U.S. in 1981 to increase Americans’ understanding and appreciation of the diverse, encompassing, universal art form. The Bay Area established its stunning, sizeable version of Dance Week in 1998, and it’s widely recognized as the biggest and best in the country. This year, the 10-day “week” runs from Friday through May 4, with events offered by more than 100 schools and troupes with participation by more than 2,500 dancers and 20,000 members of the public. The lineup ranges from classes to participatory events to performances and demonstrations all over the Bay Area—and all free. Given the region’s diverse population and sense of inclusion, it should come as no surprise that there’s something for everyone’s interest. Curious about apparatus-based dance? Check Zaccho Dance Theatre and Flyaway Productions’ class titled “Loving the Air” at 5:30 p.m. Friday in San Francisco. Jonesin’ for an Indian Bhangra dance class? Dholrhythms Dance Company offers a class on Saturday morning in Berkeley. West African dance fans can catch a demonstration/class by N’Fungola Sibo African Dance and Drum Company Saturday and Sunday in San Jose, an offering tied to sjDANCEco’s two-day Spring Festival in Eastridge Center. The fest, technically part of Dance Week, offers two full days of a wide variety of events, from hip-hop to K-pop to hula and classical ballet and more. For more information and to register for events, go to dance week sites dancersgroup.org/badw or www.bopsidy.com/h/badw. Also: In San Francisco’s Union Square at noon on Friday, check out, or better yet, take part in, Dance Week’s annual “One Dance” opening group event. You can learn the steps from a video at either Dance Week site.
Fun with fiddles: Alasdair Fraser was born in the wee town of Clackmannan, Scotland, seemingly a perfect birthplace for one of the world’s best fiddlers. But Fraser has said that taking up the fiddle in Clackmannan in the 1960s was “far from cool.” Still, he developed an expertise, eventually winning two Scottish National Fiddle championships. Even after a job with British Petroleum took him to Northern California, Fraser kept fiddling until the music became a paying gig as well as his passion. He formed fiddling instruction camps around the world, founded the Celtic music label Culburnie Records and became a leading light of the San Francisco Scottish Fiddlers, a group of some 200 musicians of varying ability dedicated to keeping the music alive. Some 60-70 of them are in a concert group playing three Northern California shows this week: at 7 p.m. Friday at Veterans Memorial Theatre, Davis; 7 p.m. Saturday in Angelico Concert Hall at Dominican University, San Rafael; and 1 p.m. Sunday at Jackson Theater at Sonoma Country Day School, Santa Rosa. Tickets are $32-$35 per concert. For more details and tickets, go to sffiddles.org.
Scraps of New York: When a Florida family experiences a painful change—the death of the matriarch—the father and his two daughters relocate to Brooklyn, New York, where everything is changing. That’s the basic story in “Crumbs from the Table of Joy,” a comedy/drama by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage. The father, Godfrey Crump, is on a quest to bring more religion into his family, but so much is going on in Brooklyn: racial upheaval, crime, sex, politics. Plus, there’s Aunt Lily, a booze-loving Communist who makes herself at home with the Crumps. Nottage, who was born and raised in Brooklyn, said she set the story in 1950 at a time when the city was beginning to experience massive societal changes. She also said, “I wanted to make it colorful. So I started writing ‘Crumbs from the Table of Joy’ to try to understand that era.” The show opens this week at Berkeley’s Aurora Theatre. It’s directed by Elizabeth Carter, a renowned Bay Area actor and director who has helmed shows at Aurora, Center Repertory Company, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, African American Shakespeare Company and many more. “Crumbs” plays Saturday through May 25; tickets are $10-$68. Go to auroratheatre.org
Bein’ green: “Shrek the Musical,” based on the picture book by cartoonist William Steig that inspired the DreamWorks movie classic detailing the adventures of the lovable title green ogre, his pal Donkey, sweetheart Princess Fiona and others, couldn’t be a better selection for the SFArtsED Players. Sponsored by the nonprofit San Francisco Arts Education Project, the troupe, now in its 24th season, showcases the talent of numerous dedicated 9-to14-year-old thespians who truly are ready for their musical theater close-ups. With music by Jeanine Tesori and book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire, the 2008 Tony-nominated “Shrek the Musical” indeed lives up to its source material. The Players’ cast features Julia Torre as Fiona, Cole Quince as Shrek, Marco Salan as Lord Farquaad and Joss Pearlman as Donkey. Performances are at 7 p.m. Friday, 3 and 7 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday at the Presidio Theatre on Moraga Avenue in San Francisco’s Presidio. Tickets are $20-$25 general, to $100 for the final show, a fundraiser with an auction and a post-performance gala, at presidiotheatre.org.
Five strong wind players: Formed at the Juilliard School when they were all students, the Tangent Winds, bronze medal winners at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, likely take their name from the second definition of the word – “a completely different line of thought or action.” That brand of individualism may be on display at St. Francis Episcopal Church in San Jose Sunday evening when they serve as guest artists for the San José Chamber Orchestra’s concert of music by American composers. On their program, which begins at 7 p.m., are Samuel Barber’s evocative “Summer Music” from 1956, George Gershwin’s jazz-influenced Three Preludes, Amy Beach’s calm-inducing “Pastorale,” Valerie Colman’s dazzling “Tzigane” and John Harbison’s complex “Quintet for Winds,” a 1979 piece that has become a staple for the woodwind quintet repertoire. The Tangent members are Steven Palacio, bassoon; James Blanchard, flute; Tamara Winston, oboe; Alec Manasse, clarinet; and Cort Roberts, horn. Find tickets, $15-$75, at sjco.org,
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