ART

A BIRD’S EYE VIEWING The New York Historical Society presents the opening of “Audubon’s Aviary: Natural Selection,” an exhibit of 43 wa tercolor paintings by John James Audubon, drawn from the society’s permanent collection. Twenty one bird species are represented in the show — portraits that the artist frequently reworked two or three times. The show is complemented by recorded birdcalls from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and a video that underscores Audubon’s mastery at encapsulating each bird’s personality. Through Sunday, May 20, Tuesday–Sunday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m., free admission and open till 8 p.m. on Friday, NYHS 170 Central Park W. at 77th Street 212-868-4444, $10 general, $7 educators and seniors, $6 students, free for NYHS members and children un der 12. For complete information, go to nyhistory.org.

DANCE

IT TAKES TWO The dance-theater play “Let’s Speak Tango!” tells the story of an Italian man and German women who meet through dancing. While they don’t speak the same language, the two understand each other as they fall in love learning to communicate by listen ing to each other through the language of dance. The play is written and directed by Carlo Magaletti with tango choreography by Valeria Solomonoff. Dancers include Katja Lechthaler, Fausto Lombardi and Diego Blanco. Friday through Sunday, May 6, Thursday-Saturday, 8 p.m., Sunday, 3 p.m., American Theatre of Actors, Chernuchin Theatre, 314 W. 54th St., between Eighth and Ninth avenues, second floor, 212-868-4444, $40.

FILM

DUTCH MEMORIES Wendelien van Oldenborgh’s “Maurits Script” (2007) was filmed at the Hague as eight people read and discussed a seven-voice dialogue of a 17th-century governor of colonial Northeast Brazil, Dutchman Johann Maurits Mr. van Oldenborgh speaks as part of a public program presented by apexart about the film, which captures the problematic amnesia that the Netherlands has for its own colonial past. The director of Casco Office for Art, Design, and Theory in Utrecht, Emily Pethick, also joins the discussion. Friday, 8 p.m., Tribeca Film Center Screening Room, 375 Greenwich St., between N. Moore and Franklin streets, 212-431-5270, free.

BEFORE COMMENCEMENT The Film Society of Lincoln Center, and New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and the Steinhardt School presents “Toons, Tunes, and Trikfilms,” a two-evening showcase of 17 silent films — animated and live action — produced by graduate and undergraduate students from Tisch’s Animation Program. The series features a wide array of genres and themes, from an animated painting that comes to life, to politically minded films about homophobia and the atomic bomb. Musicians from Steinhardt department of music’s Instrumental Performance Program play original scores by student composers in the Steinhardt’s Film Scoring Program. Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m., Lincoln Center, Walter Reade Theater, 165 W. 65th St. at Amsterdam Avenue, 212-496-3809, $15 general, $10 students, children, and members.

MUSIC

EAST AND WEST JAZZ The Romanian Cultural Institute in New York and Long Island University’s Brooklyn Campus Music Department present “The Romanian/American Jazz Suite,” a multi-movement work by American saxophonist Sam Newsome and Romanian pianist Lucian Ban. The suite combines Romanian folk music with American jazz, representing two points of view: Romanian culture through the eyes of an American jazz musician, and American culture through the eyes of a Romanian jazz musician having grown up under a communist regime. Performers include Mr.. Newsome, Mr. Ban, and saxophonist Alex Harding. The work is performed across the city during this week. Tonight, 7:15 p.m., New York University, Pless Building, Black Box Theater, 82 Washington Square East at Washington Place, 212-687-0180, free; tomorrow, 9 p.m., Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson St. at Spring Street, 212-242-1063, $12; Thursday, 6 p.m., Harlem School of Arts, 645 St. Nicholas Ave., between 141st and 145th streets, 212-687-0180, free.

MISSING ON NORFOLK The Vision Festival and Arts for Art present a seven-day showcase during April and May featuring artists whose shows were cancelled after the announcement that the venue Tonic, on 107 Norfolk St., would be closing this month. The showcase, called Vision Tonic, features performances by the Thing, Mats Gustafsson, Ingebrigt Haker Flaten, and Paal Nilssen-Love. During a later set, the Desiring-Machines per form. Tonight, 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Clemente Soto Velez LES Gallery 107 Suffolk St., between Rivington and Delancey streets, 212-696 6681, $10 per set.

THE WORLD OUTDOORS The Arts World Financial Center is a program that offers day and nighttime music in the glass atrium of the Winter Garden at the World Financial Center. As part of the series’ final April installment, the Conga Kings perform: A nine-piece ensemble, the group is led by three master congueros of Afro Cuban music. Candido Camero, Carlos “Patato” Valdes, and Giovanni Hidalgo. Friday, 12:30 and 7 p.m., World Financial Center, Winter Garden, 220 Vesey St. at West Street, 212-945 0505, free.

PHOTOGRAPHY

DREAMS OF THE STREETS Osamu Kanemura’s street photography of Tokyo and the city’s surrounding suburbs, featured in a self-titled exhibit, was originally published in his book “Spider’s Strategy,” only available in Japan. The black-and-white photographs depict the glamour, enormity, and dark sides of Tokyo, from bustling streets to dark alleyways. Selections include “Untitled (Today’s Japan)” (1995), above. Through Saturday, June 2, Tuesday–Saturday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m., Cohen Amador Gallery, the Fuller Building, 41 E. 57th St. at Madison Avenue, sixth floor, 212-759-6740, free.

READINGS

STAY YOUNG, STAY THIN The James Beard Foundation’s “Beard on Books” series features Mireille Guiliano, author of “French Women for All Seasons: A Year of Secrets Recipes and Pleasure” (Knopf). Ms. Guiliano won both fame and infamy for her first book, “French Women Don’t Get Fat: The Secret of Eating for Pleasure,” in which she insisted on an eating lifestyle of moderation. Today, noon, James Beard House, 167 W. 12th St., between Sixth and Seventh avenues, 212-627-2308, $20 general, free for students.

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