WEEKEND FORECAST

TODAY

Dancing ‘Karenina’

A woman who gives up everything for love is a dream role for actresses as well as prima ballerinas. On screen, Tolstoy’s 1877 novel “Anna Karenina” has served as a vehicle for such stars as Greta Garbo, Vivien Leigh, Jacqueline Bisset and Sophie Marceau. Dance versions have been created for the Bolshoi Ballet, the Belgrade National Ballet, the Australian Ballet and, most recently, the intense dancing actors of the Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg. Using music by Tchaikovsky, Boris Eifman retells this story of passion, betrayal and suicide as a study of a woman torn apart. “Two confrontational human beings co-existed in her,” he says.

The Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg in “Anna Karenina,” Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, L.A. Music Center, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. 7:30 tonight. $20-$75. (213) 365-3500. (213) 972-0711.

* Also 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday.

His praises are sung

Unabashed patriot and astonishingly prolific composer Irving Berlin, whose all-American classics include “Easter Parade,” “White Christmas” and “God Bless America,” is the subject of “The Melody Lingers On: The Songs of Irving Berlin.” A new musical conceived by Karin Baker, it spans Berlin’s life from Tin Pan Alley and Broadway to Hollywood and wartime tours of duty in Europe and the Pacific.

“The Melody Lingers On: The Songs of Irving Berlin,” El Portal Theatre, 5269 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood. Opens 8 p.m. today. $35-$50. (818) 508-4200.

* Runs 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 2 p.m. Wednesdays and Sundays. Ends July 10.

FRIDAY

A movable jazz feast

Preservation Hall on St. Peter Street in the heart of New Orleans’ French Quarter has been open since 1961 in an effort to keep that city’s traditional style of jazz music alive. In addition, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band performs approximately 150 dates per year around the world serving as New Orleans’ goodwill ambassadors. Southlanders will have four chances to get their taste of the Big Easy.

Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive, Irvine. 8 p.m. Friday $33-$40. (949) 854-4646.

* Also 2 p.m. Sunday at Amoeba Music, 6400 Sunset Blvd., L.A. Free. (323) 245-6400; 6 p.m. Sunday at Warner Park, 5900 Topanga Canyon Blvd., Woodland Hills Free. (818) 704-1358; a children’s concert at 10 a.m. Monday at the Madrid Theatre, 21622 Sherman Way, Canoga Park. Free. (818) 347-9419.

Misfits find each other

It’s not really fair (and might not be possible) to compare Miranda July to other filmmakers. Her mixed-media work has lifted her to the lofty artistic air of the Whitney Biennial, but her debut feature film, “Me and You and Everyone We Know,” takes her closer to the mainstream and finds her writing and directing as well as acting. John Hawkes (Richard) plays a newly single, distraught shoe salesman trying to raise two sexually precocious young boys. When Richard hesitantly encounters July’s idiosyncratic Christine, a struggling artist and cab driver for the elderly, the two seek to make small connections in a world of increasing isolation.

“Me and You and Everyone We Know,” R for disturbing sexual content involving children, and for language, opens Friday exclusively at the Landmark Nuart, 11272 Santa Monica Blvd., West L.A., (310) 281-8223.

Brazilian strings

The Brazilian Guitar Quartet plays the usual acoustic instruments, to be sure, but also a few that aren’t the usual -- eight-string guitars, for instance, held upright like cellos. The ensemble, sometimes called the Dream Team in their native Brazil, opens the Vintage Evenings series at the Ford Amphitheatre on Friday with a program of Bach and Brazilian composers such as Heitor Villa-Lobos.

Brazilian Guitar Quartet, Ford Amphitheatre, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East, Hollywood. 8 p.m. Friday. $25. (323) 461-3673. www.FordAmphitheatre.org.

SATURDAY

Graffitist makes good

Under the moniker SAMOCopyright , Jean-Michel Basquiat spray painted pseudo-philosophical rants, including such gems as, “SAMO as an end to mindwash religion, nowhere politics and bogus philosophy.” His later works, still inspired by graffiti art, continued to critique society and pop culture. A collection of some of Basquiat’s paintings, drawings and prints is on display at Ikon Ltd.

“Jean-Michel Basquiat,” Ikon Ltd., Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Ave., G4. Santa Monica. Opens Saturday. (310) 828-6629.

* Hours: 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Ends Aug. 27.

Landscape photos

In 1971, Stephen Shore was the first living photographer to have a solo exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art -- not bad for a self-taught photographer. “The Biographical Landscape: The Photography of Stephen Shore, 1968-1993,” at the Hammer features highlights from Shore’s series “American Surfaces” and “Uncommon Places” and later images of cityscapes.

“The Biographical Landscape: The Photography of Stephen Shore, 1968-1993,” Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. Free admission through Sept. 4. Opens Saturday. (310) 443-7000.

* Hours: 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, except 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Thursdays; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sundays. Ends Oct 16.

SUNDAY

Byrne and Arcade Fire

This year’s KCRW World Festival series at the Hollywood Bowl opens with an evening presided over by one of rock’s most prominent world-music advocates, David Byrne. The former Talking Heads leader is joined by Montreal’s Arcade Fire, one of the hottest young bands around and one whose sound is deeply indebted to Byrne’s fevered rock. Also on the bill is Si*Se, a New York-based alt-Latino band.

David Byrne, Arcade Fire and others, Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood. 7 p.m. Sunday. $12 and $16. (323) 850-2000.