Charles “Baba Chuck” Davis, known for traveling and studying across Africa in order to bring traditional dance to America, was the founder of DanceAfrica at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Davis died earlier this year at the age of 80. In its 40th year, the BAM program honors the life and legacy of Davis and his mantra, “peace, love, respect for everybody,” with DanceAfrica performances hosted by Dallas Black Dance Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Moody Performance Hall, 2520 Flora St. The bright and celebratory performances feature Bandan Koro African Drum and Dance Ensemble, and Saturday kicks up excitement with a free marketplace and festival from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Annette Strauss Square, 2389 Flora St. Tickets for the performances are $35 and available at tickets.attpac.org. Moody Performance Hall, 3530 Flora St., 7:30 p.m., $35, tickets.attpac.org. — Merritt Martin
There are few things more red, white and blue, more all-American awesome, than an air show. Seeing these innovations of engineering and military superiority cut open huge swaths of sky with their roaring engines just makes you feel lucky you live in a country filled with brave souls who dare to let 200 tons of metal keep them 50,000 feet in the air. Imagine how much bravery was required just to step in one of these things during World War II, when science and engineering had yet to develop the internalized turbine engine and the in-flight, in-seat movie. You won’t have to imagine at the Wings Over Dallas WWII Commemorative Air Force Airshow from Friday through Sunday at the Dallas Executive Airport, 5303 Challenger Drive. The show will feature tours and live flight demonstrations of authentic WWII aircraft, including the B-25 “Barbie III” and TORA Aircraft. You’ll even get the chance to go for a ride in one of these mighty machines. Tickets are $5 for children ages 6-11 and $20 for adults. Student and active military passes are available for $15. World War II veterans and children younger than 5 get in for free. Visit wingsoverdallas.org to purchase passes and learn more about the show. Dallas Executive Airport, 5303 Challenger Drive, Friday-Sunday, $20, wingsoverdallas.org. — Danny Gallagher
The State Fair of Texas begins Friday in Fair Park. It ends Oct. 22. What? You want to know more? It’s the freakin’ fair, people. It’s only been happening 131 years. Geez. OK, fine: tons of food, most of it fried; butter sculpture; livestock exhibits; a huge midway with games and carnival rides; live music; assorted entertainers; vendors selling stuff as seen on TV; a car show; corn dogs; turkey legs; arts and crafts. It’s the S-T-A-T-E F-A-I-R. Got it? It costs $12.50 to $16.50 to get in the gate, but there are a ton of group packages that can lower the price if you’re unlucky enough to work for a Dallas employer who doesn’t pass out tickets as a perk. Bring lots of money for food, drinks, rides and game coupons. Acts on the Chevrolet Mainstage this year include Maren Morris, La Mafia, Ro James, the Charlie Daniels Band and Wilson Phillips. Holy crap: Wilson Phillips is playing at the State Fair of Texas at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 8. Well, that’s different. The fair kicks off at 9 a.m. Friday with the Chevrolet Ride and Drive, and Morris plays at 8:30 p.m. opening day. For tickets and a full schedule, visit bigtex.com. Fair Park, daily through Oct. 22, $12.50-$16.50, bigtex.com. — Patrick Williams
Loving Vincent has its Texas premiere at the DMA Saturday.
Loving Vincent still
In 2015, Gregg Allman partnered with Live Nation to create a one-day event celebrating the best in music and food. Despite Allman's death earlier this year, the five-date, all-star traveling celebration continues for its third year with a stop through Dallas with headliners Lynyrd Skynyrd and Jimmie Vaughan & The Tilt-A-Whirl Band. Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory, 300 W. Las Colinas Blvd., Irving, 5:30 p.m., $30 and up, musicfactory.com. — Diamond Victoria
Crystal Castles have steadily gotten darker and more layered since their eponymous full-length debut in front of SXSW 2008 audiences. In the beginning, their sound was sparse and jagged, with lead singer and millennial femme icon Alice Glass seeming to see Karen O and Trent Reznor as her spiritual mother and father. These days, Glass and partner Ethan Kath are making damaged electronic soundscapes that are nearly unrecognizable from their earlier work and more akin to what Siouxsie Sioux did in the mid-'80s. The duo's live shows are seizure-inducing workouts of sight and sound. House of Blues, 2200 N. Lamar St., 8 p.m., $25-$45, houseofblues.com. — Craig Hlavaty
A lot of country songs are about losing the things we love, whether it be a truck, a sweetheart or a mama. But this country story has far happier connotations for performers and fan alike. For the first time in almost 10 years, Nashville power couple Faith Hill and Tim McGraw are touring the U.S. together. The duo’s tour comes with the insinuation of a possible duet album in the works. A few new collaborative tracks are already turning heads. “Speak to a Girl” is a touching piece of advice passed down in song and performed with the couple’s characteristic chemistry. In other words, it’s everything you could ask for from a Hill-McGraw duet. The more poppy tune “Break First” is a tale of a relationship on the brink, as McGraw and Hill stand face to face and let their voices grind into one another. The Jay-Z and Beyoncé of country music are back, and they’re bringing all of their hits to Dallas. American Airlines Center, 2500 Victory Ave., 7:30 p.m., $69 and up, ticketmaster.com. — Nicholas Bostick
