BENEFITS

NORDIC NIGHT The American-Scandinavian Foundation’s black-tie dinner dance honors the president of Iceland, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson. The evening includes performances by the Icelandic Opera Choir and the Threstir Male Choir. Tonight, 7 p.m. reception, 8 p.m. dinner, the Grand Hyatt, Park Avenue at Grand Central Terminal, 212-725-7139, $500-$2,500.

PRIMARY COLORS The theater group Primary Stages celebrates its 20th season with a gala honoring its founder and executive producer, Casey Childs, and writer Horton Foote. Actor Robert Duvall serves as the event’s honorary chairman, and the committee includes Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick, Terrence McNally, Estelle Parsons, Gary Sinise, Isabella Rossellini, and Jean Stapleton. The evening benefits Primary Stages’s development program for up-and-coming playwrights. Monday, 6:30 p.m., Tavern on the Green, Central Park at West 67th Street, 212-840-9705, $300-$3,000.

BOOKS

FRIENDS FOREVER The editor of “Secrets and Confidences: The Complicated Truth About Women’s Friendships” (Seal), Karen Eng, joins contributors Kathleen Collins, Jacqueline Lailey, and Andi Zeisler for a reading from the anthology. Tonight, 7 p.m., Bluestockings Bookstore, 172 Allen St. at Stanton Street, 212-777-6028, donation requested.

DANCE

MELLOW YELLOW Japanese dancer and choreographer Himiko Minato and her company of six premiere “Yellow,” accompanied by pianist Megumi Kitamura. Tomorrow through Sunday, 8 p.m., Joyce SoHo, 155 Mercer St., between Prince and Houston streets, 212-334-7479, $15 general, $12, reservations recommended.

UKRAINIAN MOVES The 85-member Virsky Ukrainian National Dance Company presents a program of energetic folk dance accompanied by live music. Sunday, 2 p.m., Lehman Center for the Performing Arts, 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, between Paul and Goulden avenues, Bronx, 718-960-8833, $20-$35.

DESIGN

ART V. DESIGN A symposium on the relationship between design and art features speakers including gallery owner Max Protech, artist Richard Tuttle, and designer Tord Boont je. The daylong event is sponsored by Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. Its current exhibit, “Design Art,” explores the same topic.

Symposium: Saturday, 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Cooper Union Great Hall, 7 E. 7th St. at Third Avenue, 212-849-8380, $125 general, $75 Cooper-Hewitt members, $25 students. Exhibit: Through February, Tuesday-Thursday, 10 a.m-5 p.m., Friday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Sunday, noon-6 p.m., Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, 2 E. 91st St. at Fifth Avenue, 212-849-8400, $10 general, $7 seniors and students, free for members and children under 12.

FILM

BUSTING OUT The Bust magazine film festival features 11 movies by women filmmakers, chosen for their ability to “tell the truth about women’s lives.” One highlight is a screening of Sandra Hochman’s “Year of the Woman” (1973). Ms. Hochman interviewed Warren Beatty, Shirley MacLaine, Gloria Steinem, Art Buchwald, Dan Rather, Flo Kennedy, and others about their opinions on women and the nascent feminist movement. The documentary was filmed during the 1972 Democratic National Convention. Its screening tonight is the first time it will be seen in New York since it played to sell-out crowds during its debut run (tonight, 8:30 p.m. doors open, 9 p.m. screening). Festival: Today through Sunday; tonight, tomorrow, and Sunday, 9 p.m.; Saturday, 8:30 p.m., Pioneer Theater, 155 E. 3rd St. at Avenue A, 212-591-0434, $9 individual screenings, $36 includes all screenings, opening night party, and subscription to Bust. See www.bust.com/filmfestival for full schedule.

HEALTH

MATTERS OF THE HEART Dr. Neil Coplan gives a lecture that explains the causes of heart attacks and what individuals can do on their own and with their doctors to prevent heart disease. Monday, 6:30 p.m., Lenox Hill Hospital, Einhorn Auditorium, 131 E. 76th St. at Lexington Avenue, 212-434-2980, free.

