all day: Art

With a name to match its gigantic size, “Chas’ Stainless Steel, Mark Thompson’s Airplane Parts, About 1000 Pounds of Stainless Steel Wire and Gagosian’s Beverly Hills Space” is sculptor Nancy Rubins’ latest creation, at the Gagosian Gallery. The massive, treelike structure, made of used airplane parts, sprouts from the gallery floor and branches out above viewers’ heads.* “Chas’ Stainless Steel,” Gagosian Gallery, 456 N. Camden Drive, Beverly Hills, Tuesdays to Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Free. (310) 271-9400.

7 pm: Dance

A brutal civil war that ended with the murderous reign of the Khmer Rouge all but destroyed traditional Cambodian culture in the 1970s. Since then, political infighting and poverty have crippled attempts at recovery. But the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh has made progress in reconnecting to the past. Its “Dance: The Spirit of Cambodia” project is an example of the living art that survived the killing fields. Along with excerpts from the folk and classical repertories, the program includes scenes from the epic “Ramayana” (“Reamker”).

* “Dance: The Spirit of Cambodia,” Carpenter Center for the Performing Arts, Cal State Long Beach, 6200 Atherton St., Long Beach. 7 p.m. $25 to $30. (562) 985-7000.

7:30 pm: Jazz

The 81-year-old pianist-composer Dave Brubeck tours the Southland this weekend. Probably best known for his classic recording of “Take Five,” he was first modern jazz artist to have a million-selling jazz record and to make the cover of Time magazine.

* Dave Brubeck, Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, today to Saturday, 7:30 p.m. $80. (714) 556-ARTS. Also at Smothers Theatre, Pepperdine University, 24255 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, Sunday, 3 p.m. $45. (310) 506-4522.

8 pm: Dance

Using a percussion arrangement of music from “Carmen,” Matthew Bourne’s dance drama “The Car Man” contains as much sex, murder and betrayal as Bizet’s opera but opts for a narrative closer to the film noir classic “The Postman Always Rings Twice,” even naming its adulterous heroine Lana. Set in a mythical Midwestern community in the 1960s, it allows Bourne’s Adventures in Motion Pictures company to trade the feathers of his “Swan Lake” and the Blitz-era uniforms of his “Cinderella” for denims, undershirts and other all-American attire.

* “The Car Man,” Ahmanson Theatre, Music Center, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown L.A., 8 p.m. Also runs Tuesdays to Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 2 and 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends Oct. 28. $25 to $70. (213) 628-2772.