Can't Miss It: Thursday

The "Firebird" performed by the Ballets Russes in "Stravinsky and the Ballets Russes," tonight at SIFF Cinema.

MIDDLE EASTERN EXPOSURE: All the way from Kabul, ladies and gentlemen, Tamim Ansary! He's in town to talk about his book Destiny Disrupted, which is like his World According to the...well, Islamic World. Spanning the time from Mohammed to the fall of the Ottoman Empire and more, he tells a counter-narrative of cultural progress in which the rise of the West kinda, you know, sucks. The San Francisco Chronicle calls the book “an indispensable guide," while the Oregonian says it is "vivid, often wrenching."

7:30 p.m. // Town Hall, 8th & Seneca // $5

DANCE MOVIES: The Command Performances in HD series this spring at SIFF Cinema present the best of contemporary European ballet and opera in stunning high-def recordings for one-night-only events. Tonight, it's Stravinsky and the Ballets Russes, including a performance of Nijinkski's original choreography for Rites of Spring that outraged audiences in 1913.

7:30 p.m. // SIFF Cinema, 321 Mercer St. // $15

RETRO: Today, Jeremy Enigk is mostly known for the dubious distinction of having inspired contemporary emo music with his Nineties band Sunny Day Real Estate. That sucks, because Sunny Day was always better than that; the U2-inspired and grunge-produced complex melodies of Diary are a high point of alternative rock, a reminder that once upon a time, all music was not punk-derived. Enigk followed up his Sunny Day career with at least one brilliant solo album, the indie chamber music classic Return of the Frog Queen. Tonight, he's back at Neumo's for the CD release of his new solo record, OK Bear, and will be performing with the 15-piece Seattle Rock Orchestra.

8 p.m. // Neumo's, 925 E. Pike St. // $15, all ages, bar w/ID