STAGE

Artwank

[IMPROV] Art-related improvised comedy for First Thursday. The Brody Theater, 16 NW Broadway., 224-2227. 9:30 pm Thursday, Oct. 1. $5. Map

Ben Franklin: Unplugged

One morning, while shaving, monologuist Josh Kornbluth realizes he has lost enough hair and gained enough girth to resemble the man on the hundred-dollar bill and, at the urging of a particularly forceful aunt, considers creating a Franklin-centric stage show. He really gets interested in Franklin’s story only after he discovers ol' Ben had an illegitimate son, William Franklin, who was, contrary to his father’s wishes, the colonial governor of New Jersey. It’s not long before Kornbluth finds himself struggling to sort through academic rivalries, popular myth and Franklin’s own self-aggrandizement. Along the way he meets a mildly crazy Franklin scholar, gallivants around Manhattan in a Franklin costume, and gets revenge on Yale University. All this, delivered at considerable volume with much thrashing of arms and spraying of spittle by a short, pudgy bald man wearing black jeans and a terrible Hawaiian shirt adorned with blue sunflowers. Kornbluth’s persona is a schlemiel in the classic mold, but he is cannier than he looks, and his toying with the self-generated myth of Franklin is a blast to watch. BEN WATERHOUSE. Gerding Theater, 128 NW 11th Ave., 445-3700. 7:30 pm Tuesdays-Saturdays, 2 pm Sundays, noon Thursdays, alternating 2 pm Saturday and 7:30 pm Sunday shows. Closes Nov. 22. $24-$45, $20 day-of-show rush tickets available. Map

Canta y no Llores

This year, Miracle Theatre’s annual Day of the Dead show ditches the symbolic conceits of the past three years in favor of a more straightforward narrative: migrant laborers living in the woods of Mount Hood in the midst of the Great Depression, hoping to find work on the construction of Timberline Lodge. They take in a Puerto Rican carpenter, a 15-year-old runaway with Hollywood dreams and a heartbroken goatherd, and eventually they all celebrate el Dia de los Muertos. The story is sappy, little more than a framework for song and dance; but it’s good song and dance, a blend of ’30s pop and Mexican and American folk tunes with similarly internationalist choreography. Osvaldo Gonzalez’s tearjerker rendition of “Volver, Volver” and Rosa Floyd’s performance of “La Bruja” are the highlights, but the whole shebang’s a lot of fun. BEN WATERHOUSE. El Centro Milagro, 525 SE Stark St., 236-7253. 7:30 pm Thursdays, 8 pm Fridays-Saturdays and Nov. 15, 2 pm Sundays. Closes Nov. 15. $16-$22. Map

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Oregon Children's Theatre presents a stage adaptation of the Roald Dahl story. The company has an interesting promotion going with Moonstruck Chocolate: Buy a "Charlie Bar" at any Moonstruck Chocolate Cafe before Nov. 8 to get a "Golden Ticket" scratch-it worth $3 off a ticket to the show or, if you're lucky, free tickets, chocolate, a season subscription to OCT, a Moonstruck factory tour or a home theater system. Newmark Theatre, Portland Center for the Performing Arts, 1111 SW Broadway., 228-9571. 2 and 5 pm Oct. 31 and Nov. 7, 2 pm Nov. 8, 15 and 22, 2 and 5 pm Nov. 14 and 21. $13-$24. Map

ComedySportz

[IMPROV] Fast-paced, competitive, family-friendly improv. ComedySportz, 1963 NW Kearney St., 236-8888. 8 pm Fridays-Saturdays. $12. Map

The Curious Garden

Interactive theater fun for kids, with a pink fairy, hungry bunny, grumpy daisy, happy farmer and British lawn jockey. A pint-sized open mic follows. Curious Comedy, 5225 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., curiouscomedy.org. 10:30 am Sunday, Nov. 8. $5 suggested donation. Map

Dis/Troy

The students of Oregon Children's Theatre's Young Professionals program perform a chaotic retelling of the Iliad. Oregon Children's Theatre Young Professionals Studio Theatre, 600 SW 10th Ave., 228-9571. 7 pm Fridays-Saturdays, 2 pm Sundays. Closes Nov. 15. $5-$10. Map

