Two households, both alike in dignity, in punk-rock Berlin, where we lay our scene, Shakespeare’s classic tale of star-crossed lovers leaves courtly Verona to inhabit gritty 1980s Germany.

To bridge the 7,000 mile gap between Israel and Los Angeles, the Center for Intercultural Performance invited four of the most innovative names in Israeli contemporary dance to come teach at UCLA.

For the first time in its 13-year history, the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books will focus on the writing process.

Five minutes may not seem like a significant performance, but for undergraduate world arts and cultures students, that time is coveted.

From its polemical title, Pierre Bayard’s “How To Talk About Books You Haven’t Read” promises to be a face-saving manual for those of us too lazy to read the classics. Each chapter muses upon different social situations (such as encounters with professors) where one has to talk about books that one has not read.

An intimate conversation between one dancer and 1,833 audience members may seem impossible. But Eva Yerbabuena, with her swishing skirts and syncopations, promises just this.

“High School Musical” is jumping off television screens and dancing onto the stage.