Shaking it up

RENNIE HARRIS PUREMOVEMENT The groundbreaking Philadelphia-based hip-hop troupe celebrates its 20th-anniversary season with this special Bates Dance Festival program, which brings back company veterans for classic works and showcases current dancers in recent creations. July 13-14. $24, $18 seniors, $12 students. Schaeffer Theatre, Bates College, Lewiston, Maine. 207-786-6161, www.batesdancefestival.org KAREN CAMPBELL

THEATER

TOTEM Virtuosity topped with Vegas cheese: It’s the tried-and-true Cirque du Soleil recipe, and it works well in “Totem,’’ written and directed by the ubiquitous Robert Lepage, a man who knows a thing or two about juggling. Through Aug. 5. At Big Top, Boston Marine Industrial Park. 800-450-1480,
www.cirquedusoleil.com/totem

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CAR TALK: THE MUSICAL!!! Based on NPR’s popular call-in program, this show might seem an unlikely proposition. But with the help of Tom and Ray Magliozzi, who contributed their voices to the project, Wesley Savick has cobbled a wacky plot, clever song parodies, the brothers’ trademark outrageous puns, and a fine cast into a production that’s running like a top. Through Aug. 12. Presented by Underground Railway Theater and Suffolk University. At Central Square Theater, Cambridge. 866-811-4111, www.centralsquaretheater.org

DANCE

VERTIGO DANCE COMPANY The acclaimed Israeli contemporary troupe makes its Jacob’s Pillow debut with the intriguing “Mana.” Noa Wertheim’s athletically graceful choreography unfurls in a loosely theatrical framework that explores concepts of light — within and without. Through
July 8. $39-$64. Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Becket. 413-243-0745, www.jacobspillow.org

COMPAGNIE FÊTES GALANTES For almost two decades, this French company under the leadership of Béatrice Massin has tweaked the rich complexity of Baroque dance with a contemporary sensibility. The company’s “Let My Joy Remain,” set to the music of J.S. Bach, opens the ninth annual Bard SummerScape festival. July 6-8. $25-$55. Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y. 845-758-7900, www.fisher
center.bard.edu

WHAM! BAM! KABOOM! The Boston Babydolls burlesque troupe presents the boys of Seattle’s Mod Carousel in this evening of satirical striptease, featuring over-the-top superheroes pitted against a sexy villainess. July 6, 7:30 p.m. $15-$25. Machine. 800-838-3006,
www.bostonbabydolls.net

GALLERIES

AMY ARBUS: AFTER IMAGES The photographer, known for her portraits of performers (and for being the daughter of Diane Arbus), recreates paintings by Picasso, Ingres, and more. The work tills the unnerving ground between photography and painting, real and imagined. Through July 27. The Schoolhouse Gallery, 494 Commercial St., Provincetown. 508-487-4800, www.schoolhouseprovince town.com

LINDA GOTTESFELD: PEARLBROOK DRIVE The painter revisits the New Jersey neighborhood where she grew up, and explores the gulfs among memory, reality, and photographic depictions of “reality.” Her paintings have their source in photographs, which she digitally tweaks before turning to the canvas. Through Augl 3. Ellen Miller Gallery, 38 Newbury St.
617-536-4650, www.ellenmiller
gallery.com

ARISE Opposites attract. Or do they repel? These artists wrestle with a wide range of polarities, from positive and negative space to tug-of-wars having to do with perception and art history. Featured artists include Josiah McElheny, Annette Lemieux, and Bill Thompson. Through July 27. Barbara Krakow Gallery, 10 Newbury St.
617-262-4490, www.barbarakrakowgallery.com

MICHELE L'HEUREUX: TOY WITH IT Like a child learning the alphabet, L'Heureux uses blocks. Instead of letters, her mixed-media cubes sport a variety of surfaces and symbols, with which she examines expectations about gender and identity. Through Sept. 21. Arsenal Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal St., Watertown. 617-923-0100,
www.arsenalarts.org

New Bedford Whaling Museum

MUSEUMS

OH, CANADA! An ambitious, large-scale survey of the best of contemporary art from Canada. Through April 1, 2013. Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams. 413-662-2111, www.massmoca.org

GARY WEBB: MR. JEANS Sculptures that play fast and loose both with modernism and consumer culture by this compelling young British artist. Through Aug. 12. DeCordova Sculpture Park & Museum, Lincoln. 781-259-8355, www.decordova.org

MAKING A PRESENCE: F. HOLLAND DAY IN ARTISTIC PHOTOGRAPHY Ninety works presenting an overview of this fascinating Pictorialist photographer. Includes portraits of Day by his photographer peers. Through July 31. Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover.
978-749-4015, www.andover.edu/Museums/Addison

Whale of an exhibit

SCRIMSHAW: SHIPBOARD ART OF THE WHALERS Hundreds of examples of scrimshaw — sperm whale teeth, walrus tusks, and whalebone carved and decorated on ships by whalers — from the world’s finest collection. New Bedford Whaling Museum,
New Bedford. 508-997-0046, www.whalingmuseum.org

SEBASTIAN SMEE