Kaleidoscope

Are we mixing acids and bases here? Miro Dance Theatre and Toy Soldiers seem almost too incongruent to collaborate. The former is a futuristic troupe that spurs dance from theories of quantum entanglement and interviews with physicists, while the latter is a many-man and -woman band playing pleasantly old-timey, dilated rock 'n' roll. It should make Miro Mash-Ups (tonight at Girard College, mirodancetheatre.org) — which follows a four-day cram session of the two creating brand-new dance and music together — paradoxically fun.

For the past 18 years, Pennsylvania Ballet dancers and dancemakers have taken a night off to, well, do more dancing. MANNA's Shut Up & Dance 2010, this Saturday at the Forrest Theatre, features an all-star cast of local artists, including Jermel Johnson, Meredith Rainey and Francis Veyette. If the ticket price ($35-$200, mannapa.org) scares you, think of it this way: Your admission translates to 20-plus meals for those affected by HIV/AIDS, cancer and other life-threatening illnesses.

With credibly sultry lite-jazz/R&B vocals (courtesy of frontlady Yukimi Nagano), fitfully chunky electro grooves and the occasional Bernie Worrell-style synth spazz-out, sleekly stylish Swedish foursome Little Dragon — who play Johnny Brenda's March 23 — don't slot too neatly into the customary categories, but their deceptively smooth machine-assisted soul goes down easy all the same. Expect a party.

Veering away from their alt-er, country-er roots, the Drive-By Truckers explore lusher sounds on The Big To-Do  (ATO), their 10th. Fear not, Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley (mostly the former) still submit Southern Gothic narratives — about kinky preachers, murder victims and take-this-job-and-shove-it — but this time, the songs sound fuller and softer, thanks in large part to the addition of keyboardist Jay Gonzalez. Bassist Shonna Tucker proves her worth on the ethereal "You Got Another," but Hood and Cooley still hold the band down with their dueling guitar work and strong sense of what their band is, and should be.