The Ten

Don’t-miss picks for March 29 through April 4, 2018

1 Candlelit Historic Mansion Tour

Museums:Halloween isn’t for another seven months, so if you’re in need of a little spookiness this evening tour of the International Museum of Surgical Science should do the trick. This journey into an historic and stately mansion on Lake Shore Drive will take participants through the building by candlelight and culminate in a complimentary reception.
3/29 at 5:30 p.m. $25. International Museum of Surgical Science. eventbrite.com

2 Painting with Pie

Museums:Yes, you read that right: The pie is the material you paint with at this free workshop at the Smart Museum, open to any skill level and part of the museum’s exhibit, The History of Perception.
FREE 3/29 at 5:30 p.m. Smart Museum of Art. eventbrite.com

3 Sinkane

World:Late last year, this Utah-raised son of a Sudanese politician—real name Ahmed Gallab—returned to his native country in search of his roots. “In the past being in limbo made me confused,” he tweeted at the time. “Now I’m at peace with it.” That duality plays out successfully in Sinkane’s music, which seamlessly blends elements of Krautrock, jazz, funk, and prog. Difficult to summarize, the music Gallab pens as Sinkane remains a reflection of the man behind it: complex, nuanced, and at peace with the unknown.
3/29 at 7:30 p.m. $20. Lincoln Hall. lh-st.com

4 Molly Shanahan/Mad Shak

Dance:Dance scholar Shanahan follows up last year’s solo show at Links Hall with this new quartet, exploring humans’ relationships with technology and the digital world. In the past decade, Shanahan has perfected a kind of dance that blurs the lines between her studio and formal work, improvisation and scripted movement, and the literal and abstract.
3/29–31 at 7:30 p.m. $10–$30. Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago. colum.edu/dance-center

5 Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein

Electronic:The duo who make the period-perfect synthesizer scores for the hit Netflix sci-fi series Stranger Things return to town so you can hear their oozing laser-sounding music live, without the visual aids of telekinetic teenagers or alternate dimensions.
3/30 at 8 p.m. $33–$49. Athenaeum Theatre. ovationtix.com

6 Tokimonsta

Electronic:There are career setbacks, and then there’s Jennifer Lee’s story. In 2015, the musician and producer, who performs as Tokimonsta, was diagnosed with Moyamoya, a rare brain disease that shrinks a person’s main arteries, forcing blood into weaker collateral vessels. After surgery in January 2016, Lee lost the ability to speak or understand music. Her recovery wasn’t speedy, but by October 2017, she had put out an album, Lune Rouge, her third and most socially compelling LP yet. Toast the singer’s remarkable comeback at her first Chicago show since the illness.
3/30–31 at 6 p.m. $65. Donald E. Stephens Convention Center. ticketfly.com

7 Julie Byrne

Folk:Rarely do a venue and performer match as well as they do here. Buffalo-born singer-songwriter Byrne’s bewitching, delicate folk music recalls ghosts and long-unearthed memories. So what better place to witness such material than at an enormous cemetery?
3/31 at 8:30 p.m. $20. Bohemian National Cemetery. eventbrite.com

8 Otobong Nkanga

Art:This Nigerian artist’s wall-size tapestries tell the story of mining practices across Africa, specifically focused on landscapes ravaged to collect base materials for luxury goods like computers and makeup. No mere environmental exhibit, To Dig a Hole That Collapses Again examines global capitalism and trade as an aftereffect of colonialism and slavery.
3/31–9/9. $8–$15. Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. mcachicago.org

9 Savior

New Music:For its new-music series MusicNow, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra produces the world premiere of composer Amy Beth Kirsten’s chamber opera Savior with her vocal-theater ensemble Howl and CSO musicians.
4/2 at 7 p.m. $15–$28. Harris Theater. cso.org

10 Stomping Grounds

Dance:This annual fest, celebrating international forms of rhythmic movement, kicks off at the Chicago Cultural Center before traveling to other neighborhoods for two months of narrated performances highlighting traditional dance from Africa, India, Spain, Ireland, and the Americas.
FREE 4/2–6/7. Various venues. chicagotap.org