Best shows of the week: Ashwini Ramaswamy, Flint Hills, Grand Old Days and more

Ashwini Ramaswamy doesn't get as much attention as her sister, Aparna, and mother, Ranee Ramaswamy, who are the founders and artistic directors of Ragamala Dance. That's perhaps because as a young person, she stepped away from the intensive training that her sister and mother were engaged in, and later as an adult, moved to New York City where she didn't dance for a number of years. That all changed in 2007, when the younger of the Ramaswamy sisters returned to Minnesota to become an integral part of Ragamala . In the last year, Ramaswamy has spread her wings even further. Last August, she received a glowing review in the New York Times as a soloist dancer after performing at the Ellen Stewart Theater at La MaMa. Now, for the Red Eye Theater's New Works 4 Weeks Festival, she presents her first evening of ensemble choreography. "Nocturne," created in the Bharatanatyam classical Indian dance form, sets her work in the enigma of night, where the instinctive, emotional and spiritual selves are allowed to surface. The work includes performances by Ranee Ramaswamy, Tamara Nadel, and Jessica Fiala. SHEILA REGAN

8 p.m. Thu.-Sat., Red Eye Theater, Mpls. $8-$15, redeyetheater.org

St. Paul's Grand Old Days has doubled its fun this year by expanding to two days. Saturday is about shopping: Stores along Grand Avenue will offer sidewalk sales and in-store events, while kids can play a day early at the Family Fun District at Ramsey Junior High. Sunday the traditional portion of the festival features entertainment (including Charlie Parr and Solid Gold), arts, culture, sports and wellness — plus more than 150 food vendors and craft beers.

MELISSA WALKER

Noon-8 p.m. Sat.; 8 a.m.-7 p.m. next Sun. Free; $6-$8 for wristband to enter festival gardens, grandave.com

From the get-go, it was pretty obvious that Florence Welch had the voice and bravado to fill big venues. Now, after releasing its third album, the British group Florence + the Machine is playing arenas. Last year's album "How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful" reined in the bombast a bit. In fact, the single "Ship to Wreck" feels as though it floated out of the folk-rock canon. Arty Canadian singer-songwriter Grimes opens.

JON BREAM

The annual Flint Hills Children's Festival offers a smorgasbord of global acts plus more than 500 local artists for free or just $5 a ticket. Its 16th edition includes Pittsburgh-based Squonk Opera, whose "Pneumatica" includes a 40-foot female figure powered by wind turbines. Air and music also mix in "Air Play," by New York-based clown company Acrobuffos. The main stage also includes a puppet show, "Sleeping Beauty Dreams," by Mexico's Marionetas de la Esquina.

ROHAN PRESTON

Fri.-Sun., Ordway Center and Rice Park, St. Paul. fhfestival.org

The nine-man chorus Cantus celebrates summer by exploring the Beach Boys' iconic 1966 album "Pet Sounds." A band will accompany the singers on a journey through "Wouldn't It Be Nice," "God Only Knows" "Caroline No" and the other Brian Wilson tunes that turned the pop world's head. Don't expect a note-for-note re-creation. Cantus reportedly will use funk, jazz and bluegrass, among other musical styles, to put its own signature on the tunes.

Graydon Royce

Pale moody skies, deep fjords, mossy cliffs and empty valleys are having an international moment, personified by Swedish chef Magnus Nilsson. Acclaimed for his 12-seat Fäviken restaurant, improbably housed in a barn 200 miles south of the Arctic Circle, Nilsson will launch a four-day feast of Nordic food, photos and festivities with a craft beer and spirits tasting party and preview of his photo exhibit opening at the American Swedish Institute.

MARY ABBE

7-10 p.m. Wed., American Swedish Institute, Mpls. $30, asimn.org

Founded by actress Sara Marsh, the tiny Dark & Stormy theater company has been digging into meaty subjects with A-list casts. Now the troupe tackles schizophrenia in "And So it Goes," Canadian playwright George F. Walker's drama about a family trying to pick up the pieces after being devastated by mental illness. The ensemble includes Sally Wingert, Robert Dorfman, James Craven and Marsh. Benjamin McGovern directs.

ROHAN PRESTON

The band Lord Huron and its Michigan-bred frontman, Ben Schneider, took a sizable leap with last year's elegant Americana-baroque album "Strange Tails," featuring the sweet hit "Fool's Gold." However, opening act Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats seems more like a headliner after a sweltering Turf Club set last year and the mad love the Current (89.3 FM) and other stations are giving to the Denver soul-rock crew's buoyant songs, including "S.O.B." and "Howling at Nothing."

CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER

7:30 p.m. Tue., Northrop, Mpls. $35.

Valerie Curtis-Newton's production of Alice Childress' 1955 play "Trouble in Mind" is the best production the Guthrie has mounted all year. Childress indicted an entertainment system that wrote stereotypes for ethnic actors. Starring Margo Moorer as a veteran actor forced to confront her feelings about a deeply flawed play within the play, the work is trenchant, constantly on pitch and sharply observed.

Graydon Royce