The transcendental music and movement that shape the unique ballet of MOMIX have, since the debut of founder Moses Pendleton's vision at the 1980 Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, N.Y., taken audiences on many a journey. This trip, delivered in two performances this Saturday and Sunday, ventures to the American Southwest in "Opus Cactus." The New Orleans Ballet Association (NOBA) brings MOMIX to town for what will be the troupe's fifth engagement here. The tradition of artistic, athletic dance placed in surreal, dreamlike settings has taken the group from Prince videos to Sesame Street to the IMAX feature film Imagine. Now the focus is on the desert and its strange nature, a fertile feeding ground for a MOMIX concept, of which New York Times critic Jack Anderson gushed, "'Opus Cactus' ... is a suite abounding with desert flora, fauna and fantasies." The show is a collection of 21 vignettes that celebrate the color and life of the Sonora Desert. Pendleton's inspiration for the work came while working as a choreographer for the Arizona Ballet in Phoenix, where he first became enamored with the beauty of the saguaro cactus, the "sunflower of the desert" that was a sacred plant of the Lakota Indians. Against backdrops of ochre and orange, dancers in "Opus Cactus" transform into the forms and spirits of the desert, from tumbleweeds to cactus wren. Driving the performance are elements of acrobatics, gymnastics, classical ballet and modern dance, with twists of rock climbing, pole vaulting and bodysurfing. Ritual plays a key role as well, found at one point in a huge looping metal "Dream Catcher" ridden by two dancers. The eclectic score includes Bach, Brian Eno, Dead Can Dance, Chief Spotted Eagle and aboriginal music from Australia. The shows are at 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, both at the Mahalia Jackson Theatre of the Performing Arts in Armstrong Park. Tickets range from $26-$75. -- Frank Etheridge

Emerson String Quartet 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 23 Tulane University, Dixon Hall, 895-0690 New Orleans Friends of Music presents tthe Emerson String Quartet on Tuesday at Tulane's Dixon Hall. New Orleans Friends of Music proves its no misnomer with its presentation of the Emerson String Quartet. Hailed by Time magazine as "America's greatest quartet," the Emerson String Quartet is a regular fixture in Friends of Music concerts, having appeared 12 times prior in the concert series' 48 seasons. The visiting quartet (David Finckel, cello; Philip Setzer, violin; Lawrence Dutton, viola; Eugene Drucker, violin) has earned a reputation in a career that spans six Grammy Awards for a tradition-rich style that is both artistic and technically masterful. The group will perform works by Haydn, Debussy and Mendelssohn; a lecture by Tulane music professor John Joyce precedes the program at 7 p.m. Tickets $18 (Tulane students free, others $10); for tickets of more info, visit www.friendsofmusic.org. -- Etheridge

Dora the Explorer Live! 7 p.m. Wednesday and Friday, 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. Thursday, 11 a.m., 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. Saturday, and 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.; March 24-28 Saenger Theatre, 143 N. Rampart St., 524-2490/522-5555 Thanks to the TV show Dora the Explorer, one local parent reports that his 2-year-old now asks for a cookie bilingually: ³I want Oreo, por favor.² One of Nick Jr.¹s most successful shows (and merch machines), Dora also receives props from educators for its multi-culti content and the show¹s self-described ³determined, positive, helpful and smart² protagonist. It¹s also kind of weird, as the best kids¹ shows usually are: Dora lives in a computer, and her best friends are Backpack, Map and a monkey named Boots. (There¹s also a fox, a bull and a squirrel who speaks Spanish.) The 80-minute stage show features all this plus live actors, puppets and a soundtrack that includes Gloria Estefan¹s ³Get on Your Feet!² Tickets $16 to $26. -- Michael Tisserand

Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra: ³Francia y Espana² 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 25; 8 p.m. Saturday, March 27 Orpheum Theatre, 127 University Place, 523-6530 The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) this week honors the musical heritage and inspiration of France and Spain. The program includes Emmanuel Chabrier¹s ³Espana,² Ravel¹s ³Le Tombeau de Couperin² and ³Pavane on a Dead Princess,² Bizet¹s ³Suite from Carmen² and Manuel de Falla¹s ³The Three-Colored Hat.² A Frenchman, Chabrier was inspired by a visit to his neighboring country and sought to capture the culture¹s color and passion in ³Espana.² Ravel¹s works include both piano compositions and dance-inspired movements. Carmen is oft considered the most popular opera ever written. De Falla¹s composition was written for ballet, with a score that¹s purely Spanish but with themes that resonate universally. Alastair Willis, resident conductor of the Seattle Symphony, serves as guest conductor. Tickets $13-$62. For tickets or more info, visit www.lpomusic.com. -- Etheridge

Randall Bramblett 9 p.m. Thursday, March 25 The Parish at the House of Blues, 229 Decatur Street, 529-BLUE Randall Bramblett, a pioneer of the Athens, Ga., music scene, re-ignited his solo career in 2001 when he signed with New West Records. His new album, Thin Places, is a series of trenchant observations from the experienced side of life highlighted by the autobiographical ³Nobody¹s Problem² and the world-weary ³Chet Baker.² Bramblett emerged in the mid-1970s with a landmark album, That Other Mile, notable for its solid R&B songwriting and his distinctive keyboard and saxophone playing. Bramblett stopped solo work after joining Sea Level, and though he lived in Gentilly through most of the 1980s, he didn¹t perform locally because of his sideman responsibilities, including a stint with the Levon Helm band. Since returning to Athens, Bramblett has played with the Steve Winwood band, the reunited Traffic and Widespread Panic. Now he¹s back in town with his Hammond B3-based quintet. Tickets $10. -- John Swenson

³Dual CD Release Party²: Big Sam¹s Funky Nation and the Stooges 10:30 p.m. Friday, March 26 Tipitina's, 501 Napoleon Ave., 895-8477 Seems there¹s hardly a second line, street party or music festival in New Orleans where the boisterous brass sounds of the Lil¹ Stooges can¹t be heard, which is why it comes as some surprise that even though some of the members have been playing together since 1996, the band is only now releasing its first CD, the aptly titled It¹s About Time. The Stooges, as they prefer to be called now, might not have any Iggy Pop affiliations, but throwing semi-serious political commentary in ³Bin Laden² into what is otherwise a wildly upbeat party mix is as punk as brass band funk gets. Big Sam¹s Funky Nation, whose regular Sunday night gigs at the Funky Butt have made them bosses of contemporary brass, will share in the celebration as well with the release of their first CD, Birth of a Nation. Cover $7. -- Cynthia Joyce

Myshkin 10:30 p.m., Friday, March 26 Mermaid Lounge, 1100 Constance St., 524-4747 It¹s been nearly two years since singer-songwriter Myshkin left New Orleans for Portland, and we haven¹t seen a performer quite like her since. She can alternate peculiar vibrato with delicate whispers and riveting wails all in the space of a single well-written phrase, and each voice is emotionally felt. Expanding on the ³gypsy-torch-punk² style she perfected in New Orleans, she¹s currently working on a new recording with her band, Myshkin¹s Ruby Warblers. The next installment in a shining canon that includes gems like 2000¹s Why Do All the Country Girls Leave? and 2002¹s Rosebud Bullets, this new album is due out this summer. Myshkin is now touring solo after a six-month break in the winter (³It¹s the longest I¹ve sat still for 13 years,² she says), but former Ruby Warbler John Lutz will join her on bass at the Mermaid. She¹s dubbed this run the ³Get the Madmen Out of Power² tour, so expect some songs with pointed political themes. Call club for cover. -- Cristina Diettinger

