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NSDCM: Dance with depth. Urban Guide Listings to plan your week by National Song and Dance Company of Mozambique Mozambique gained independence from Portuguese rule in 1975. The Mozambican government yearned to restore indigenous cultural values that had been suppressed for 500 years, resulting in the formation of a touring group of amateur artists to promote the fresh new national identity. This group acquired professional status in 1983 and now introduces some of the finest dancers from Africa with performances that have been passed down from several generations. The now world renowned National Song and Dance Company of Mozambique treats the Bay Area to a special one-time only performance at the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center. An exhilarating ensemble of 35 dancers and drummers present a blend of both traditional and contemporary flare in the form of African warrior dances, celebration rituals, wedding dances, and a capella singing. The dance company combines traditional African village life with influences from Potuguese and Arab traders, promising a passionate afternoon of inspired drumming, dancing, and storytelling. Oakland is extremely fortunate to host this group, which travels the world on a regular basis. Dance for Power, an Oakland-based nonprofit organization, will sponsor the event. Sun/10, 2:30pm. Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center, Calvin Simmons Theatre, 10 Tenth St., Oakl. $12-$26. 238-7765; www.ticketmaster.com. (JPS) Steven Lafler is buggin' out. 'Baja' Reception There is nothing more delicious than a good old story of mystery, music, sex, and fugitive bugs hiding out from the law. Throw this assemblage into a blender and pour it into a comic book and you've got Baja, Steven Lafler's newest work. Lafler picks up where his first graphic novel, Bughouse left off, with a storyboard-style narrative that is nothing less than cool. Baja follows the main character, Bones the bass player, as he skirts the law in Mexico, outsmarts gangster Johnny Muggies, and manages some romance along the way. Lafler will be at 21 Grand this week to celebrate the book's release and sign copies, where many of his storyboards will be on display through the 31st. Reading Lafler's graphic novels is an experience for all the senses; and viewing the creative process hung on gallery walls gives insight into the technical skill and mastery involved in the evolution itself. Thurs/7, 7-10pm. 21Grand, 21 Grand, Oakl. 44G.RAND. (AL) Burma Human Rights Day You know that feeling you get reading the daily news-paper or watching the news that you're not getting the whole story? Well, you're invited to the Berkeley Unitarian Fellowship for a chance to circumvent the gatekeepers and power up your knowledge on the current situation in Burma. Featured speaker Min Zin, noted journalist, editor, and radio commentator, will discuss the plight of the Burmese people under the 40-year rule of a brutal military dictatorship. Ellen Bruno, director and award-winning producer, will introduce her film Sacrifice. The film documents the practice of families selling women and children into Thailand brothels due to economic hardship. Take this as an opportunity to be a good global citizen. Burmese arts and crafts will be on display, and a dinner of Burmese cuisine is included in the ticket price. All donations will benefit women's groups at the Burma/Thailand border. Sat/9, 5-10 pm. Berkeley Unitarian Fellowship, Cedar and Bonita, Berk. $10-$20. 510.749.0526; www.badasf.org. (CB) Let Shashmaqam Bukharan take you on a journey. Jewish Music Festival This week find out exactly how far the Jewish people have journeyed. The première of Shashmaqam Bukharan Jewish Ensemble brings together the traditions of Burkhara and Uzbekistan, where Jewish and Muslim musicians crossed paths in Central Asia. The performance sides with Central Asian influence, but the influences of slavery and Germany have some prominence as well. The regions of Uzbek, Tajik, Afghan, and Azerbaijani provide the strings (tar and tambur) and drums (doire and nagora), while Eastern European influence adds more familiar instruments, such as the accordion and clarinet. The combination of sounds works out in the form of classical wedding and ritual songs. Colorful and vibrant traditional dances blend into the musical performance. From such depths, the music of the Shashmaqam Ensemble is a mystic power. Connect with the concert this weekend, if for no other reason than to gain some universal identity. Sat/9, 8pm. Wheeler Auditorium, UC Berkeley Campus, Bancroft and Telegraph, Berk. $8. 925.866.9559. (GS) 'An Eye Unruled' In the early days of his career, filmmaker Stan Brakhage didn't strive to be an avatar of cool like Andy Warhol; as an artist, he lacks the accoutrement of market-able aesthetics and celebrity. Nowadays, Brakhage's legacy has gone from avant-garde to avant-pop as he gets name-checked by Stereolab and fills a chapter in the copybook of MTV auteurs. But the man and his work remain fairly obscure -- or worse, something to be yawned through in lower-division film classes. The PFA grants the curious a crash course in "An Eye Unruled: An Evening with Stan Brakhage" as he shows some of his hand-painted films and discusses the ideas at play in his work. Brakhage draws on 50 years of crafting hundreds of films that range from eye-popping abstraction to queasy self-portraiture, always planted firmly in meticulous technique. His hand-painted films -- for which he paints and scratches the celluloid one frame at a time -- eschew the photo-graphed world in favor of a silent colorfield cinema, a cascade of shades and shapes that suggest much but admit little. Tues/12, 7:30pm. Pacific Film Archive, 2575 Bancroft, Berk. 642.1412; www.bampfa.berkeley.edu/pfa/filmseries. (JM) Picks by Corey Best (CB), Aimee Le Duc (AL), James Magary (JM), John Paul Sekulich (JPS), and Gabriel Serpa (GS). [ East Bay | Metroactive | Archives ]