What do see, do and hear: “The Mirror Garden,” Anat Cohen, “Tithonia,” more

DANCE

The Emory Dance Company Fall Concert will comprise a mixed bill of contemporary dance this weekend at the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts Dance Studio. New works are choreographed by four Emory faculty — Julio Medina, Tara Shepard Myers, George Staib and Mara Mandradjieff, who has performed solo roles with The Georgia Ballet. Guest choreographer Lyrric Jackson, an adjunct professor of dance at Spelman College whose work has been seen globally, is creating a piece inspired by the 1994 Rwanda genocide. The company is a professionally oriented ensemble that exposes students to the different choreographic approaches of faculty, students and guest artists. The primary focus is new work that investigates aspects of our humanity. This year, the concert is delving into some decidedly somber but compelling topics. Thursday through Saturday, 7:30 p.m. $15 general admission. $8 for students.

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Core Dance presents the next iteration of its film series REEL Art, Gesture 2 — Liberation Energy by Michael Eckblad. Opening reception, with an artist talk with Eckblad, is scheduled for Friday at 8 p.m. His film is an exploration of the element of hydrogen and utilizes a slow-motion camera to show how bodies interact with the element. Through small experiments outdoors, Eckblad explores what the element hydrogen truly is as opposed to its notion of danger, especially with the rise of interest in the hydrogen economy. Registration encouraged. Free.

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THE ARTS

Tonight at the High Museum of Art, five Atlanta artists will perform their original work live as part of the NEXT Atlanta and MARTA Artbound initiative. Okorie “OkCello” Johnson will be joined by visual artist Melissa A. Mitchell, poet griot Jon Goode (who also hosts The Moth), musician CC Sunchild and HBO Def Jam poet Carlos Andres Gomez. The event will also feature the premiere of the NEXT Movement film series, which showcases each artist’s performance on a decommissioned MARTA train. 6-10 p.m. Free but seating is limited and registration required.

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MUSIC

The Molly Blank Concert Series returns after a two-year Covid pause with the Anat Cohen Quartetinho (Quartet) performing Brazilian-flavored music at the Breman Museum Sunday at 4 p.m. The Israeli-born Cohen is acclaimed as one of world’s premier clarinetists and has just released the album Quartetinho. The series will feature jazz pianist Joe Alterman and legendary saxophonist Houston Person on March 12 and a salute to the Gershwin brothers on April 23. Tickets start at $18.

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Pianist Inon Barnatan returns to Atlanta to perform tonight and Saturday at 8 p.m. with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra under the baton of guest conductor John Storgårds. The Israeli-born Barnatan debuted with the ASO as a last-minute substitute in 2013. He dazzled the audience and has since returned for concerts with the ASO and a solo concert at Spivey Hall. Barnatan will perform Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini, and the orchestra will also perform Sibelius’ Symphony No. 5 and Tarkiainen’s Midnight Sun Variations. Tickets start at $23.

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Slutty Vegan CEO and founder Pinky Cole will be at the Buckhead Theatre Saturday at 8 p.m. to celebrate the release of her cookbook Eat Plants, B*tch. The event will pair Cole with celebrity guests, fellow chefs and cooking professionals, along with Slutty Vegan food trucks outside. Her cookbook has 91 vegan recipes, from breakfast dishes to Southern comfort food, all plant-based. Tickets start at $35.

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ART+DESIGN

Zipporah Camille Thompson, MOCA GA’s 2021/2022 Working Artist Project Fellow, has a solo exhibition at MOCA titled the ocean wept rainbows through January 7. Thompson is a ceramist, weaver, sculptor and activist based in Atlanta. She explores alchemical transformations through clay and textiles, eliciting social change through her work. Free for members. Non-members $5.

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Bill Lowe Gallery is presenting an exhibition of new works by New York artist Michael David titled The Mirror Stage. David’s mirror paintings conjure up his roots as a bass player for the Numbers and the Plasmatics in New York’s early punk rock scene. His love of popular culture manifests in this new work, which the gallery describes as a mix of “bling-bling ambiguity” and “jewel-like wickedness.” Through January 7.

Monir Farmanfarmaian: A Mirror Garden opens Friday at the High Museum of Art. It is the first posthumous exhibition at an American museum for Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian (1922-2019), one of Iran’s most celebrated and revered visual artists. She is known internationally for her geometric mirror sculptures that combine the mathematical order and beauty of ancient Persian architecture with the forms and patterns of hard-edged, postwar abstraction. Through April 9. Non-members $16.50. Members free.

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THEATER

This weekend only, The Atlanta Fringe Festival and Out Front Theatre present Tithonia: A Lesbian Space Opera, an original musical from Skysail Theatre in Asheville, North Carolina. This musical features the tale of a malfunctioning spaceship and a rogue AI interface paired with spunky, courageous protagonists and a blossoming on-ship romance. Catch Tithonia on Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. Tickets start at $20. 

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In the final event of Theatrical Outfit’s Made in Atlanta, a reading of Marry Me, Bruno Mars will take place on Saturday at 2 p.m. The performance centers on Asian American identity in recent Atlanta history and is by Filipina-Canadian writer Megan Tabaque. Read Luke Evans’ recent feature on ArtsATL to learn more about Made in Atlanta. Tickets for the reading are free, but be sure to register. 

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Saturday and Sunday, The Porter Sanford III Performing Arts and Community Center presents Wiz: The Return. Ease on down the road once again as the next generation of characters make musical magic just as in the 1975 version of The Wiz, a Broadway smash. Tickets start at $11.50. 3181 Rainbow Drive, Decatur.