Perhaps the last great collection of Chinese painting and calligraphy still in the possession of the original family, the Weng collection is remarkable not only for its superb quality, fine condition, and welldocumented provenance, but also for the fact that it has remained in the family for five generations.

This exhibition will present highlights from Daphne Farago's collection of contemporary jewelry, which was given to the MFA in 2006. The collection comprises more than 600 works of jewelry by leading American and European artists, ranging in date from about 1940 to the present, in a wide variety of media and sculptural forms.

Collector Geneviève McMillan was born in the French Pyrenees and studied Political Science in Paris during World War II. She was intrigued by the beauty of African and Oceanic sculpture in the galleries of the famous Rive Gauche district.

The Arts of Sufism: Three prominent scholars discuss Sufism as it relates to aspects of Turkish art and culture. This program engages the themes of the current exhibition Marbling and Music: Practicing at a Turkish Tekke that explores the paper marbling and musical traditions associated with the Ozbekler Tekke, a religious complex for Sufi orders near Istanbul. Presented with support by the Turkish Cultural Foundation, and a donation by John and Carol Rutherfurd. Sun, Mar 25, 2 pm: Free

Museum visitors will step into the exciting and visually rich world of animation when the 6,000-square-foot, highly interactive exhibit Animation featuring the Cartoon Network opens at Museum of Science, Boston. In Animation's stimulating and fun environment, visitors explore animation from concept to finished product - from storyboarding, character design, and drawing techniques to movement, timing, filming, and sound.

Galapagos follows marine biologist Dr. Carole Baldwin from the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History on an eight-week journey that is part scientific expedition and part adventure. The large-format film opens at the Museum of Science's Mugar Omni Theater on Sunday, February 18.

Christian Dior, Le Couturier et son double by Phillippe Lanfranchi (2005, 52 min.). Far from the image of the flamboyant creator, Christian Dior was a simple man, conventional and reserved, who was passionate about art and architecture and entered the world of fashion almost by accident. He was extremely ill at ease with his role as the head of a large company of 900 employees.

Boston Lyric Opera (BLO) is pleased to announce the return of Opera 101, an exciting opera education program for adults. BLO welcomes back Professor Elizabeth Seitz to teach a special topics course on Mozart. Join Seitz as she recounts the operatic adventures of Austria's musical wunderkind, with special emphasis on Le nozze di Figaro.

This spring, Opera New England (ONE), BLO's education and community programs division, presents a one-hour version of Rossini's comic masterpiece, The Barber of Seville. The onehour, fully staged version of this great opera will be sung in English and performed for students and family audiences throughout New England.

George Balanchine's A Midsummer Night's Dream, which the critic Clive Barnes has called, "a fantasy spectacle of love," heats up the cold winter days from February 8 - 18, 2007 at the Citi Wang Theatre. This marks the first time that Boston Ballet will dance this production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Balanchine's first completely original full-length ballet, which was choreographed for New York City Ballet and premiered in January, 1962.

Boston Ballet II, the pre-professional company of Boston Ballet, and students from Boston Ballet School's Trainee program will dance excerpts from Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen's production of The Nutcracker in Moscow as part of a special celebration organized by the government marking Russian Orthodox Christmas. In addition to performing, the young dancers will participate in master classes at the Bolshoi Ballet School, and observe rehearsals.

A series of two Sunday concerts, Tin Pan Alley at the Gardner (January 28 & February 4 at 1:30p.m.) features standards and lesser-known songs by some of America's greatest songwriters, including George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Harold Arlen, Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin and Richard Rodgers.