Everyone Who Looks Like You

Hand2Mouth Theatre has extensively reworked the show of family memories the company previewed in May, premiering the finished product in a three-week run before heading to New York in January. We aren't sure how much this version shares with the one we've seen, which drifted between memories, confessions and mass impersonations of parents and siblings, but we liked that one well enough. Theater! Theatre!, 3430 SE Belmont St., boxofficetickets.com. 8 pm Thursday-Sunday, Nov. 6-22. $12-$15. Map

The Famous Mysterious Actor Show

Portland's totally dada comedy talk show, hosted by a hyperactive man-child in a lucha libre mask, is now running the first Wednesday of every month at Curious Comedy. Curious Comedy, 5225 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., curiouscomedy.org. 9 pm Wednesday, Nov. 4. $10. Map

Fat & Sassy II: One Size Fits

Have you ever wished you could recover an hour or two of your life? Sitting in the audience of BroadArts Theatre’s production about overweight women who thunder around either romanticizing or demonizing food will make you long for the blissful life you just put on hold. While the cast has an admirable energy, the desperate grabs for chocolate bars and Krispy Kremes are not entertaining. Nor is a tune a Caucasian sings about wanting to become a heavy black woman. Instead of examining the emotional struggles of overeaters, the deceitfulness of the weight loss industry, or the superficiality of society, cheap, outdated humor simplifies the issues and reaffirms stereotypes of heftier people. SASHA INGBER. Rose City Park Presbyterian Church, 1907 NE 45th Ave., broadarts.org. 8 pm Thursdays-Fridays. 8 pm Saturdays and 2 pm Sundays at Urban Grind East, 2214 NE Oregon St. Closes Nov. 22. $10-$12. Map

Fiction

[EXTENDED] When we meet Michael and Linda Waterman (David Seitz and Gretchen Corbett), the couple whose marriage playwright Steven Dietz plucks apart like a toddler with a butterfly, they are in the midst of a loud, public, very funny throwdown over whether “Piece of My Heart” or “Twist and Shout” is “the greatest rock-and-roll vocal performance of all time.” Novelists both, they express their affection in clever, literate barbs, and they are happy, until Linda is diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and asks Michael if she may read his diaries before she dies. What she finds there is shocking, but not entirely for the reasons we expect. The infidelities here are sexual but also textual, and the story’s many overlapping lies snap together at the end like an intricate mechanical puzzle. Corbett gives her best performance in quite a while; Seitz keeps up with her, brash and worried and repentant. Fiction is the first production of Portland Playhouse’s second season, and the company already appears to be progressing materially as well as artistically: Opening night marked the debut of tiered seating and a lighting system that wasn’t purchased from Home Depot. The beer’s still free. BEN WATERHOUSE. The Church, 602 NE Prescott St., 205-0715. 8 pm Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 pm Sundays. Closes Nov. 7. $14-$19. Map

Fool for Love

Chris Harder and Val Landrum, a real-life married couple, play at emotional abuse and infidelity in CoHo’s production of a lesser-known work of Sam Shepard. Eddie (Harder), a rugged, cheatin’ stunt man, has come to fetch May (Landrum), his lover of 15 years, from her squalid motel room, hoping she’ll return to live with him again in his windblown trailer. She doesn’t want to go, but she doesn’t want him to go, either. So they bicker, he pleads, she threatens to murder him, they get drunk, they fling one another against the walls, and we watch, hopelessly fascinated. So does the Old Man (Tim Stapleton), a mysterious ghost sitting onstage in a rocking chair and bad wig, sucking down whiskey. So, too, does Martin (Spencer Conway), a handsome but none-too-bright townie who shows up to court May. Seeing Harder and Landrum go at it is a bit like overhearing a couple’s role-playing fantasy, uncomfortable and awkward, but it works well for this show. As usual in Shepard’s work, the plot doesn’t quite follow—Eddie is pursued by an unexplained Countess—but it doesn’t really matter. We’re in this for the fight. Don Crossley’s lighting trickery lends a strong sense of realism, which is unfortunately undermined by the set’s lack of walls. Mimed door slams with sound cues are a sorry excuse for the real thing. BEN WATERHOUSE. The CoHo Theater, 2257 NW Raleigh St., 205-0715. 8 pm Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 pm Sundays. Closes Nov. 21. $20-$25. Map

Hats!

