Brian Shapiro San Francisco-based performance artist and 1986 Calabasas High School graduate Brian Shapiro will bring his latest work, "Uncertainty Avoidance," to Los Angeles' Avery Schreiber Theatre for a weekend run from Fri. through Sun., June 9 through 11. A series of vignettes composed

of theatre, live music, song, dance, movement and multi-media projection, are all packed into a fast-paced 75-minute presentation. "Uncertainty Avoidance" is a performance art show that reflects Shapiro's perspective on seemingly unavoidable human conditions.

Named after a social scientific theory coined by Dutch sociologist Geert Hofstede, "Uncertainty Avoidance" explores the ways in which human beings try to avoid the inherent unknowns that exist in life.

Written and performed by Shapiro, a professor of communications at Berkeley City College, the show challenges the audience to consider burning questions like "Is intelligent design a new fashion line?", "What can Taco Bell and Islam possibly have in common?" or "Can gourmet lines of gasoline succeed in a global economy?"

The pieces are accompanied by jazz standards and original music performed live by saxophonist Aaron Cohen.

Shapiro founded CultureWorks in San Francisco in 1999 as a performance art collaborative that generates and presents diverse interdisciplinary performances satirically revealing culture's role in daily life.

He earned his MA in communication/performance studies from San Francisco State University and did doctoral work at the University of Texas at Austin in performance studies.

Performances are at 8 p.m. Fri. and Sat., June 9 and 10 and at 3 p.m. Sun., June 11 at Avery Schreiber Theatre, 11050 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood.

Tickets are $20. For reservations call (818) 889-4906.

Proceeds from ticket sales for the Los Angeles engagement of "Uncertainty Avoidance" will go to Action to Cure Kidney Cancer in honor of Shapiro's stepfather, who recently died of the disease.