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Tres Bon Like Dia de los Muertos, the Japanese Buddhist Bon Festival, or "Festival of Souls," honors the spirit of the dead with live entertainment and good food. In a related event, sushi, potstickers, and udon noodles will be dished up at the Ginza Bazaar, where the kimono-clad Hanayagi and Fujima Rokushige Odori dance groups guide guests through celebratory bon odori dances; in a slightly less traditional vein, the bazaar will also celebrate the dearly departed with bingo and carnival games. Costumed bon odori dancers will also congregate at the Bon Festival in Japantown, where viewers will be handed fans and other props, and encouraged to join in. The bazaar begins at noon (also Sunday, the day that includes dancing, which begins at 1 p.m.) at the Buddhist Church of San Francisco, 1881 Pine (at Octavia), S.F. Admission is free; call 776-3158. The Bon Dance begins at 3 p.m. (also Sunday) at the Japan Center Peace Plaza, Post & Buchanan, S.F. Admission is free; call 421-4373.
sunday
july 27
Sweat for Less Rhythm and Motion celebrates its new, seismically sound studios with a day of free torture disguised as aerobic exercise. Brazilian, Afro-Haitian, and hip-hop dance classes will be taught along with the regular workouts, in which a professional dancer leads an hourlong class designed to build coordination and cardiovascular endurance; just getting through one without hyperventilating and passing out is worth celebrating with a cigarette and a beer. In all fairness, Rhythm and Motion classes are more dancelike than dance aerobics, the teachers are less like cheerleaders, and the music (which ranged from the Rolling Stones to C&C Music Factory on one visit) is frequently better. Classes begin at 9 a.m. (and continue until 7 p.m.) at Knights of the Red Branch Hall, 1133 Mission (at Seventh Street), S.F. Admission is free (first 500 attendees receive a free poster); call 621-0643.
This Is Your Life Drama belongs in the theater, of course, but enough of it happens in real life that actors can take their cues from actual incidents. Remember when your old flame from the West Coast boarded the cross-town bus you were riding on the East Coast? How about that time you and a friend drove to Texas to see a rock show? Pacific Playback Theater invites the audience to share anecdotes like these in its world-premiere performance. The evening begins with short warm-up exercises conveying moods or feelings, based on an audience's answers to questions like "How was the drive here?" Later, viewers volunteer to share their stories with an MC, who acts as a conduit between the teller and the ensemble. The tales -- whether scary, romantic, or hilarious -- may be re-created in straightforward fashion, says Artistic Director Nan Crawford, or may take on new dimensions, considering the music, the movement, and the unpredictable nature of improv. The show, a benefit for Youth Chance High School, begins at 8 p.m. at the Magic Theater, Building D, Fort Mason, Marina & Laguna, S.F. Admission is $15; call 282-8558.
monday
july 28
Where Every Day Is Ash Wednesday! It's wall-to-wall people on any given day at the Columbarium, but groundskeeper Emmitt Watson is the only one making any noise, since everyone else is dead. The Victorian at 1 Loraine Court is home to some of California's most historically prominent families, or what's left of them, and Watson is a walking repository of information about their lives. Look for urns shaped like silver martini shakers or tree stumps as Wilson leads the tour from the inlaid mosaic ground floor to the rotunda, ticking off the accomplishments and peculiarities of Kaisers, Folgers, and Magnins as he passes through four floors of vaults containing their remains. The renovated Columbarium is open Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and is located between Geary, Anza, Stanyan, and Arguello, S.F. Admission is free; call 221-1611.
tuesday
july 29
Ladies Night When the middle-aged caretaker in Three Tall Women emerges, try to stifle that impulse to shout, "It's Ma Walton!" even though actress Michael Learned really did play the rural matriarch on the long-running TV series. Learned's theatrical credits extend long beyond that show, to include roles in Edward Albee's Seascape and A Delicate Balance, making her performance in this touring production her third go at the playwright's work. In this piece, Learned and a young lawyer (Christina Rouner) have come to look after a 92-year-old widow (Marian Seldes), whose re-examination of the events of her life provides the momentum to the comic drama. Albee added the Pulitzer Prize he won for this play to the Tony Award he won for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The show opens at 8 p.m. (and has an open-ended run) at the Herbst Theater, 401 Van Ness (at Grove), S.F. Admission is $20-50; call 776-1999.
Ticket to Ride "Fast Pass: A Game of Destinations" is like an urban update on the Game of Life, only instead of navigating toy cars jammed with plastic peg children around a maze of insurance policies, players can move one of 13 tile characters (with names like "Wolf" or "Low Rider") around an open-air mural. The directions of the game are literally written on the wall, in poetic form, as are the rules, which aren't as hard and fast as the rules of regular board games. Players are advised to be aware of challenges and temptations as they travel toward their destination, which could be anywhere from Alaska to outer space. The game was created by kids from the Inner City Public Art Projects for Youth Program, under the direction of muralist Johanna Poethig; a reception featuring readings, refreshments, and appearances by the artists begins at 5:30 p.m. at the mural site at the De Vera Store, Russ & Natoma, between Sixth & Seventh streets, S.F. Admission is free; call 861-9838.
