Six years after Michael Smuin’s death, Smuin Ballet continues to carry his torch, performing his works and new pieces he would have loved. “Bouquet,” the mixed spring program with two local premieres onstage this week at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, shows the company at its adventurous best. Helen Pickett’s “Petal,” an anticipated West Coast premiere,  is fervid and furious. Pickett, a California native who danced with William Forsythe’s Ballet Frankfurt for more than 10 years, reflects both his influence and her individual ambition in the work. Read More

South Africa’s infamous apartheid regime is often considered one of the worst human-rights injustices of the 20th century. During the segregation policy’s early days, it had few opponents in government, but there was a lone female who spoke against it, making her mark on the South African history books. That woman was Helen Suzman, and she is honored in “Helen Suzman: Fighter for Human Rights,” a pictorial history exhibit at the Katz Snyder Gallery at the Jewish Community Center. Read More

As the trend for quality, local craftsmanship continues to grow in The City, the local nonprofit SFMade celebrates the burgeoning “maker” scene with SFMade Week. Read More

Spectacle-wearing Michele Dumoulin, who plays Velma in a stage show based on the iconic “Scooby-Doo” gang, admits that some aspects of her role aren’t that different from  her everyday life. “In the show, I push the glasses up the bridge of my nose, and with my normal glasses, I usually touch the lens. Because there’s no lens in my stage glasses, I end up poking myself in the eye! ” says the 23-year-old actress with a laugh. Read More

The City’s infinite microclimates can make it hard to experience seasons, but a Bay Area gem near Suisun Bay offers the perfect springtime ticket. Running through April 28 — and possibly later, depending on Mother Nature — are the Western Railway Museum’s 12th annual Spring Wildflower Train Rides. Read More

The proverb “Time waits for no man” has never seemed more poignant than in the face of “Christian Marclay: The Clock” — an unnervingly spellbinding, 24-hour cinematic opus. Marclay’s video montage, on view at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art through June 2, uses thousands of film clips to show all 1,440 minutes in the day, each minute visually represented by a timepiece in the film: a clock, watch, sundial, etc. Despite the dizzying number of clips, it becomes one singular, very shrewd film. Read More

Oakland-based artist Hung Liu is a quiet pioneer. The 65-year-old painter and installation artist has gone from hiding paintings in her pockets to establishing herself firmly in the West, creating an artistic legacy of more than 40 years and remaining relevant and revered in China, her home country. Read More