What do a tutu, chocolate and bad wigs have in common? They all make an appearance in Triangle Productions’ musical about middle-aged women learning to accept life and all of its affronts. Mary Anne (Adair Chappell) is indignant over turning 50, and her mother’s “menopausal pep squad” convinces her that aging is not as bad as it looks. The singing and dancing are not exactly Broadway caliber, with the only melodious voice coming from Duchess (Shawn Price), but the others have a certain charm. One disappointment is that the actors deliver intimate monologues in areas of the set where some of the audience members can’t see them. But the performers’ delight in inhabiting quirky roles comes through, furnishing plenty of humor—particularly for older audiences who know of and would join the Red Hat Society. SASHA INGBER. Brunish Hall, 1111 SW Broadway., tripro.org. 7:30 pm Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 pm Nov. 15 and 22. No show Nov. 19. Closes Nov. 22. $15-$35. Map

Henry IV

Northwest Classical Theatre Company presents the second half of the saga of Henry of Bolingbroke, with incidental humor by Falstaff, as told by Wm. Shakespeare. Shoe Box Theater, 2110 SE 10th Ave., 971-244-3740. 7 pm Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 pm Sundays. Closes Nov. 22. $15-$18. Map

Hopeless

Melanya Helene revives her one-woman show derived from the writings of American Buddhist nun Pema Chödrön, which ran to largely positive reviews in June. The Brooklyn Bay, 1825 SE Franklin St., Bay K., 772-4005. 8 pm Fridays-Saturdays, 3 pm Sundays. Closes Nov. 22. $12-$15. Map

The Man Who Came to Dinner

Tobias Andersen plays Sheridan Whiteside, a New York cultural personality who has dinner with an Ohio couple, then slips on their icy doorstep, breaks his hip, and settles down as a very unpleasant house guest. Lakewood Center for the Arts, 368 S State St., Lake Oswego., 635-3901. 7:30 pm Thursdays-Saturdays and Dec. 2; 7 pm Nov. 8 and 22, 2 and 7 pm Nov. 15, 2 pm Nov. 29 and Dec. 6 and 13. $24-$26. Map

MarkofMystery

[MAGIC] Close-up sleight of hand and mentalism with MarkofMystery. Jake's Grill, 611 SW 10th Ave., 241-2125. 6-9 pm Fridays. Free. Map

No Exit

Jerry Mouawad’s Tilt-A-Whirl production gives Sartre’s dreary drama of divine punishment a powerful visual metaphor—the room in which the sinners are imprisoned is suspended, balanced at the center point, and lurches up and down with their every movement—and equally powerful physicality, turning the turgid existential lecture into a gleefully strange black comedy. The current production, Imago’s fourth run in Portland, benefits from the talents of Tim True (Garcin), JoAnn Johnson (Inez), Maureen Porter (Estelle) and the delightfully weird Bryce Flint-Somerville as the Valet. True and Porter are as strong as they are uncomfortable, awkward and angry, but neither of them can match Johnson’s energy as she flings herself hither and yon, sending the stage yawing wildly, shrieking like a harpy, taking jumbo-sized bites out of the scenery. The three damned souls, all of them guilty of terrible cruelty toward those who loved them, run one another ragged. You might almost feel sorry for them, but not quite—they deserve to be confined together, in this lurching room, forever. No Exit is a dull play, but, between its ingenious concept and gale-force performances, this production is anything but. BEN WATERHOUSE. Imago Theatre, 17 SE 8th Ave., 231-3959. 7 pm Thursdays, 7:30 pm Fridays, 2 and 7:30 pm Saturdays, 2 pm Sundays. Closes Nov. 15. $28-$39. Map

Nosferatu

Atomic Arts, the group that performed the Star Trek episode "Amok Time" at Woodlawn Park over the summer, reenacts the 1922 silent film that spawned the vampire movie genre. Shoe Box Theater, 2110 SE 10th Ave., 927 5699. 10 pm Fridays-Saturdays. Closes Nov. 21. $15. Map

