Pic Hits for the week

thursday
february 1
Parada del Sol Rodeo: Scottsdale's annual Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association-sanctioned roundup is one of the world's best, attracting many of the top ropers and riders in the field. Performances are at 1 p.m. Thursday, 1 and 7 p.m. Friday, 1 and 5:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at Rawhide, 23023 North Scottsdale Road. Tickets range from $6 to $15, available at Ticketmaster; call 784-4444. Two rodeo dances are planned: Friday's starts at 9 p.m., and features music by Mogollon; Young Country plays at Saturday's, which begins an hour earlier. The cover is $5 to each dance. All events are in the Old West town's arena. For general information, call 990-3179.

A Grand Night for Singing: This touring production features the greatest hits of Rodgers and Hammerstein, including standards from Oklahoma!, The King and I and The Sound of Music and lesser-known tunes like "Allegro" and "Pipe Dream." The show starts at 8 p.m. Thursday at the Sundome, 19403 R.H. Johnson Boulevard in Sun City West, and at the same time Friday at Chandler Center for the Arts, 250 North Arizona Avenue. Tickets for the Sundome show are $11, $16 and $24, available at the venue and Dillard's; call 975-1900 or 678-2222. Chandler tickets range from $18 to $28, available at the center and Ticketmaster; call 786-2680 or 784-4444.

ASU Basketball: Bill Frieder's Arizona State University cagers host Washington State on Thursday, Washington on Saturday and the University of Arizona on Wednesday. All ofthe games tip off at 7 p.m. at ASU Activity Center in Tempe. Tickets are $16. Call 965-2381.

friday
february 2
Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn and Other Identities: Arizona Theatre Company presents Anna Deavere Smith's take on racism and class conflict in America, based on the incident that led to the 1991 riots in New York City's Crown Heights district. A preview is planned at 8 p.m. Friday inCenter Stage at Herberger Theater Center, 222 East Monroe. The official opening is at 7 p.m. Saturday. The rest of this week's performances are at 1and 7 p.m. Sunday and 8 p.m. Wednesday; a discussion follows Sunday's matinee. The production continues through February 17. Tickets range from $24 to $30, available at Herberger and Dillard's. Call 252-8497 or 678-2222.

ASU West Film Society: A screening of director/muckraker Errol Morris' superb The Thin Blue Line (1988, unrated), about a hitchhiker accused of murdering a Texas cop, continues the society's latest festival of free movies. Showtime is 7:15 p.m. Friday at Kiva Hall onArizona State University West campus, 4701 West Thunderbird in Glendale. Call 543-2787.

Copper World Classic: The superfast supermodifieds and the mighty midgets tackle Phoenix International Raceway's famed "Phoenix Mile" at the 19th annual classic, also known as the "Super Bowl of grassroots racing." It's scheduled Friday through Sunday at the track, 115th Avenue and Baseline in Tolleson. The second annual Copper World Classic Chili Cookoff is on Saturday. Tickets range from $10 to $30, available at PIR and Dillard's. Call 252-2227 or 678-2222.

Phoenix Symphony: Clotilde Otranto conducts the orchestra in "Hollywood Blockbusters," featuring performances of themes from TheMagnificent Seven, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Schindler's List, Batman and other films. Showtime is 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Symphony Hall, 225 East Adams. Tickets range from $12 to $36, available at Dillard's; call 678-2222. Otranto also wields the baton at the symphony's annual "People's Pops Concert" at 7 p.m. Sunday at the hall. This year's theme is "Carnival of the Animals." Free tickets are available at all Phoenix public libraries. For general information, call 264-6363.

ASU Baseball: Pat Murphy's Arizona State University squad opens the season with a series against Loyola Marymount at Packard Stadium, First Street and Rural in Tempe. Game times are 7 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The annual alumni game is slated for 7 p.m. Tuesday. Tickets range from $4 to $7. Call 965-2381.

A Grand Night for Singing: See Thursday.
Parada del Sol Rodeo: See Thursday.

saturday
february 3
LINES Contemporary Ballet: The San Francisco-based troupe is known for its technical daring and its fine repertoire of modern and classical works. Its founder and artistic director, Alonzo King, has been called the "Einstein of choreography." The ensemble performs two seven-part pieces--"String Quartet," set to music by Pawel Szymanski; and "Rock," a composition by Bernice Johnson Reagon, founder of the gospel group Sweet Honey inthe Rock--in a show at 8 p.m. Saturday at Scottsdale Center for the Arts, 7380 East Second Street. Tickets are $18 and $25, available at the center and Ticketmaster. For details call 994-2787 or 784-4444.

World Championship Hoop-Dance Contest: About 40 dancers from the U.S. and Canada are expected to compete in this sixth annual event, which determines new champs in youth, teen, adult and senior divisions based on originality, speed and precision. Grand entries are scheduled at10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday at Scott L.Libby Jr. Amphitheater at Heard Museum, 22 East Monte Vista. The championship round begins at 3p.m. Sunday. Admission is $3, $2 for seniors and children ages 13 to 18, $1 for kids ages 4 to 12, free for those younger. For details call 252-8840.

Anna Homler, Steve Peters and Steve Roden: LosAngeles vocalist Homler sings in a language of her own invention. Albuquerque composer Peters runs sounds created by natural objects--trees, shrubs, etc.--through an electronic processor. L.A. musician Roden plays "toy instruments, broken instruments and instruments on which he is untrained." Together, the trio makes lovely, bizarre music. Showtime is 9 p.m. Saturday at Metropophobobia, 621 North Third Street. Admission is a donation of $5. Call 252-9851.