What's going on this week in Anchorage: Shows, shows and more shows

High concept night at the circus

Contemporary circus performer Ariel Schmidtke will present her show "A Length of Rope," which uses acrobatics, puppetry, a trapeze and — you guessed it — some rope to tackle bigger themes: "circus apparatuses represent the struggle of choosing between two different directions — be it a choice of place, identity, friendship, or love," she writes.

She'll be joined by Anchorage musician Fiona Rose, who makes playful songs about unusual topics, and is promising some vaudevillian feats of multi-instrumentalism and juggling. Doors at 7:30 p.m., show at 8 p.m. Saturday at the UAA Recital Hall. Bring your kazoo if you have one. Tickets $5-$20 (pay what you can) at brownpapertickets.com.

Violin meets hip-hop

Los Angeles-based violinist, singer and songwriter Lucine Fyelon combines R&B, hip-hop, jazz, EDM, classical and Middle Eastern musical influences. That kind of cross-genre work is probably one of the reasons she's performed with stars like Madonna, Quincy Jones, Miley Cyrus, Lauryn Hill, Foo Fighters and a shocking number of TV shows, commercials and movies. (Seriously — look up her violinist reel on YouTube.) She'll perform her solo work at Koot's at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 23. Tickets $20 at koots.com. (21 and over)

Sixth Annual Cat Party

The Cat Party is back — with cat costumes, cat trivia, cat prizes and live music from Granddad, Termination Dust and Hazia. This year the party moves to Williwaw. Partial proceeds go to Adopt-A-Cat No Kill Shelter. 9 p.m. Saturday, Williwaw, 609 F St. $10 with cat costume and $15 without. (907-868-2000, williwawsocial.com)

Masquerade party

Magicians will be displaying magic tricks while Street Fever, a Los Angeles-based producer, will be playing his signature dark brand of electronic music. Organizers will be giving out masquerade masks and dressing in black is encouraged. 9 p.m. Friday, Williwaw, 609 F St. $10-$15. (907-868-2000, williwawsocial.com)

Steven Bacon and Winterland

Singer-songwriter Steven Bacon (who is also one-third of indie-folk band The Swamp Brothers) will present his dreamy brand of folk music at Tap Root Saturday. Also on the lineup is the band Winterland, who promise to perform songs from "all eras of the (Grateful) Dead plus some original and other cool tunes." Doors at 8 p.m., show starts at 9 p.m. Tickets $5 at taprootalaska.com. (Minors can attend if accompanied by a legal guardian)