Open Court

Curious Comedy invites the audience to take the stage for Whose Line Is It Anyway?-style team comedy games. Curious Comedy, 5225 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., curiouscomedy.org. 8 pm Thursdays. $5. Map

Playback Theater

Audience members tell stories, and actors and musicans perform them onstage. Theater! Theatre!, 3430 SE Belmont St., 7:30 pm Saturday, Nov. 7. $15. Map

The Portrait the Wind the Chair

Lucy (Lea Zawada) isn’t handling her grandmother’s death well. She’s frightened of everything Minnie left behind, from Minnie’s teenage portrait to her favorite chair and even her big, old, windblown house, in which Lucy and her sister, Terroba (Kristen Martz), now reside. Zawada, 13, is a wildly expressive actor, and her performance is convincingly alien. Children’s theater rarely presents kids as the unknowably strange beings they really are, and it’s nice to see Shaking the Tree addressing a young audience without the cartoonish antics of most kiddie shows. But this tale of grief, resolved through a gauzy second act dream sequence, is quite long, running around two hours. If your little theatergoer is less patient than the remarkably quiet little girls in the audience the afternoon I attended, you might want to think twice about this one. BEN WATERHOUSE. Shaking the Tree Studio, 1407 SE Stark St., 235-0635. 7 pm Fridays-Saturdays, 3 pm Sundays. 3 pm show Oct. 31. Closes Nov. 14. $10-$15. Map

Razzle Dazzle Die!

[DINNER THEATER] Interactive murder-mystery musical dinner theater. Food by Timothy Fuhrman, murder by Eddie May. Pine Street Bistro, 221 SW Pine St., 524-4366. 7:30-9:30 pm Fridays-Saturdays. $69 per person. Map

Reed McClintock

[MAGIC] The heavily tattooed local magician holds down a weekly gig at Voleur. Voleur, 111 SW Ash St., 227-3764. 8 pm Fridays. Free. 21+. Map

Sitting Standing Lying

The Brody Theater hosts "a marathon showcase" of stand-up comedy, monologues and songs. The Brody Theater, 16 NW Broadway., 224-2227. 8 pm-midnight Saturday, Nov. 7. $6. Map

Stay for the Cake

The Montgomery Street Players, an ensemble of Portland Actors Conservatory graduates, performs three one-acts written, designed and directed by the group. Portland Actors Conservatory, 1436 SW Montgomery St., 274-1717. 7:30 pm Fridays-Sundays. Closes Nov. 15. $10. Map

Theatresports

Live competitive improv games from the Brody ensemble. The Brody Theater, 16 NW Broadway., 224-2227. 8 pm Fridays, 10 pm Saturdays. $7-$10. Map

Trojan Women

The third take on Euripides' tale of Trojan war widows we've seen this fall. This time it's a touring production directed by Leonidas Loizides, with music by Mikis Theodorakis. Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral, 3131 NE Glisan St., 360-882-9995. 6:30 pm Wednesday, Nov. 4. $10-$15. Map

Voices of Our Elders

Well Arts Institute spent 10 weeks with some very elderly Portlanders, assisting them in creating memoirs. Now the memoirs are performed. Olympic Mills Commerce Center, 107 SE Washington St., 459-4500. 3 and 7 pm Saturdays, 3 pm Sundays. Closes Nov. 15. $10-$15. Map

We Bombed in New Haven

Third Eye Theatre presents a 1968 play by Joseph Heller, author of Catch-22. The reflexive tone in which the characters acknowledge they are acting makes the line between reality and make-believe grow hazy. The major (Chandler Adams) barks orders and Capt. Starkey (Simeon Denk) summons his troops to bomb places like Constantinople. The soldier-actors comply until the prospect of dying is upon them. The plot is relevant to today, and derisive humor shades the dialogue, especially from Sgt. Henderson (Jeff Gardner). But more emotional complexity is required. The strongest motivator in most of the actors is anger, but it would prove more powerful juxtaposed with weakness and vulnerability. SASHA INGBER. The Back Door Theater, 4319 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 970-8874. 8 pm Thursdays-Saturdays. No show Oct. 31. Closes Nov. 21. $10-$12. Map

