Hugely popular since its New Orleans debut in 1995, the PILOBOLUS DANCE THEATRE returns to the Big Easy for a performance of recent works previously unseen in this city. Aptly named for a tiny sun-loving fungus that can throw its spores nearly 8 feet, Pilobolus is a highly unusual dance company whose pieces are more a combination of gymnastics, acrobatics and mime than an execution of technical dance technique. The New Orleans Ballet Association presents Pilobolus Dance Theatre on Wednesday at the Mahalia Jackson Theatre of the Performing Arts. The Connecticut-based company, founded in 1971, originated in a dance class at Dartmouth College in which the students were encouraged to improvise and creatively play. What emerged was a freewheeling exchange of wild ideas about how to cling to one another and make unusual shapes with the bodies, formations that make it tricky to distinguish foot from elbow. Enormously collaborative with four artistic directors, the six-member Pilobolus aims to entertain and confound the audience with its creations that are often witty and humorous. Today, Pilobolus enjoys international recognition. Its varied works have appeared in the repertoires of major dance companies including Joffrey, Feld, Ohio, the Ballet du Rhin in France and Italy's Verona Ballet. The troupe performs for stage and television audiences all over the world and has received numerous prestigious honors, including the Berlin Critic's Prize and the Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Award for lifetime achievement in choreography. The New Orleans performance will include "The Brass Ring," a piece commissioned by the 2002 Winter Olympics Arts Festival and set to a slew of American brass compositions, and "Tsu-Ku-Tsu," a company dance comprised of powerful lifts and delicate balances performed to the music of traditional Japanese instruments. The performance begins at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $26, to $75. Student and senior discounts are available. For tickets call 522-0996. Pilobolus will also present a performance for schools at 10 a.m. Wednesday and a master class for area dancers at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Tulane University. For more information, call 522-0996, ext. 21. -- Heidi Braden

Black and White: Woodcut prints by John Scott Through May Arthur Roger Gallery, 432 Julia St., 522-1999 "I see skies of blue and clouds of white/ The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night/ And I think to myself what a wonderful world..." The words are Louis Armstrong's, and while we all know the world isn't always all that lovely, there is no doubt that Armstrong's musical talents really did make the world a more wonderful place. Sculptor John Scott, whose art has long been inspired by music, expresses his, and our, gratitude in Louis, a series of woodcuts based on the life of New Orleans' own jazz saint, at the Arthur Roger Gallery. Accompanying them is another series, Blues Poem for an Urban Landscape, derived from Scott's impressions of America's depressed and dysfunctional inner cities, urban blues environments not unlike the world into which Louis Armstrong was born over a century ago. -- D. Eric Bookhardt

Nicholas Payton 5 p.m. Wednesday, May 14 Lafayette Square (across from Gallier Hall), 561-8927 Nicholas Payton performs a free show Wednesday afternoon at Lafayette Square. Local fans of New Orleans trumpeter Nicholas Payton should savor his upcoming New Orleans performances, because Payton's blistering 2003 Jazz Fest set suggests that he's about to receive a flood of national acclaim -- and tour dates. Debuting material from his forthcoming album (slated for an August release), Payton unleashed some of his most challenging and invigorating material to date, multi-layered compositions whose roiling textures and musical instrumentation suggested a tip of the fedora to Bitches Brew-era Miles Davis. He hasn't forgotten his trad-jazz roots, either, but is equally daring in that arena: His humorously titled new song "Cannabis Leaf Rag" danced around the melodies of Scott Joplin's "The Entertainer" and "Maple Leaf Rag" before turning the songs inside out in fits of funky brass blasts and syncopated drum patterns. Elsewhere in his set he paid homage to inspirations as diverse as African legend Fela Kuti, showing that Payton's art knows no musical bounds. Free admission. -- Scott Jordan

Zion I, Lyrics Born, Life Savas, Odd Jobs 9 p.m. Wednesday, May 14 The Parish at House of Blues, 225 Decatur St., 529-BLUE Berkeley, Calif.-based label Solesides Records helped reshape the direction of underground hip-hop/DJ culture when it emerged alongside the London-based Mo' Wax label. Mo' Wax jewel DJ Shadow began Solesides as a stateside outlet for artists in the progressive trip-hop fusion vein that he had developed. Now known as Quannum Projects, this Wednesday's bill at the Parish brings four of the label's artists to the stage, including Lyrics Born, who contributed its very first release in 1993. Atlanta-turned-Berkeley group Zion I is also a major force for Quannum, injecting spiritual and intellectual elements into its aggressive hip-hop melange. Newcomers Lifesavas are set to continue Quannum's tradition of innovation and quality with melodious anthems and clever lyrics over raw beats. Both Lifesavas and Lyrics Born have new albums set for release this summer. Special guest Diverse will join the Quannum crew. Admission $14. -- Diettinger

American Routes 5th Anniversary featuring Shemekia Copeland, Kermit Ruffins and friends, and Keb' Mo 8:30 p.m. Thursday, May 15 House of Blues, 225 Decatur St., 529-BLUE Shemekia Copeland helps the radio show American Routes celebrate its fifth anniversary Thursday at House of Blues. Despite being locally relegated to the time-slot ghetto of Sunday night at 8 p.m. on WWNO, host Nick Spitzer's American Routes program is must-hear radio for anyone interested in the deep connections between the artists and genres of roots music. (Proof of the show's vitality is evident in its impressive national syndication; American Routes is currently carried by more than 170 stations across the country.) Spitzer's an erudite and knowledgeable host with an encyclopedic knowledge of American music traditions and gets that blend across through a sweeping playlist and interviews with icons such as Jerry Garcia, Ray Charles and Doc Watson. To celebrate five years of producing quality radio in the Crescent City, tonight's bill reflects American Routes' diverse programming with jazz and New Orleans flavor from Kermit Ruffins (with a number of special guests), female vocalist and blues sensation Shemekia Copeland, and perennial blues-pop crowd-pleaser Keb' Mo'. Tickets $15. -- Jordan

