DANCE

TAPPING WITH HAPPY FEET An American dancer and choreographer, Savion Glover, performs a summer season at the Joyce. Mr. Glover is the force behind the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, “Bring in the Noise, Bring in the Funk” (1996), and the choreographer for the tap dancing penguin featured in the animated film “Happy Feet” (2006). For this show, Mr. Glover delivers an energetic program including his signature style of tap, “hitting,” and footwork that appears to double as musical accompaniment. Through Saturday, July 14, Monday–Tuesday, 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, 2 and 7:30 p.m., Thursday–Friday, 8 p.m., Saturday, 2 and 8 p.m., Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Ave., between 18th and 19th streets, 212-242-0800, $44 general, $33 members.

FILM

THE ARTY POLITIC The apexart gallery presents a three-day film series, “Terror Tactics,” featuring films that focus on how the visual arts are able to investigate culture and its relationships to politics, wealth, power, desire, and autonomy. Filmmakers include Mark Boswell, Jordan Crandall, Jim Finn, Jenny Perlin, Martha Rosler, and the Speculative Archive. Tonight, an independent curator and art critic, Olga Kopenkina, presents a panel discussion about the same issues with Messrs. Boswell and Finn, and a professor of politics at the Université de Paris, Anton Koslov. Film series, today, noon–5 p.m., panel discussion, tonight, 8 p.m., apexart, 291 Church St., between White and Walker streets, 212-431-5270, free.

THE WILD, WILD WEST The director Robert Aldrich is known for such films including “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” (1962) and “The Dirty Dozen” (1967). BAMcinématek presents “Overlooked Aldrich,” a film series celebrating the director’s lesserknown works. The series opens with “The Last Sunset” (1961), featuring actors Rock Hudson and Kirk Douglas. The story follows a Western lawman and a disgruntled lover as they both follow a husband-and-wife cattle drive toward Texas. A discussion with Aldrich’s daughter, Adell, and film critic and historian Elliott Stein follows the 6:50 p.m. screening. Tonight, 6:50 and 9:30 p.m., BAM Rose Cinemas, Peter Jay Sharp Building, 30 Lafayette Ave., between Ashland Place and St. Felix Street, 718-636-4100, $11 general, $7.50 students and seniors.

MUSIC

CASUAL CONCERT SERIES The New York Philharmonic performs as part of its Summertime Classics series, indoor and outdoor concerts highlighting popular and themed repertoire. This week’s program, “On the Beautiful Blue Danube,” features works by Franz Liszt and Johann Strauss II. A guest conductor, Bramwell Tovey, leads the orchestra, and pianist Markus Groh has his debut with the Philharmonic. Concertgoers are invited to arrive early for a drink on the piazza by the fountain. Tonight, 7:30 p.m., tomorrow, 8 p.m., New York Philharmonic, Avery Fisher Hall, 10 Lincoln Center Plaza, Broadway and 65th Street, 212-875-5900, $24–$54.

STRINGS AND SERRA The Flux String Quartet performs a new string quartet commissioned by the Bargemusic organization from composer Yotam Haber. Mr. Haber wrote the piece inspired by the sculptures of Richard Serra, some of which are on view now at the Museum of Modern Art in the exhibit “Richard Serra Sculpture: Forty Years.” Concert, tomorrow and Saturday, 8 p.m., Bargemusic, Fulton Ferry Landing, Fulton Street and Cadman Plaza West, Brooklyn, 718-624-4061, $35 general, $30 seniors, $20 students. Exhibit, Saturday–Monday and Wednesday–Thursday, 10:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m., Friday, 10:30 a.m.–8 p.m., MoMA, 11 W. 53rd St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues, 212-708-9400, $20 general, $16 seniors, $12 students, free for children.

PAINTINGS

SOUTH ASIAN SENSATION “Where the Sand Meets the Sky,” the latest exhibit of paintings by Bengali artist Jayashree Chakravarty, opens today at Bodhi Fine Arts. She is known for interspersing representations of ducks, sparrows, and insects into her paintings, and takes inspiration from Byzantine mosaics and French Impressionism. Selections from the exhibit include an untitled work from 2006–07, above. Today through Tuesday, July 31, Tuesday–Saturday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m., Bodhi Fine Arts, 535 W. 24th St., between Tenth and Eleventh avenues, 212-352-2644, free.

POETRY

POETICALLY OUT The Walt Whitman Project celebrates Gay Pride Month with a reading of the writer’s “Calamus” poems from his 1860 third edition “Leaves of Grass” collection. The poems are thought to be some of the first important literature about gay men being publicly accepted. Tonight, 7 p.m., Freebird Books & Goods 123 Columbia St., between Kane and Degraw streets Brooklyn, 718-643-8484, free.

READINGS

CONFESSIONS OF A BIOGRAPHER Author Meryle Secrest reads from her memoir, “Shoot the Widow: Adventures of a Biographer in Search of Her Subject” (Knopf). A career biographer — nine under her belt, including Stephen Sondheim and Frank Lloyd Wright — Ms. Secrest details the hazards of the genre, from reluctant spouses of dead subjects and permissions withheld, to inaccessible archives and interviews denied. Among the highlights is a poignant interview with an ailing Salvador Dalí, and glimpses of the author’s own life growing up in Bath, England. A book signing follows the talk. Tonight, 7 p.m., Strand Bookstore, 828 Broadway at 12th Street, second floor, 212-473-1452, $35 includes a signed copy of the book.

WAKE UP AND READ 3 AM magazine, published in Britain, features fiction, author interviews, poetry, and criticism both on the Web and in print form. The magazine hosts a party night, featuring readings from authors including Ellen Kennedy, Zachery German, Ned Vizzini, and Tao Lin. Tonight, 7 p.m., KGB Bar, 85 E. 4th St. at Second Avenue, 212-505-3360, free.

JAZZ FOR THE INTELLECT As part of its “Live at Lincoln” series, Barnes & Noble hosts Yusef LaTeef, a multi-reedist, composer, and arranger. Mr. LaTeef’s groundbreaking career in jazz dates back to the 1950s. He performs selections from recent albums and discusses his newly published memoir, “The Gentle Giant” (Morton). Tonight, 7 p.m., Barnes & Noble, Lincoln Center Triangle, 1972 Broadway at 66th Street, 212-595-6859, free.

TALKS

NEW YORK, NOT CONSTANTINOPLE An attorney with the New York City Law Department and a historian, Warren Shaw, presents “How Nieuw Amsterdam Became New York,” a discussion about the Dutch development of the New York colony, and the progression of the colony after the British took over in 1664. Mr. Shaw discusses how colonists stubbornly refused to submit entirely to British rule, defending the individual character of the city from British lawmakers. The talk is presented by the Arts, Culture & Fun at Manhattan Recreation Centers series. Tonight, 7 p.m., Tony Dapolito Recreation Center, 1 Clarkson St. at Seventh Avenue South, 212-242-5228, free.

ONE MAN’S QUEST The fiction reading group of Barnes & Noble gathers for an open discussion of W. Somerset Maugham’s “The Razor’s Edge” (Penguin Classics), a tale of one man’s search for enlightenment. The book, published in 1944, depicts the journey of its main character, which takes him from the start of WWI on through the Great Depression. Characters from every niche of French, American, and English society are introduced along the way. The novel presents Maugham’s reflections on the nature of the human spirit. Friday, 7 p.m., Barnes & Noble, Lincoln Center Triangle, 1972 Broadway at 66th Street, 212-595-6859, free.

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