Bay Area arts: 7 cool shows and concerts to catch this weekend

From Dance Week to a pair of fun ’80s bands and a celebration of Oakland’s Creative Growth workshop, there is a lot to see and do in the Bay Area this weekend.

Here’s a partial rundown.

Dance Week ready to take over Bay Area

The annual Bay Area Dance Week us set to return with its staggering array of free offerings, and, per tradition, San Jose is a huge part of the fun.

The week runs Friday through May 5 (and for those keeping score at home, that’s actually nine days … just sayin’) and features scores of free dance classes, demonstrations and performances all around the Bay Area. And all of it is free.

Although the events begin Friday, the official “One Dance” on Saturday is the official kick-off. The group dance event this year will be 11:30 a.m. Saturday at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts at 3rd and Mission streets in San Francisco. You can learn the dance moves ahead of time on the event’s home page, www.bopsidy.com/h/badw. That same website has a list of all the events for the week, including bhangra dance classes; a chance to watch a rehearsal for Smuin Ballet’s new Elvis-themed work; folk dancing; a praise dance lesson; line dancing classes and events; and all manner of hip-hop, jazz, ballet and ethnic dance classes and performances

As usual, sjDANCEco’s annual Spring Dance Festival coincides with Bay Area Dance Week. From noon-5 p.m. April 27, you’ll find a dozens of free performances and classes — in a wide range of styles — running intermittently at East Ridge Center in San Jose. Go to www.sjdanceco.org. for the schedule and more information.

Details: The full Bay Area Dance Week schedule and more information is at www.bopsidy.com/h/badw.

— Randy McMullen, Staff

Creative Growth skips to SFMOMA

Downtown Oakland’s Creative Growth center is marking its 50th anniversary with a celebration that extends to downtown San Francisco. The S.F. Museum of Modern Art is offering an exhibit of 80 works by 11 of the developmentally disabled artists from the center’s workshop.

“Creative Growth: The House That Art Built,” also recognizes artists from Richmond’s NIAD (Nurturing Independence through Artistic Development) and San Francisco’s Creativity Explored. In all, it’s a colorful, exuberant collection of paintings, pastel drawings, ceramics and sculptures, ranging from meticulous portraits to a fiber-wrapped chair and bicycle wheel.

The SFMOMA showcase is more than temporary; all the art has been purchased for the museum’s permanent collection.

On view are works by Judith Scott and Dwight Mackintosh, past Creative Growth artists who are nationally renowned. More discoveries include Dan Miller’s paintings with dense layers of lines and texts, Ron Veasey’s boldly colored portraits, Donald Mitchell’s crowds of block-like figures and William Scott’s expressive faces transferred to the fabric of a man’s suit.

Scott also did the newly commissioned, wall-size cityscape at the exhibit’s entrance, his dream of the future that would “Praise Frisco.”

Details: Through Oct. 6; SFMOMA, San Francisco; hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday-Tuesday and noon to 8 p.m. Thursday; $23-$30, free 18 and younger; sfmoma.org

— Robert Taylor, Correspondent

’80s double bill will stand and deliver

Adam Ant and the English Beat are two of the many reasons why people still love the ’80s. And they are both set to perform April 28 at the Fox Theater in Oakland.

The evening’s headliner, Adam Ant (whose real name is Stuart Leslie Goddard), has delivered a number of memorable songs and albums over the years, both as a solo artist and as the leader of Adam and the Ants.

Of course, he’s best known for his debut solo single — the delightful dance-rock offering “Goody Two Shoes” — which propelled the parent album, 1982’s “Friend or Foe,” into the upper reaches of the pop charts.

Yet, the Ant man also helmed such popular numbers as “Dog Eat Dog,” “Antmusic,” “Room at the Top,” “Stand and Deliver,” “Prince Charming” and “Desperate But Not Serious.”

Then there’s the English Beat, the cool British ska act led by Dave Wakeling that will open the Fox Theater show. The group delivered two terrific albums in the early ’80s — the 1980 debut “I Just Can’t Stop It” and the band’s third album, 1982’s “Special Beat Service” — which collectively gave fans such memorable tunes as “Mirror in the Bathroom,” “Stand Down Margaret,” “Twist & Crawl,” “I Confess” and “Save It for Later.”

Details: Show time is 7:30 p.m.; $49.50-$79.50, apeconcerts.com.

— Jim Harrington, Staff

Classical picks: Collaborations galore

Like the best restaurants, the classical music scene often comes up with excellent pairings. This weekend’s calendar has three collaborative events that fans won’t want to miss.

Andsnes and Dover: The excellent Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes returns to San Francisco Performances Thursday evening. He’ll join the Dover Quartet in performances of Brahms’ Piano Quintet in F minor, Opus 34, and Dohnányi’s Piano Quintet No. 2 in E-flat minor. Also on the program: Turina’s “La oración del tortero” (The Bullfighter’s Prayer).

Details: 7:30 p.m. April 25; Herbst Theatre, San Francisco; $60-$80; sfperformances.org.

Telegraph to San Jose: The San Jose Chamber Orchestra welcomes San Francisco’s Telegraph Quartet for a program that includes Borodin’s Quartet No. 2, the third movement of which features music from the musical “Kismet”; along with George Walker’s Quartet No. 1, “Lyric,” and Osvaldo Golijov’s “Last Round.”

Details: 7 p.m. April 27; St. Francis Episcopal Church in Willow Glen, San Jose; $15-$75; sjco.org.

Bach’s favorite instruments: Those would be violin, violoncello, flute, oboe d’amore and harpsichord — and conducted by Jeffrey Thomas, the American Bach Soloists is preparing to play a program of concertos featuring them all.

Details: 8 p.m. April 26 at St. Stephen’s Church, Belvedere; 7 p.m. April 27 at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Berkeley; and 4 p.m. April 28 at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, San Francisco; $39-$106; americanbach.org.

— Georgia Rowe, Correspondent

A super ‘Loop’ unspools in SF

it isn’t often that a musical captures the Pulitzer Prize for drama. But it’s not often that a musical derives its name from a cognitive science term about the sense of self and a Liz Phair song. “A Strange Loop,” opening this week at American Conservatory Theater, can claim both those things.

Michael R. Jackson’s 2019 musical comedy is about as autobiographical as a show can get. It follows a Black gay man named Usher who works as an usher at a “The Lion King” musical production and is writing a musical about a Black gay man writing a musical. The scenario isn’t exactly a blueprint for achieving wealth, fame and delirious happiness. And it doesn’t help that his parents constantly criticize his lifestyle and work and wish that he were more like Tyler Perry. This production is a joint venture between ACT and L.A.’s Center Theatre Group and features the same creative team (but different cast) as the Broadway run.

Details: Through May 12; ACT’s Tony Rembe Theater, San Francisco; $25-$137; www.act-sf.org.

— Bay City News Foundation