Can't Miss It: Thursday

DANCE: George Balanchine's A Midsummer Night's Dream, in a Francia Russell staging, opens tonight at the Pacific Northwest Ballet. Scenery and costumes are by the irrepressible Martin Pakledinaz, evoking a primeval Pacific Northwest. With Shakespeare's play as the basis, Balanchine turned to Felix Mendelssohn's music to dream on the childhood relationship to nature, and the nature of relationships. Here's the video preview. (Photo: Carrie Imler and Timothy Lynch; © Angela Sterling)

MORE DANCE: Over at Meany Hall at the UW, New Zealand-based, all-male Black Grace brings stomps, body percussion, and acrobatics to the dance floor. Choreographer/founder Neil Ieremia blends Samoan and Maori dance with contemporary movement. In a piece named "Minori" the dancers begin with a Samoan nursery rhyme that becomes a Sesame Street counting song and then a slap dance.

8 p.m. // Meany Hall, University of Washington // Tickets: $40

THEATRE: There's a preview of Onward Ho! Productions' Wake at the Little Theatre tonight, before its official opening night tomorrow. It's the latest collaboration between playwright Sonya Schneider and director Laurel Pilar Garcia, and involves cast and crew from nearly every other theatre company in town. "Thirteen years ago, the Harlow family suffered a tragedy that cast a shadow over all their lives. When two outsiders join a special family gathering, relationships are changed, assumptions are challenged, and a world where the truth has been too painful to accept is forever altered."

8 p.m. // Little Theatre, 608 19th Avenue East // Tickets: $10-$15

The listed events were chosen by the editors of Seattlest and brought to you by the 2009 Toyota Corolla.