DANCE

Feb 12–14
Urban Bush Women
For 30 years, the Brooklyn-based Urban Bush Women troupe has been at the forefront of African American contemporary dance. And to celebrate three decades of excellence, founder and choreographer Jawole Willa Jo Zollar is touring the country with two works of great personal significance: a memoir of her youth in Kansas City entitled Hep Hep Sweet Sweet, and Walking with ’Trane, her tribute to John Coltrane’s classic album A Love Supreme. Meany Hall, $41–$46.

VISUAL ART

Feb 12–May 17
Indigenous Beauty
Seattle Art Museum has long been at the forefront of displaying regional native art, and Indigenous Beauty expands the focus from coast to coast. Drawing from Charles and Valerie Diker’s celebrated collection, the exhibit features over 100 vivid cultural relics in a variety of mediums that illuminate the styles and traditions of tribes from across the continent. Linger awhile to experience the companion exhibit Seattle Collects Northwest Coast Native Art, featuring 60 exquisite works from local private collectors. Seattle Art Museum, $20.

PERFORMANCE

Thru Mar 22
Cirque du Soleil: Kurios
Enter the steampunk world of Kurios, Cirque du Soleil's latest circus arts performance. Robots wander about as a band plays a mix of 1930s jazz and dark gypsy Balkan folk, while performers astoundingly juggle, flip, balance, swing, bike, and even yo-yo across the stage. It feels like Northwest fantasy pulled from a Portlandia character; their version of The Dude’s dream sequence in The Big Lebowski. Marymoor Park, $42–$495.

Fri, Feb 13
Slash: Burlesque Romance Without Boundaries
Seattle's top nerdlesque performers take speed dating to the next level in an over-the-top burlesque performance inspired by the indie card game Slash: Romance Without Boundaries. With pop culture characters as a starting point and alternative love in all of its many forms as the end result, this performance is far from your average striptease show. Re-Bar, $20–$40.

FILM

Feb 7–May 31
Seattle Asian American Film Festival
The Seattle Asian American Film Festival heads to Northwest Film Forum with documentaries highlighting this year’s slate: Expect films about sriracha, a Pulitzer-winning undocumented immigrant, George Takei, and the obscure Chinese volleyball-like sport, nine-man.

COMEDY

Feb 12–14
Greg Behrendt
Comedian Greg Behrendt’s career took an unexpected turn into the realm of relationship advisor and TV host when his book He’s Just Not That Into You (coauthored with Liz Tuccillo) became a smash success. But the career shift left him with a deep depression and substance abuse issues. After sorting out his problems, Beherendt has returned to the standup stage happier, healthier, and as funny as ever. Tacoma Comedy Club, $10–$20.

CONCERTS

Thur, Feb 12
Tiny Messengers: Aurora EP Release Show
Listening to the new record Aurora EP, it's difficult to sense that Tiny Messengers write their music in the rainy, grey Northwest. Their bright tracks mix a lot of country western with a little Elvis Costello, invoking images of summer days driving with the top down on wide, open roads. They can also get down on the big, achy power ballad like "One Fine Morning," where strumming banjo seems from a another place far outside of Seattle. Barboza, $6–$8.

Fri, Feb 13
Miranda Lambert
In 2014, Miranda Lambert's fifth album, Platinum, debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200. This would be noteworthy if it wasn't so routine. In fact all of Lambert's first five records have debuted at the top of the Billboard Country Albums charts, making her the only the only artist to ever accomplish that feat. The pop country superstar heads to the Tacoma Dome with Justin Moore (who has five #1 country hits of his own) providing opening support. Tacoma Dome, $37–$52.

Fri, Feb 13
Billy Idol
Few rock stars revel in the spotlight like Billy Idol. In concert he basks in the attention while belting out hits like “Rebel Yell” and “White Wedding,” but he also takes glee in being uniquely crowd pleasing. Not only does he sing the obscene fan-created extra lyrics to “Mony Mony,” but he’ll also toss out signed items including—no joke—date-stamped paper plates; anything to whip the crowd into a rocking frenzy. Paramount Theatre, sold out.

Sat, Feb 14
Hozier
Expect more hymns than sermons when Irish musician Hozier—of the hit single “Take Me to Church”— comes to town. The congregation should be packed; most of the shows on the tour supporting his self-titled debut LP have sold out. Luckily this one’s on a Saturday night, so the following morning you can say a few Hail Marys and attempt to atone for your earthly sins. Paramount Theatre, sold out.

BOOKS & TALKS

Feb 13–15
Medicine Ball: Playwrights vs. Poets
This literary boxing match pits practitioners of verse and stagecraft against one another in a no-holds-barred battle over love and sex. Poets and playwrights are placed in teams and given a prompt to write toward, tackling the big issues over Valentine's Day, then an acting company performs each. The audience then votes, and after three days of matches a winner is crowned. The stakes couldn't be higher, either. The winner gets a bottle of Two Buck Chuck, while losers receive a warm bottle of PBR. West of Lenin, $20.