CLASSICAL

Cappella Romana

The superb ensemble devoted to Byzantine and related sounds embarks on its next national tour with a hometown date that looks back to another time of charged encounters between East and West. Like any number of today’s songwriters (remember Neil Young’s album decrying the Iraq war?), Renaissance musicians from Cyprus, Crete and Constantinople chronicled cultures in collision, conflict and cooperation after the Crusades. The concert’s second half shows composers, like other artists of the time, reveling in the rediscovery of the remnants of classical Greek civilization and creating music that tried to recapture that lost legacy. A couple of the names are familiar (Dufay, di Lasso) but the rest remain for us to rediscover, just as the choir did. St. Mary's Cathedral, 1716 NW Davis St., 205-0715. 8 pm Saturday, Nov. 7. $15-$30. Map

Clairvoyance Trio

Soprano Sarah Kim, flutist Krista Aasland and pianist Michael Mathew play music by J.S. Bach, Ravel, Schubert, Schumann and Poulenc, and a couple of contemporary pieces by Kye Ryung Park and Katherine Hoover. The Old Church, 1422 SW 11th Ave., 222-2031. Noon Wednesday, Nov. 5. Free. Map

Filmusik/Classical Revolution PDX Chamber Orchestra

The popular new series that unites old movies with new locally grown music continues to grow in ambition. To accompany the rocket-powered turtles, “brain-eating space babes" and 25-story-tall monster in the 1969 Japanese monster flick Gamera vs. Guiron, the musicians of Classical Revolution will perform Galen Huckins’ original score live, augmented by sound effects generated by  Pat Janowski from the Live Wire! radio show and David Ian, and live dialogue (in English) by the voice actors of Willamette Radio Workshop. Sounds like a lotta monsters, a lotta noise and a lotta fun. Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd., 281-4215. 7 pm Wednesday and Friday, Nov. 4, 6, 11 and 13. $8-$10. Map

Kevin Burke

One of the world’s finest Irish fiddlers joins a string trio of prominent local classical players to perform Trail Band guitarist-composer Cal Scott’s arrangements of traditional Irish music for string quartet. The Old Church, 1422 SW 11th Ave., 222-2031. 7:30 pm Friday, Nov. 6. $15. Map

Oregon Symphony, Pacific Youth Choir

Orchestras across the country have been trying various gimmicks (acrobats! washed-up pop stars!) to win new audiences, and some of them have cashed in nicely with Video Games Live, a “multimedia experience” featuring orchestral and choral versions of music from classic video games. Hey, it is contemporary music, after all, and if not exactly what artistically ambitious listeners crave, it’s proved popular elsewhere. Will those new listeners return for regular OSO programming? With the money the orchestra is likely to make off these shows, maybe it doesn’t matter. Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway., 288-1353. 7:30 pm Saturday, 3 pm Sunday, Nov. 7-8. $20-$70. Map

Portland Opera, Orphée

Philip Glass isn’t only the world’s best-known and most prolific living composer, he’s one of the great composers for theater of any age, and he’s been on a bit of a roll of late, transcending the formulaic repetitive patterns familiar from film scores and concert works over the past few decades and achieving late-career landmarks such as Waiting for the Barbarians, Appomattox and even an album of Leonard Cohen settings. The third in Glass’ series of works based on the great films of Jean Cocteau, Orphée earned positive reviews in its original 1993 incarnation and in this 2007 production, which originated at New York’s Glimmerglass Opera. Several members of that team join PO vets in this fast-paced (95 minutes), present-day setting of the classical Greek myth of a poet trying to bring his wife back from hell, or trying to rescue his marriage from midlife crisis. Forget your stereotypes of Glass’s music as cold and mechanical; while this lambent score effectively uses his trademark repetitive structures, it also contains moments of real beauty, including a gorgeous love duet that will melt the heart of even the most hidebound classical fan. When he heard the rehearsal last week, Glass chose to make this production the source of the Opera’s first ever recording. See preview at wweek.com/editorial/3551/13256/. Keller Auditorium, 222 SW Clay St., 248-4335. 7:30 pm Friday, 2 pm Sunday Nov. 6 and 8. 7:30 pm Thursday and Saturday, Nov. 12 and 14. $20-$135. Map

