San Francisco Sightseeing Articles

Asian Art Museum hosts a series of Thursday night events called Matcha, where guests can enjoy live performances, mingle over cocktails, stroll galleries, create art and take special tours. Each event has a theme, typically aligned with something on view in the museum galleries. The museum's major summer exhibition is "Lords of the Samurai." There is also a monthly free day, held the first Sunday of every month. On these free days, the museum offers Yoga Flow from 2 to 3 p.m. for all ages and levels. The museum offers ArtSpeak, a summerlong program that trains approximately 20 high-schoolers to create interactive activities targeted at their peers and other museum visitors. For information, go to www.asianart.org.

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art hosts Rooftop Garden Blue Bottle Coffee Bar on Thursday nights, drawing a hip crowd. Live Twitter tours are offered to a select group of museum Twitter followers. For information, go to www.sfmo ma.org.

Oakland Museum of California offers a monthly after-hours program, First Fridays After Five, from 5 to 9 p.m. Bay Area bands and ensembles perform, dancing is welcomed, there is a cash bar and cafe, as well as gallery tours and receptions. The evening may also include a screening, lecture, belly dancing or author signing. On Aug. 7, the museum will host the East Bay Express' Best of the East Bay party. Some 500 revelers are expected. Free, with a no-host bar. For information: www.museumca.org.

The Exploratorium offers an After Dark series that will start again in October. The event mixes cocktails with conversation and programs about science and the arts. Along with adult amenities such as music and a cash bar, each Thursday night will showcase a different theme: live performance, films, unexpected extravaganzas, new media and one night of Science After Dark, which involves the science behind topics of adult interest, such as gambling, alcohol, fashion, sex, extreme sports and gaming. Programs are playful and yet content-rich and involve cutting-edge technology. It's been billed as an intellectually stimulating playground for adults - with free parking. To be included in the Exploratorium After Dark e-mail list.

Fort Mason Center will begin hosting Make My Monday, a happy hour with culture to be held the last Monday of every month starting Monday. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet local artists as they create affordable artwork available for purchase. RSVP at mmm@fortmason.org or on Facebook to hold your place at the bar. For information on this and other programs at Fort Mason, go to www.fortmason.org.

California Academy of Sciences hosts NightLife from 6 to 10 p.m. Thursdays, with the last entry at 9 p.m. The event generally draws a younger audience to the museum (guests must be 21 or older). The evenings offer DJs, bars and renowned performers and speakers, including astronaut Buzz Aldrin, filmmaker Jean-Michel Cousteau and ocean explorer Graham Hawkes. For information: www.calacademy.org.

Theater

Berkeley Repertory Theatre offers regular networking events for every production, with focuses ranging from teen nights with pizza parties to gourmet tasting events and onstage interviews. For information: www.berkeleyrep.org.

American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco regularly offers discussions before performances. Select Wednesday nights offer ticket holders hosted drinks, desserts and mingling with the cast after the show. For information, go to www.act-sf.org.

California Shakespeare Theater offers college pizza night with a preshow pizza party for college-age students, Yelp night, LGBT night, and Shindig for young professionals. There are also tastings, meet-the-artist matinees and talks before each show. For information: www.calshakes.org.

"Beach Blanket Babylon" is just beginning a social networking program, with its first two LGBT nights Friday and Sept. 4. For information, go to www.beachblanketbabylon.com.

Marin Theatre Company offers senior matinees on Thursdays, which usually sell out. It hosts a popular wine tasting night the second Saturday of every show. For information, go to www.marintheatre.org.

Teatro ZinZanni in San Francisco is beginning a monthly Young Professionals Night, offering special prices for select dates.

Classical music

San Francisco Symphony offers an array of social networking events. Davies After Hours is an after-show jam that goes until midnight. It ran from March through May. The SFS offers pre- and post-concert talks, with its Off the Podium and Inside Music events. For information, go to www.sfsymphony.org.

San Francisco Opera Bravo Club offers young adults the chance to come together over a love of opera. The group, with 500 members, hosts educational and performance-related events. The Opera also offers talks before every performance (except special family performances). Music scholars present overviews of the opera and offer insights on the music, composer and historical background.

Dance

San Francisco Ballet offers Fridays at the Ballet, held at 7 p.m. on select Fridays, featuring interviews with dancers, as well as cocktails and appetizers before the performance (geared toward patrons ages 20 to 45). On occasion, "Afterglow," a post-show cocktail reception, is held in the dress circle lobby. An LGBT NiteOut (21 and older only) is a periodic event with post-show cocktails and snacks. In 2010, dates are Feb. 12, March 26 and April 9. Encore, a young professionals group, meets throughout the year for events and pre- and post-gala parties. The Silver Series and Bus Series are for senior citizens on Saturdays; participants meet at 11 a.m. at San Mateo's Commuter Park and Ride (near highways 92 and 101) for a trip to the Ballet.

ODC Dance hosts a Summer Sampler series with wine, hors d'oeuvres and contemporary dance. The next dates: July 31 and Aug. 1 at the ODC Dance Commons at 351 Shotwell St. Small Plates is an annual event at ODC Dance Downtown (Yerba Buena Center for the Arts) where, for $20, guests receive a seat, drinks and appetizers and a one-hour performance. The next one will be in March. The Unplugged Series, held three times a year at ODC Dance Commons, features a preshow reception and behind-the-scenes look at new work by ODC choreographers. Dates for this year: Sept. 25 and Nov. 13. Verge, a group for young dance fans, hosts social events to connect the three branches of ODC (dance company, theater, dance school) and other dance fans. Summer Sampler and ODC Dance unplugged events sell out quickly. Open bar for all events. For more information, go to www.odcdance.org, ODC's twitter page or the company's Facebook page.