Since time immemorial, women of royal stature have dabbled in dance, from Salome swirling with her seven veils to Marie Antoinette engaging in court divertissements at Versailles. As a prima ballerina in the 1960s and now as a choreographer, Her Royal Highness Princess Norodom Buppha Devi of Cambodia has gone one step further than her predecessors and made a career of her passion. The Legend of Apsara Mera (right), with movement created by the princess for the Royal Ballet of Cambodia, receives its United States premiere this month as part of the Season of Cambodia, a New York-wide festival of that nation’s rich culture.

» The Royal Ballet of Cambodia, BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, 30 Lafayette Ave., Brooklyn, 718.636.4100, May 2-4

If you’re Sandra Bullock or Nicole Kidman, and you want to turn heads on the red carpet, you wear something couture by Vera Wang (left, ball gown, Spring 2013). If you’re a two-term first lady of the United States, as Michelle Obama is, the go-to designer for both of your inaugural gowns is Jason Wu. New York-based Chinese-American designers have been making headlines since their emergence in the 1980s, with many, such as Derek Lam, Phillip Lim, Anna Sui, Vivienne Tam and Zang Toi, becoming household names not just to high-profile clients, but to the public as well. An exhibition devoted to these and nine other visionaries, fittingly on view on the edge of Chinatown, examines their individual aesthetics and collective impact on world fashion.

» Front Row: Chinese-American Designers, Museum of Chinese in America, 215 Centre St., 212.619.4785, thru Sept. 29

Details speak volumes; and in Edward Hopper’s painting “Office at Night” (right, 1940), the detail that speaks the loudest is the piece of paper that lies on the floor between the man sitting at the desk and the woman standing at the file cabinet. Who will pick it up? Hopper disavowed any such narrative—”for none is intended,” he wrote—emphasizing instead the painting’s formal reality and, in particular, the sources of its light. Still, he introduced a tantalizing element, and introduced it late in the creative process, according to preliminary sketches and drawings for “Office at Night.” The first major museum show to concentrate on Hopper as a draftsman pairs finished works, like “Office at Night,” with preparatory studies that take the spectator inside the mind and sensibility of a major American artist, as he journeys from inspiration to realization.

» Hopper Drawing, Whitney Museum of American Art, 945 Madison Ave., 212.570.3600, May 23-Oct. 6

Manhattan is home to hundreds, if not thousands of restaurants. What’s a visitor to do with only two or three days in which to experience as many as possible? This month’s four major food fests have the answer. Here, gourmands can sample in a single location­—Grand Central Terminal, a street in TriBeCa or Hell’s Kitchen, a tent on the Upper West Side—dishes from the most restaurants in the least amount of time.

» Grand Gourmet­—The Flavor of Midtown, Vanderbilt Hall, Grand Central Terminal, E. 42nd St., at Park Ave., 866.811.4111, May 2; Taste of TriBeCa, Duane St., btw Hudson & Greenwich sts., tasteoftribeca.com, May 18; Ninth Avenue International Food Festival, Ninth Ave., from W. 42nd to W. 57th sts., 212.581.7217, May 18-19; New Taste of the Upper West Side, Columbus Ave., btw W. 76th & W. 77th sts., 212.721.5048, May 29, 31-Jun. 1