Amber Adrian

RJ Muna

Dancers soaring across stage in their underwear are never to be missed. Especially when the women strip the men down to the barest of skivvies and redress them in haute couture created on the spot with masking tape, butcher paper, and tissue. Inspired by a manual on correct female conduct written in 1963, the world premiere of A Guide To Elegance features dancers moving to the sounds of Pamela Z's original score and a voiceover intoning the themes of the manual.

Clifton Brown

Paul Kolnik

The problem with seeing an amazing show is having to turn around and describe said amazing show. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is apparently indescribable, as I've been sitting here for an hour trying to think of ways to adequately convey the sharp mastery of Revelations or the Dr. Seuss-like appeal of a dude in blue spandex with a tall blue feather on his head. Company auditions must screen for men with coiled springs instead of muscles and women who swing through combinations with a dynamic grace, because that's precisely what you get.

Trying to describe Brecht is like trying to follow your Great Uncle Milton as he waxes philosophical over a glass of Hendrick's - undoubtedly important but you're never quite sure where he's going to end up. Nonetheless, here's a brief plot synopsis (you're welcome): A servant girl saves a baby abandoned in war-time. At the end of a journey including soldiers, treacherous mountain passes, and marriage to a dying man, their fate is left in the hands of a cantankerous judge and his chalk circle. Also, there's singing and the occasional violin.

In an interview, 25-year-old playwright Chinaka Hodge called her world premiere "a hilarious jaunt through racism and lynchings." Turns out, she wasn't kidding. Mirrors in Every Corner is a deeply funny (I had to clap my hand over my mouth a few times to stifle the hyena-like snorts), genre-twisting story of a family just like any other family - three squabbling siblings, a harried mother, and a baby sister with strawberry blonde curls and green eyes.

Sarah Chang

Lisa Bielawa's Kafka Songs

Described by The New York Times as "ruminative, pointillistic and harmonically slightly tart", Lisa Bielawa's music often draws from literary inspirations - this time from the more introspective of Franz Kafka's writings. Seven songs for violin and vocals (all performed by Carla Kihlstedt) comprise the aptly named Kafka Songs, in a program that also includes selections from Jürg Frey and Chou Wen-chung.

Jewish Community Center, 3200 California Street. March 4. Info at www.jccsf.org.

Robert Moses is known for his sinuous, rapid-fire choreography and his dancers are known for their enviable ability to slide gracefully through movement so complex that the average audience member eye-brain connection is speed dazzled. The performance this weekend marks the world premiere of a behemoth of a project.

Bangladeshi-British choreographer Akram Khan pulls dancers from an expansive array of backgrounds - China, Korea, India, Slovakia, South Africa and Spain - to perform quick yet thoughtful meditations on living in a global community.

Put the Greek chorus in prison orange, make Oedipus a charismatic Chicano ex-con, throw the whole thing in the blender of MacArthur genius grant-winner Luis Alfaro's cunning brain and you get Oedipus El Rey, a gripping re-imagination of the classic myth. (Oedipus was the dude who killed his father and married his mother after a Seer warned his father that his new son would be his doom. So his father banished Oedipus, accidentally setting all events in motion. Whoops.)

Zodiac Trio

Quarteto Vivace Brasil: Young hipsters of the male persuasion tend to refer to Brazil as "that place with the hot girls" - with an occasional reference to tango (where there are also hot girls). But in addition to the women and the rainforests, Brazil also has some stunning classical music, namely, Quarteto Vivace Brasil. The quartet features some of Brazil's best musicians - two guitarists, a percussionist, and a flautist - who play with an energy that makes Brazilian sambas and Argentinian tangos pop. Their premiere U.S.

World premieres are fun because you get to sit smugly with the knowledge that you're one of the first people on the planet to see whatever it is you're seeing. We all like to be smug on occasion. Aurora Theatre is a darn good place to see such premieres, as it pulls down plenty of respect and kudos from the theater-y folks.