Etta James 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday May 16-17 House of Blues, 225 Decatur St., 529-BLUE The march of time and physical ailments restrict Etta James to often performing sitting down these days, but her magnificent powerhouse voice isn't showing any signs of age. The woman who sang the immortal love song "At Last" in 1961 and the enduring soul and R&B barnburner "Tell Mama" in 1967 remains one of the Queens of the Blues, although she's always traveled diverse musical roads. She cut the deep-soul album Deep in the Night in 1978, and floored listeners with 1994's lush Mystery Lady: The Songs of Billie Holiday, a gorgeous tribute to Lady Day; she mined the same jazzy vein in 2001's Blue Gardenia, an equally stirring collection of standards bearing James' stamp. Her most recent CD, Let¹s Roll, finds James belting out equal helpings of blues rock and vintage Southern soul. Factor that in with her risque stage banter and dominant stage presence, and James is proof that age really is just a number. Tickets $45. -- Jordan

The Rocky Horror Show Midnight Friday-Saturday, May 16-17; through June 14 Cowpokes Theater, 2240 St. Claude Ave., 947-0505 Few things provide the recipe for cultist fun like the combination of a midnight theater time and the campy fun of The Rocky Horror Show, in this case, the play, ot the movie. This weekend, Moonsong Productions presents a stage version of the hit musical, famously mired in the goofy genre of B-movie science fiction and horror from the 1950s and '60s. The plot centers around alien mad scientist Dr. Frank-N-Furter and the inhabitants of his castle, including inadvertent guests and young lovers Brad Majors and Janet Weiss. The score comprises a mix of '50s-style doo-wop, blues and rock 'n' roll. Jonne Dendinger (Smokey Joe¹s Cafe) directs Tony Fennelly as The Narrator, Jonathan Frick (Dr. Frank-N-Furter), Jennifer Leigh Stockton (Janet) and Jeff M. Poucher (Brad). The general-admission tickets are $20. Pre-show festivities begin 45 minutes before the show and include games like "Pin the Tail on the Transvestite," and prizes will be awarded for best audience costume. For more info, visit http://therockyhorrorshow.tripod.com/. -- Frank Etheridge

Ballet at the Hit and Run Cafe 8 p.m. Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday, May 17-18 New Orleans Dance Academy, 5956 Magazine St., 895-5635 The Renverser Repertory Ballet troupe was created by founder and current artistic director Karen Shulda to have a multicultural ensemble spanning generations capable of presenting a body of work as diverse as its membership. To further that aim, Shulda and company created the Hit and Run series to showcase their works in a different setting, with the goal being a informal, cafe vibe. Pieces presented this weekend include "In Search of Wild Horses" by Shulda, which explores man's fascination with wild animals and features live music by flutist Hart McNee and percussionist Andrew McLean. Other performances are "Spanish Symmetry," an original Renverser work, which on Sunday will feature Solangel "Lolly" Calix on castanets; and "Awaken," a new work by group dancer and choreographer Sangode Lowe. Sunday's performance will feature the premiere of a work by guest choreographer Greer Mindy designed for the Renverser Young Dancers Ensemble. Suggested donation $6 general public, $5 students and seniors. -- Etheridge

Kings and Queens of Comedy Search 8 p.m. Saturday, May 17 Saenger Theatre, 143 N. Rampart St., 524-2490/522-5555 When burgeoning Latham Entertainment -- essentially the savvy promotions of 31-year-old CEO Walter Latham, the man who discovered Chris Tucker -- unleashed the Original Kings of Comedy tour two years ago, few could predict its impact. A phenomenon that has grossed $39 million thus far, the tour introduced the urbane and hilariously profane humor of Cedric the Entertainer to city clubs and suburban VCRs and DVDs across the country. Subsequently, a Queens of Comedy tour followed, and now the three hosts of that comedy showcase -- Monique, Sommore and Adele Givens -- come to town as part of a national search for talents that rival their own. The Kings and Queens of Comedy Search will eventually form its own reality-television show and features 12 up-and-coming comedians who will be eliminated from the tour city after city, as the audience ranks the performance and the lowest score at each show gets the boot. Tickets $36.25- $41.25 are available through the Saenger box office or Ticketmaster. -- Etheridge

Amerigo CD-release party 10 p.m. Saturday, May 17 The Howlin' Wolf, 828 S. Peters St., 522-WOLF Out of all the currently emerging local rock bands, Amerigo utilizes the most advanced and complex format. Led by pianist/vocalist Matt Martin and guitarist Earl Vallery (who began collaborating while in high school), the core quintet creates Jeff Buckley-esque songs with sonic stylings akin to more progressive bands like Radiohead. The band's full string sections add dramatic intensity to its large-scale compositions, often raising its sound to epic proportions. Music for the Furniture (2001) exposed Amerigo's musical ideals, fine-tuned since a previously released three-song EP Chemicals. Two years of gigging and opening for such venerable acts as The Dismemberment Plan and Fugazi have honed the band's live show considerably. And after several months' break from the club scene, Amerigo returns this Saturday with a new crop of songs and the release of a second full-length album. A copy of the untitled album will be available free to all attendees, a special favor for those who go to the show. World Leader Pretend opens. Admission $6. -- Diettinger