Critics' picks: The 9 best things to do and see in the Twin Cities this week

'Secrets of the Season'

Christmas might be over, but the annual holiday celebration at the American Swedish Institute is not. For the 72^nd year, six countries or communities share their holiday spirit inside Turnblad Mansion. This year, guest curators from local communities represent Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Finland and Sami — the indigenous people of northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. The Sami Cultural Center of North America in Duluth created an installation of a gietka — a pouch filled with moss, linen and reindeer and rabbit fur that a Sami mother would use to keep her baby warm. In the Finnish room, artist Tia Keobounpheng's installation is devoted to darkness, a critical component of winter in the Nordic region. (Ends Sunday. 2600 Park Av. S., Mpls. $6-$15, free for kids under 5. Hours: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Wed., Fri.-Sun., 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Thu. 612-871-4907 or asimn.org)

ALICIA ELER

Minnesota Orchestra

Few pieces ask more of a pianist than Sergei Rachmaninoff's Third Piano Concerto, but it's a good bet the brilliant Kirill Gerstein will do amazing things with it. A young American conductor on the rise, Ryan Bancroft, will also lead the orchestra in a work by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Modest Mussorgsky's evocative "Pictures at an Exhibition." Friday's concert will be broadcast on TPT-2 and streamed on the orchestra's website. Sorry, no Gerstein on Saturday, as that's a one-hour "Symphony in 60" event. (11 a.m. Thurs., 8 p.m. Fri., 6 p.m. Sat.; Orchestra Hall, 1111 Nicollet Mall, Mpls.; $32-$102; 612-371-5656 or minnesotaorchestra.org.)

ROB HUBBARD

Acoustic Bowie

CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER

SongSlam Minneapolis

If poets can bare their soul and artistry and subject it to the opinions of others at a poetry slam, why can't composers, singers and pianists team up for a "SongSlam," presenting new works and allowing audience members to vote for their favorite offerings? The Twin Cities' own Source Song Festival has been doing this annually for five years (online during COVID). It returns to live action at Icehouse, joining a national network of slams run by New York's Sparks & Wiry Cries. Chris Koza hosts. (8 p.m. Friday; 2528 Nicollet Av. S., Mpls.; $25-$30; icehousempls.com.)

R.H.

Pages and Stages

CHRIS HEWITT

Slo Dance Company

Choreographer Laura Osterhaus Rosenstone returns to Minneapolis with her project, Slo Dance Company, with a work that explores the benefits of slowing down. She was a member of Zenon Dance Company when it ended its professional troupe in 2019 (it still operates as a school). When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, she went to graduate school at Smith College. Now she's back, bringing her articulate, fluid choreographic style with two improvised dance works. She'll premiere "7 duets," which was shown as a work-in-progress at last year's Candy Box Dance Festival, as well as a new piece. Both works involve music collaborator Patrick Marschke. (7:30 p.m. Fri. & Sat., Southern Theater, 1420 Washington Av. S., Mpls., $20, 612-208-1579, southerntheater.org)

SHEILA REGAN

Eleganza

C.R.

Brandon Commodore's NRG

Known as the touring drummer for Mint Condition, drummer for Sounds of Blackness, music director for Stokley and co-founder of the funky #MPLS, Brandon Commodore has put together a new group to showcase his own compositions. Promising a mix of jazz, hip-hop and soul, NRG is set to make its hometown debut. Commodore has tapped guitarist Mychael Gabriel, who has played with Sheila E., and saxophonist Chris Rochester, who plays with L.A. Buckner, as well as bassist Chris Smith and keyboardist Kavyesh Kaviraj. Don't be surprised if Commodore's musical relatives — namely his singing sister Ashley, singing star mother Ginger and drumming dad Bobby — are in the house. (8 p.m. Wed. Icehouse, 2528 Nicollet Av. S., Mpls., $12-$15, icehousempls.com)

JON BREAM

Ice Castles