There has never been an artist like Vincent Van Gogh, so it’s only fitting that a movie about him be breathtaking and unique. And there’s never been a movie like Loving Vincent, the world’s first fully painted feature film, which took six years and used 65,000 oil paintings from 125 artists. Producers and [image-4]animators from the film discuss how they made it happen at 3 p.m. Saturday during Art and Animation: A Conversation at the Dallas Museum of Art, 1717 N. Harwood St. VIP tickets for the film’s Texas premiere, also at the DMA, are $100 and include a 5:30 p.m. wine reception, a private tour of the Van Gogh Sheaves of Wheat exhibit and reserved seating. Doors open for general admission ($50) ticket holders at 6:15 p.m., followed by onstage intros at 6:45 and the screening at 7. Call the museum at 214-922-1200 or visit lovingvincent.com for more on the film. Visit dma.org for tickets. Dallas Museum of Art, 1717 N. Harwood St., 3 p.m., $50 and up, dma.org. — Jesse Hughey
In Danger of Existence, a new exhibit by painter and mixed-media artist Brenda McKinney, is on display at Haley-Henman Contemporary Art, 411 Singleton Blvd., through Oct. 28. You'll recognize the artist's theme in many of her works: contemplating the meaning of life, beauty, ever-changing conditions in the world, global warming and extinctions — of animals and yes, even people. There will be a reception from 5-8 p.m. Saturday. An added attraction: You may join in a conversation with the artist at 3 p.m. Oct. 14. McKinney's art can be seen in Spain, Sweden, Italy, Hungary, Lithuania, Canada and locally in permanent collections at Texas Woman's University, Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas and UT Southwestern Medical Center. McKinney is the acting curator to the Discovery Gallery at Texas Discovery Gardens in Fair Park. For more information, call 214-532-3225 or visit haleyhenman.com. Haley Henman Contemporary Art, 411 Singleton Blvd., 5-8 p.m., free, haleyhenman.com. — Reba Liner
Sunday
It’s pumpkin time, y’all, the time of year when we pay very close attention to an otherwise ignored large orange fruit. They’re not to eat unless canned and thrown into pie or made into sugary syrup and sloshed into steamed milk with trace amounts of coffee. We decorate them, make Halloween costumes in their likeness and throw festivals in their honor. Expect all of that and more at the Oak Cliff Pumpkinfest starting at 4 p.m. Sunday in Bishop Arts District on North Bishop Avenue. The family-friendly event, which includes a costume contest, tug-o-war, a precarved pumpkin contest, a food drive benefiting the North Texas Food Bank and a pet rescue service, is free to attend but includes games and food for a few bucks. For more information and to register for tug-o-war, visit the event’s Facebook page. Bishop Arts, North Bishop Avenue at Davis Street, 4 p.m., free, see Facebook.— Diamond Victoria
Here’s a fact of life we all know to be true: Some people are inherently suave, sophisticated and cool while others constantly struggle just to make small talk or keep mustard from spilling onto their T-shirts. If you feel any kinship with the clumsy, the awkward or the mustard-stained, and you want to woo your significant other or just get in a good workout, join Zensual Dance Fitness — Dallas Pole Dancing, 17062 Preston Road, No. 108, at 2:30 p.m Sunday for The Basics of Dancing Sexy, a size-inclusive, four-hour class. This playful workshop teaches classy and seductive moves that won’t leave you tripping over pantyhose or rolling an ankle in 3-inch heels. Bring plenty of water, “sexy comfortable” clothing and your favorite pair of high heels to learn a routine designed to tone, strengthen and build flexibility. Light refreshments will be served, and tickets are available for $100 at the door or at eventbrite.com. Dallas Pole Dancing, 17062 Preston Road, No. 108, 2:30 p.m., $100, eventbrite.com. — Diamond Victoria
By teaming with local high school choirs, the Dallas Symphony Chorus hopes to make its 40th anniversary a community-wide celebration. This year’s 2017-18 season — the DSC’s 40th as the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s official choir — kicks off in earnest with A Celebration of Singing, an evening of moving choral works. In concert with the choirs of Dallas Carter High School, Booker T. Washington and Plano West, the DSC debuts a world premiere commissioned for this event: “Proud Music of the Storm” by American composer Jake Runestad. Leonard Bernstein’s beloved “Chichester Psalms” and Tarik O’Regan’s “Dorcester Canticles" fill out the program. Joshua Habermann conducts. The free performance is at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the Meyerson Symphony Center, 2301 Flora St. A "choral conversation” with Runestad is open to the public and takes place at 1:30 p.m. For more information, visit mydso.com. Meyerson Symphony Center, 2301 Flora St., 2:30 p.m., free, mydso.com. — Jonathan Patrick
Let’s just say it: Barbecue is no longer a mere foodstuff. It’s a religion. Lovers of smoked meat travel endless miles to worship their god and produce countless arguments about what constitutes proper barbecue. They evangelize. They testify. And they get some really tasty food, most often with beer and good music. As religions go, barbecue worship isn’t that bad. Gather yeselves together at the Granada Theater, 3524 Greenville Ave., to immerse yourself in ’cue and tunes — all for a good cause — at the fifth annual Pitmasters Picnic benefiting Cafe Momentum, a culinary training program for youths. Ceremonies begin at 1 p.m. Sunday and feature dishes from some of the region’s and nation’s top pitmasters, along with live music from Big Funky Cloud (featuring Nick Pencis of Stanley’s), Atlantis Aquarius, Thomas Wynn & the Believers, and the Last Bandoleros. Tickets, $65 for adults, $35 for children ages 5-10 and free for kids younger than 5, are available at prekindle.com. Granada Theater, 3524 Greenville Ave., 1 p.m., $65, prekindle.com. — Patrick Williams