MUSIC

ANOTHER KIND OF STATESMAN The Statesmen of Jazz is an all-star band of veteran traditional jazz and swing players, featuring the kind of gathering of talent that one normally has to wait until festival season to find all on the same stage at the same time. The group includes trumpeters Joe Wilder and Warren Vache, tenorist Bob Kindred, pianist Derek Smith, and guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli in his first notable New York appearance since a knee operation last summer. Tonight, 8 p.m., Tribeca Performing Arts Center, 199 Chambers St. at West Side Highway, 212-346-8510, $27.50.

STARRY JAZZ Jazz lovers can enjoy live music under the stars at the American Museum of Natural History’s Rose Center for Earth and Space. Tenor saxophonist Don Braden and his Organ Quartet are the next performers in the series. Tapas and wine will be served. Tomorrow, 5:30-6:30 p.m. and 7-8 p.m., American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, 212-769-5100, $13 general, $10 students and seniors, $7.50 children.

LISTENERS’ DELIGHT Rap pioneers the Sugarhill Gang perform this weekend. In 1979, their song “Rapper’s Delight” was the first in the genre to hit top 40 charts. Saturday, 11 p.m., Canal Room, 285 West Broadway at Canal Street, 212-941-8100, $20.

TALKS

WRITING UNDER RULE A professor at Yale, John Treat, gives a lecture titled “Too Close to the Sun: Korean Writers under Japanese Rule. “The talk is presented by Columbia’s Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture. Tonight, 6-7:30 p.m., Columbia University, 403 Kent Hall, 116th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, 212-854-5036, free.

JACKSON’S VERSE A group of poets and scholars gather to discuss the work of Laura Riding Jackson (1901-91), who published her collected works of poetry at age 37 and renounced poetry a year later. Tonight, 7 p.m., Poets House, 72 Spring St., between Lafayette and Crosby streets, second floor, 212-431-7920, $7 general, free for members.

SUBURBAN WISDOM A panel discusses the factors that are most important for New Yorkers considering a move to suburbs from city. Westchester realtor Randall Katchis, public school expert Clara Hemphill, and psychoanalyst Michelle Ascher Dunn talk about the meaning of moving. Tonight, 8 p.m., 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave. at 92nd Street, 212-415-5500, $25.

RADIO DAYS The host of the radio show “This American Life,” Ira Glass, deconstructs the inner workings of his program at a talk titled “Lies, Sissies & Fiascoes: Notes on Making a New Kind of Radio.” Graphic novelist Chris Ware joins him to “perform” a 22-minute story that illustrates the relationship between images – provided by Mr. Ware – and words – provided by Mr. Glass. The evening also includes segments of interviews and monologues from the Chicago based National Public Radio show. Sunday, 8 p.m., Town Hall, 123 W. 43rd St., between Sixth and Seventh avenues, 212- 307-4100, $25 and $30.

THEATER

AMERICAN DREAM The new play “Dreaming of Norton” is the first production of the Zoo Theatre company’s first season, which takes the theme “Making It in America.” David Mishook and Jonathan Kaplan direct Casey McCabe’s story of two insurance claims adjusters who follow a Kansas hailstorm to a town 12 miles from the geographical center of the United States. Tonight-Saturday, 8 p.m., Sunday, 3 p.m., Studio Theatre at Theatre Row, 410 W. 42nd St., between Ninth and Tenth avenues, 212-239-6200, $15.

NATURE

PINING AWAY The Benenson Ornamental Conifers are back on view at the New York Botanical Garden after an extensive five-year restoration. The 15-acre site includes more than 400 conifers from all over the world, including 200 new trees that were added during the renovation. A concurrent exhibit at the garden’s library, “Cultured Conifers,” features botanical illustrations and rare books. William Richardson’s “Firs in landscape,” at left, is a hand-colored lithograph from an 1884 folio by Edward Ravenscroft. Above is a French lithograph of Japanese umbrella-pine (1859). Garden: Tuesday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., New York Botanical Garden, Bronx River Parkway and Fordham Road, Bronx, 718-817-8700, $13 general, $11 seniors, $5 children ages 2 through 12, free for younger children. Exhibit: Through January 30,Tuesday-Thursday, noon-6 p.m., Friday and Saturday, noon-5 p.m., NYBG Library, Rondina and LoFaro Gallery, 718-817-8604, free with garden admission.

To submit an event for consideration for the Calendar, please wire the particulars to calendar@nysun.com, placing the date of the event in the subject line.