ART

CRAFTING YOUR OWN TOY STORY FAO Schwarz hosts its third annual “Toy Auditions,” a chance for inventors, artisans, and manufacturers of innovative toys and crafts to have their inventions carried in the store. Presentations must be no longer than 10 minutes and all products will be judged on five criteria: quality, design, originality, fun, safety, and environmental impact. Today, 10 a.m.–2 p.m., FAO Schwarz, 767 Fifth Ave. at 58th Street, 212-239-7363, all applicants should first register online at fao.com.

POOLS OF REFLECTION Joan Snyder’s work, featured in the exhibit “New Paintings,” uses large pools of paint to depict ponds within landscapes. This is her second showing with the Betty Cuningham Gallery. Selections include “Late Summer Pond” (2006), top, and “My Song” (2006), above. Through Saturday, March 24, Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Betty Cuningham Gallery, 541 W. 25th St., between Tenth and Eleventh avenues, 212-242-2772, free.

DANCE

DANCE FOR DOWNTOWN The Misnomer Dance Theater dances choreographer Chris Elam’s “Throw People” during a celebration of the company’s Spring Soirée. The innovative troupe has been the subject of a documentary presented by Apple Computers, which explored the dancers’ use of interactive technology. The evening is led by a burlesque host and includes action painting, interactive art, and installations. Guests are invited to appetizers, cocktails, and social dancing. A discussion of arts-building initiatives is also featured. Tonight, 6 p.m., New York University, Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, 566 La Guardia Pl. at Washington Square South, 212-279-4200, $35 general, $15 students and working artists. For complete information, go to misnomer.org.

WALTZ INTO MY LIFE The Rio de Janeiro-based choreographer Marcia Milhazes and her dance company make their New York debut with “Tempo de Verão” (“Summertime”). Ms. Milhazes used her fascination with waltzes to manipulate memories of family to create the piece. Tonight through Saturday, 7:30 p.m., Dance Theater Workshop, 219 W. 19th St., between Seventh and Eighth avenues, 212-924-0077, $20 general, $12 members.

FILM

OUT OF AFRICA The documentarian John Kennedy Marshall first encountered the Ju/’hoansi people of southwest Africa in 1950, when his father, Lawrence, gathered his entire family on an anthropological hunt to find African bushmen and study the way they lived. Inspired by this family “vacation,” Marshall spent the rest of his life supporting the oppressed group through film and activism. The Anthology Film Archives presents a five-day retrospective of Marshall’s films, beginning with a screening of “The Hunters” (1957), about a group of Ju/’hoansi who hunt a giraffe for five days. Tonight, 8 p.m., AFA, 32 Second Ave. at 2nd Street, 212-505-5181, $8 general, $6 students and seniors, $5 members.

MUSIC

ROCK THE PARTY “Full Frontal Hip Hop,” an annual event to celebrate emerging talent in the fashion and rap music worlds, is presented by the local radio station HOT 97. Featured performers include Omarion, a former member of the multiplatinum boy band B2K, and the Atlantabased crooner and protégé of producer Jazze Pha, Lloyd, who performs his breakthrough single “You.” Recent collections from designer lines including Baby Phat and Sean John are featured. HOT 97 DJ Angie Martinez hosts the event and DJ Enuff spins records. A VIP Players Lounge includes special prizes and an open bar. Tonight, 7 p.m., Hammerstein Ballroom, 311 W. 34th St. at Eighth Avenue, 212-307-7171, $51.50–$99.50.

ROMANTIC SOUNDS FROM THE EAST “Looking East: Debussy and the Javanese Gamelan” is a concert featured as part of Makor’s Classical Café series. The concert explores the stylistic relationships between Debussy’s Western roots and his Eastern influences. Debussy worked gamelan sounds — based on metallic percussion with some wooden xylophones and bowed strings — into his writing for chamber music after hearing an Indonesian ensemble in 1889. The program includes two of his final chamber sonatas. Featured performers include cellist Alex Greenbaum, pianist Steven Beck, and the ensemble Gamelan Kusuma Laras. Tonight, 7 p.m., 92nd Street Y, Makor Café, Steinhardt Building, 35 W. 67th St., between Columbus Avenue and Central Park West, 212-601-1000, $15 general, $9 open bar, $10 prix-fixe dinner.

THE TIME OF HER LIFE Diahann Carroll performs “Both Sides Now,” an evening of songs and stories about her legendary career, during an extended engagement at Feinstein’s at the Regency. A Tony Award-winning veteran of the stage and screen, Ms. Carroll, in 1968, became the first black actress in television history to star in her own series, “Julia,” for NBC. In the 1980s, she joined the campy nighttime soap “Dynasty,” donning pearls and shoulder pads to play the wicked Dominique Deveraux. A PBS documentary on her life, “An Evening With Diahann Carroll,” recently aired. Through Saturday, March 24, Tuesday–Saturday, 8:30 p.m., Feinstein’s at the Regency, 540 Park Ave. at 61st Street, 212-339-4095, $75.

POETRY

REMEMBERING BUKOWSKI The Bowery Poetry Club hosts its second annual “Bukowski Praise Night,” an evening of readings of the poet’s work. A screening of John Dullaghan’s “Born Into This” (2003), a documentary shot over seven years that proved Charles Bukowski to be a tortured man who had survived years of abuse to produce some of the most influential prose of his generation, follows. The German-born writer moved with his family at age 3 to Los Angeles, where he remained for the next 50 years. His widely imitated style was colored by the city and became the setting for many of his stories, including the 1971 novel “Post Office.” Poets Moonshine Shorey, Gary Glazner, Bob Holman, and Thad Rutkowski are among featured readers. A fixture on the downtown literary scene, writer Tsaurah Litzky, hosts. Tonight, 10 p.m., Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery, between Bleecker and Houston streets, 212-614-0505, free.

TALKS

SPICING UP THE MENU “Cooking With Color: World Influences” is the topic of a panel discussion hosted by New York University’s Fales Collection, home to one of the country’s largest and most prestigious archives in food studies, and the Steinhardt School’s Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health. The talk is featured as part of the school’s 2007 Critical Topics in Food series. Featured panelists include a chef to two Georgia governors, Scott Peacock, food historian Jessica Harris, and a chef and co-owner of Aquavit restaurant, Marcus Samuelsson, whose culinary creations reflect his birth in Ethiopia and later adoption by Swedish parents. Today, 4 p.m., NYU Bobst Library, Fales Collection, third floor, 70 Washington Square South at La-Guardia Place, 212-992-9018, RSVP required, $10 suggested donation, free for NYU students.

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