"SANKAI JUKU" November 17-18, 8 p.m. Royce Hall, $15 for students Butoh has come a long way from its days of smothering livestock on stage. While there will not be any animals tortured on the stage of Royce Hall this weekend, the tortured faces of the dancers offer a window into the roots of a now much-evolved Japanese dance form. Read more...

I believe very little of my Chinese mom’s off-the-wall claims about food. She once told me that if you eat too many instant noodles, your body will just lie there, preserved, after you die. Read more...

As the end of the year looms close and the seasons change (read: it’s five degrees cooler outside and the sun stays down a bit longer), it comes time for music geeks worldwide to start making end-of-the-year lists. Read more...

In Dakar, the capital of Senegal, a man introduced himself to Giavanni Washington, asking her whether she was married or had children. Washington, a world arts and cultures graduate student, was not in Africa to find her mate, however; she was there for WAC’s first summer program to Senegal. Read more...

Immersed in the atmosphere of a dark movie theater, where all you can see are flashing images projected onto an enormous screen, it’s often easy to forget that movies are actually multimedia projects. Read more...

“Breaking the Mode” Sept. 17, 2006 – Jan. 7, 2007 LACMA From dresses made of two concentric circles stuck together to business suits done out of the same material as tracksuits, LACMA’s “Breaking the Mode” fashion exhibit challenges viewers’ preconceived notions about what defines fashion. Read more...

Bright Eyes Noise Floor (Rarities 1998-2005) Saddle Creek Records Perhaps you’ve been there. You pull a black hoodie over your tousled hair. For dramatic effect, you suck on a cigarette, indulging each drag of self-destruction. Read more...