Red Chamber, Randy Raine-Reusch

The string ensemble (including the koto-progenitor zheng, pipa lute, ruan bass lute, and more) and Taoist/Zen-influenced composer-performer play music inspired by ancient Chinese court sounds and mixed with Balkan, jazz, bluegrass and other ingredients. Linfield College, 2215 NW Northrup St., 883-2275. 7:30 pm Saturday, Nov. 7. Free. Map

Talich Quartet

Like orchestras and jazz ghost bands, some classical chamber ensembles keep their names after the original members have all retired or joined the choir invisible. There’s still a Talich in the Talich Quartet—violinist Jan Talich Jr, son of the musician who founded the Prague foursome in 1964—so the name still makes sense even though none of the original members remain. The new lineup has received accolades comparable to the originals, and in these Friends of Chamber Music concerts they’ll be playing teenage quartets by Schubert and Mendelssohn and the mature Oop. 51 by Dvorak on Monday. On Tuesday, two more in this year’s continuing Beethoven survey: Op. 18 #4 and the late Op. 130, unfortunately not with the original big, bold Grosse Fugue fourth movement but with the cheerier, more wieldy finale Beethoven substituted for it after bemused reactions to the original from listeners. “Cattle! Asses!” Beethoven snarled, before writing a new one—for an additional fee. If you saw the American String Quartet play the big fugue here last spring, you can decide whether Beethoven got it right the first time. First Baptist Church, 909 SW 11th Ave., 224-9842. 7:30 pm Monday, Nov. 9; 7:30 pm Tuesday, Nov. 10 at Kaul Auditorium, 3203 SE Woodstock St. $27-$40. Map

Voniga

You’d think Courtney Von Drehle would have his hands full with that burbling accordion and 3 Leg Torso, but he keeps popping up in other intriguing contexts, including this one with Klezmocracy percussionist-"electronic manipulator” Joe Janiga. Von Drehle will also play slide guitar in the duo’s mix of blues and electronica. Tugboat Brewing, 711 SW Ankeny St., 226-2508. 8:30 pm Thursday, Nov. 5. Free. Map

DANCE

Faces of Nature

Rosangela Silvestre not only dances traditional samba and contemporary Brazilan-influenced movement, the Salvador native has created her own technique based on the gestures and myths of Brazilian spirituality, or orixa. The L.A.-based choreographer and teacher will perform her new solo, Faces of Nature, followed by a Capoeira roda by Portland’s own Grupo de Capoeira Regional do Brasil. 7:30 pm Saturday-Sunday, Nov. 7-8. $15 advance, $20 door. Tickets and info at culturalawarenessfoundation.com. Workshops with Rosangela Silvestre 6:30 pm Thursday-Friday, Nov. 5-6. $20 drop in or $30 both days. KELLY CLARKE. Bahia Brazil Art Center, 2512 SE Gladstone St., Show: $15 advance, $20 door. Map

Grotest Maru

As part of Portland’s German Culture Week (timed to the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall), Berlin-based dance theater group Grotest Maru takes over Pioneer Courthouse Square on Sunday for a free, site-specific work called The Wall. From a peek at some of its live video footage, the group’s got a delightful Cirque du Soleil meets creepy, political Teeth thing goin’ on—complete with stilt walkers and butohlike makeup. I say ja, bitte to that. Wanna be part of the show? Grotest Maru is holding a weeklong dance theater workshop that culminates in the Sunday performance for local artists. Workshop 1-7 pm Wednesday-Saturday, Nov. 4-7. $130. To register, call 775-1585 or visit germanamerican.org. KELLY CLARKE. Pioneer Courthouse Square, 701 SW 6th Ave., Show is free. Map

Ill-Starred

Hot Little Hands, local choreographer Suniti Dernovsek and collaborator David Stein’s dance theater project, presents its newest show, a meditation on “loss, relationships, dreams, mourning and the reaction to and understanding of crisis” called Ill-Starred. KELLY CLARKE. Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center, 5340 N Interstate Ave., Special preview party 7:30 pm Thursday, Nov. 5. Regular show 7:30 pm Friday-Saturday, Nov. 6-7, and Thursday-Saturday Nov. 12-14. $15 general, $12 students/seniors. Special preview party $20. Map