Xiu Xiu 7 p.m. Saturday, March 27 Banks Street Warehouse, 435 Esplanade Ave., 949-1750 Though previously known for incessant wallow in mental anguish, California post-rock band Xiu Xiu¹s new release, Fabulous Muscle, actually shows signs of humor. Still characterized by bandleader Jamie Stewart¹s whispery words of self-pity -- he also wrote a novel titled Sex Life Destruction, due out this year -- the new album has a certain whimsy to it. Simple riffs sounding like Commodore 64 sound effects dance around mournful lyrics of heartbreak and rejection, and the title bites with sarcasm, written in bubbly script on the album cover. Ironically, the title track is an acoustic guitar dirge of sex, violence, and suicide. Still, these compositions are more accessible than those on previous Xiu Xiu records, which harped on unabashed misery. Cambre & Cappello open. The local guitar-and-drums duo blends the improvisational spirit of free jazz with the sonic textures of noise-rock. Pasolini Festival is also on the bill. All ages. Admission $5. -- Diettinger

Center Stage Series, with Sarah Vowell 8 p.m. Saturday, March 27 NOCCA/Riverfront, 2800 Chartres St., 940-2900 Author and This American Life contributor Sarah Vowell appears as part of NOCCA/Riverfront's Center Stage Series on Saturday night. ³I think of patriotism as a fairly large term,² says Sarah Vowell, essayist, This American Life contributor and author of The Partly Cloudy Patriot. ³To me, it¹s a certain kind of love Š there are different kinds of love. It¹s going in both directions, it¹s just constantly widening.² That¹s because as Vowell travels the country -- journeys that often find their way into her musings both profound and silly -- she becomes more fascinated with America while continually being disappointed by its policymakers. Vowell has joined TAL host Ira Glass and fellow essayist in that rare pantheon: public-radio figures who not only don¹t sound like public radio figures, but also blur the lines of intellectualism and culture. They¹re making public broadcasting (we hope) safer for younger, more eclectic tastes. ³Ira and me, we share this love of culture and love of art and literature and stuff, but all we care about is good culture, and high and low is meaningless,² says the 34-year-old, who will also appear at this week¹s Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival. ³I love Phillip Roth, but I love Buffy The Vampire Slayer. If something is good and smart and funny and true, I don¹t care where it¹s coming from. I don¹t believe in looking down on something just because it¹s a TV show about a girl killing monsters.² Vowell will read from Patriot and other works including Take the Cannoli. Tickets $15. -- David Lee Simmons

Maurice Brown Quintet with Stefon Harris 9 and 11 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, March 27-28 Snug Harbor, 626 Frenchmen St., 949-0696 In the past couple of years, trumpeter Maurice Brown has established himself as one of the most serious young trumpeters in New Orleans. Hailing from Chicago, Brown's Tuesday night gigs at Snug Harbor have featured many guests and surprises; Brown's musical journeys can take an audience from jazz to soul to funk with many stops in between. His guest on these two days will be Blue Note recording artist, vibraphonist Stefon Harris. Harris has established himself as one of the few young musicians (Jason Marsalis included) who is on his way to mastering the instrument of Lionel Hampton, Milt Jackson and Bobby Hutcherson. Harris has ambitious designs for his music; his last record, Grand Unification Theory, is a 70 minute suite that runs the gamut from ballads to swing to jazz funk. These players have similar aesthetics that should fit together like sparks to dry wood. Cover $20. -- David Kunian

Cabaret Revoltaire-Dada Ball 9:07 pm, Saturday, March 27 Cleopatra's Old Alamo, 538 N. Rampart St. Remember the Cabaret Revoltaire, those mythic, surreal nights at the late, great Mythique club above Whirling Dervish? Well, it¹s back. The self-described ³Interactive Chaos Salon² is dedicated to ³a revival of Dada and Surrealism, featuring visual and performance art, live music and installation, invisible theater, inexplicable fashion and participatory painting.² Indeed, it¹s all ³to revive and expand on the tropes of yore -- for consciousness expansion, orgone stimulation, creation of collaborative art, and to provide a space for an interactive (and not passive) social experiment.² Featured artists include Baby Rosebud, DJ OSTIA, El Radio Fantastique, Nico -- Our Lady of the Chelsea Girls Choir, MISSMASSDESTRUCTION, HI RED HOWLPOP, Ratty Scurvics Singularity, SCARYMARY AND THE PUSSYBONES, Pulvis Opii-Church of Anexia, LIVE DADA TRANSMISSIONS, Ta Mere Toujours and more. Attire: ³Dress to Transgress.² Come as you are: $5; come as you aren¹t: $4. -- D. Eric Bookhardt

