Dance: Stephen Mills didn’t think he was the right person to tell a Holocaust survivor’s story in dance, but the Ballet Austin artistic director relented, and the result was a remarkable 45-minute depiction of the memories of survivor Naomi Warren called Light: The Holocaust and Humanity Project. The work also includes larger themes, including the Genesis myth, used here as a reminder that all humans have the same origin. The ballet is being presented in tandem with educational programs about bullying and other issues, as Mills insists each time the ballet is presented. Ballet Austin presents Light at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Kravis Center. Tickets start at $15. Call 832-7469 or visit www.kravis.org.
Film: It doesn’t have the satisfying jolt of the franchise reboot Casino Royale or the emotional tug of the previous James Bond installment Skyfall, but for a couple of hours that will take you back to your adolescence, Spectre will do. The teaming of Daniel Craig and director Sam Mendes is again combustible, as you can see from the explosive opening sequence, filming inside and above Mexico City’s Day of the Dead parade. The plot involves bringing down the head of the evil empire Spectre (Christoph Waltz, doing his usual gleeful smirking), before an eager beaver head of MI5 can shut down the 00 secret agent program. But plot has never been the strong suit of this 53-year-old series. Go instead for the gadgets, the gals and the globe-hopping. And for Craig, the best Bond since Sean Connery, even if he insists he is having a miserable time in the job.
Theater: What? You’re telling me the title Sex with Strangers does not grab you right away? Fortunately, Laura Eason’s (House of Cards) play delivers more than a steamy title. This two-hander pits two writers — one old school, the other new media; the former in her 30s, the latter a decade younger — alone together in a remote cabin that serves as a novelists’ retreat. Yes, they have sex pretty quickly, then they get to know each other and try to figure out if they can trust one another. Don’t count on it. Genie Croft, the resident director of the new artistic team at Delray Beach’s Arts Garage, helms an assured production featuring appealing performances from Jacqueline Laggy and Michael Uribe. Playing through Sunday, Nov. 15. Call: 561-450-6357.
Music: The British monarchy holds a unique fascination for Americans, and while the regular-folks appeal of William and Kate is part of that, it’s the intertissued robes of gold and pearl that really get us, and no music is more emblematic of that than George Frideric Handel. His Coronation Anthems, written for the accession of George II in 1727, are a sonic embodiment of the British state, and they are featured tonight and this weekend in a concert by the concert choir Seraphic Fire, joined by the period ensemble The Sebastians. Patrick Dupré Quigley also has planned the Te Deum of Marc-Antoine Charpentier and the third act of Purcell’s King Arthur, to add the general kingliness of the proceedings. After these performances in Fort Lauderdale tonight (at All Saints Episcopal Church), Miami Shores tomorrow night and Cutler Bay on Sunday afternoon, the groups will take their royal show on the road to Washington, New York and Philadelphia, spreading the word about this remarkable South Florida musical institution. For more information and tickets, visit seraphicfire.org or call 305-285-9060.