Krebsic Orkestar and Znama Dance Company

Portland’s Balkan gypsy outfit, the Krebsic Orkestar, joins forces with the local belly dancers of Znama for a night of new, original dance and music works at Tony Starlight’s. KELLY CLARKE. Tony Starlight's, 3728 NE Sandy Blvd., 517-8584. 6 pm (age 10 and up dinner show) and 8 pm (21+ show) Sunday, Nov. 8. $10. Map

Monsters of HipHop

An impressive touring cadre of music video and film hip-hop vets school local dancers with two days of workshops and auditions.  Red Lion on the River, 909 N Hayden Island Drive., 283-4466. All day Saturday-Sunday, Nov. 7-8. $190-$210. More info at monstersofhiphop.com. Map

OBT: Uprising

Well, this is one of the coolest things our local ballet company has been involved with in ages. A handful of Oregon Ballet Theatre dancers will perform at Mississippi Studios accompanied by folktastic local band Horse Feathers as part of Uprising, a new all-volunteer program that brings ballet to unconventional venues. Uprising was created by OBT dancer Candace Bouchard to, well, give local movers something to do while they’re off contract with the ballet. This time Ansa Deguchi and Steven Houser, among others, will dance two works by Bouchard. KELLY CLARKE. Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave., 288-3895. 8 pm Tuesday-Thursday, Nov. 3-5. $15. Info at obt.org/uprising. Map

OBT: Uprising

Well, this is one of the coolest things our local ballet company has been involved with in ages. A handful of Oregon Ballet Theatre dancers will perform at Mississippi Studios accompanied by folktastic local band Horse Feathers as part of Uprising, a new all-volunteer program that brings ballet to unconventional venues. Uprising was created by OBT dancer Candace Bouchard to, well, give local movers something to do while they’re off contract with the ballet. This time Ansa Deguchi and Steven Houser, among others, will dance two works by Bouchard.  KELLY CLARKE. Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave., 288-3895. 8 pm Tuesday-Thursday, Nov. 3-5. $15. Info at obt.org/uprising. Map

Savoir Faire

Portland’s roster of barroom burlesque shows swells to accommodate Savoir Faire, a tweaked version of the Hawthorne Theatre’s current weekly nudie show, which promises even more scantily clad, vaudevillian madness. This event is 21 and over. KELLY CLARKE. Hawthorne Theatre, 3862 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 233-7100. 9 pm Thursdays. Admission varies, usually $7-$10. 21+. See hawthornetheatre.com/calendar.php for details. Map

Sinferno Cabaret

A fiery combo of striptease, jugglers, magicians and, yes, fire dancers, doused with a bit of classic rock-’n’-roll sleaze. Because, c’mon, it’s Dante’s. Dante's, 1 SW 3rd Ave., 226-6630. 8:30 pm Sundays. $7. 21+. Map

Trans/a/scend

Someday Lounge gets freaky this Sunday with an eye-popping performance from the Portland Suspension Society as well as fire dancing from Lady Germany and sexually amorphous beats from the fab CJ and the Dolls. All the moolah from this evening of genderfuck goes toward helping a local transgender person raise funds for surgery. Organizers also woo attendees with massages, tarot cards and the ability to “take a shot from the ice luge and take a flogging from a bear!” That last one, I’m hoping, is a euphemism I’m just not familiar with.  KELLY CLARKE. Someday Lounge, 125 NW 5th Ave., 248-1030. 8 pm Sunday, Nov. 8. $10. 21+. Map

Village Dance Convergence

Besides coffee nazis and bike lovers, Portland also boasts a rich ecstatic dance scene, which basically involves a bunch of people dancing “without rules” and getting super naturally, spiritually high off moving their bodies to beats. Heart of Healing presents a “rump-shaking global-funk-freakout” this week to benefit Physicians for a National Health Program featuring everything from live music and vegan grub to “street yoga” and “healing movies.” Groovy. KELLY CLARKE. Village Ballroom, 700 NE Dekum St., 8 pm Friday, Nov. 6. $10-$25 sliding scale. Map