Meat Purveyors 10 p.m. Saturday, March 27 Circle Bar, 1032 St. Charles Ave., 588-2616 This Texas punk-bluegrass band has a new album, Beans and Sweepins: Songs From the Meatlocker, but the only way to get it is to go to the show or Bloodshot Records¹ Web site. The album collects live tracks, radio station appearances and studio outtakes, many of which are traditional folk songs given the band¹s typically rowdy treatment. It also includes the band¹s ³Madonna Trilogy,² giving ³Lucky Star² and ³Like a Virgin² an inspired, hillbilly treatment. Singer Jo Walston has a big voice and isn¹t afraid to use it, whether singing Madonna, Velvet Underground or the band¹s own ³More of a Man Than You¹ll Ever Be² (³and more woman than you¹ll ever get,² the line concludes). The real change in the past few years has been how the band¹s chops have improved, so there¹s a little more finesse to go with the boozy spirit. The songs still have a rock ¹n¹ roll heart, but the more musical charms aren¹t sacrificed along the way. Call club for cover. -- Alex Rawls

Country on Whiskey Bayou 12:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday, March 28 John A. Alario Sr. Festival Grounds, Westwego, 891-8026 Tracy Lawrence (pictured) joins John Michael Montgomery and other country-music stars at the Country on Whiskey Bayou show at the Alario Festival Grounds in Westwego on Sunday, March 29. Warner Brothers was reportedly so excited about country star John Michael Montgomery¹s Letters From Home -- featuring the title track, a tribute to American soldiers in Iraq -- that the label moved up the release of the CD to April 20. Such is life in country music post-9/11, in which stars such as Toby Keith, Alan Jackson and Darryl Worley have stepped up to the plate and defended their country in their own artistic way. (The less said about Keith¹s xenophobic rant, the better.) Supposedly more supportive than political, Montgomery¹s song was the highest-debuting single on the country charts (at No. 48) when it was released in January. Fans can get a listen to the album by Montgomery at Country on Whiskey Bayou, along with other country faves Tracy Lawrence, Emerson Drive, Billy Currington, Colt Prather and Megan Linsey. Tickets $20 advance, $25 at the gate, $75 VIP; visit www.ticketmaster.com. -- Simmons

2004 Le Prix International Film Star Awards and Gala 5 p.m. Sunday, March 28 Orpheum Theater, 127 University Place, 522-5555 Count the pomp and glamour of the annual Le Prix International Film Star Awards among the recent coups within the motion-picture industry for New Orleans and Louisiana. Held previously at the Cannes International Film Festival and 20th Century Fox Film Studios in Los Angeles, the event bills itself as the only international awards show that honors an entertainer for his or her entire body of work. Past honorees include Charlize Theron, Jodie Foster, Paul Newman and Robert Altman. Awards include Best Actor/Actress, Best Supporting Actor/Actress, Rising Star, International Star, Career Achievement, Creative Achievement for producers/directors/writers, Humanitarian and Entertainer of the Year. The show also pays homage to the films of Louisiana, from Jezebel and A Streetcar Named Desire to Sex, Lies and Videotape. A pre-show red carpet ceremony precedes the awards, and a black-tie gala at the Fairmont Hotel follows. Tickets to awards show $25-$100; gala tickets $250-$2,500. Visit www.intlffilmstarawards.com for more info. -- Etheridge