Photo of the Week: Four Decades of Dance Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater celebrates its 40th anniversary season with four Bay Area premieres at Zellerbach Hall Feb. 19 to 28. Ailey and a group of young black modern dancers first performed in 1958, forever changing the perception of American dance. The troupe has since performed for an estimated 19 million people in 48 states and 68 countries, including two historic visits to South Africa. For tickets, call 642-9988. Atsushi Iijima photo.

Berkeley's six-year-old project to map and decode all 12,000 genes in the fruit fly is teaming up with a private genetics company in hopes of reaching its goal in record time, perhaps by the end of this year. (continues)