The next major belly dance show "Sacramento Raks! Belly Dance Cabaret Gala Evening Show" will be held May 1, 2011 at the Sunrise Event Center in Rancho Cordova. The showcase will feature the area's top dancers and musicians, as well as, Ahava, an award-winning dancer from the Bay area. For more information, visit http://www.adrianedance.com/SacRaksShow.html. For those interested in taking belly dance classes, workshops, or attending future events organized by Adriane and The Henna and Kohl Belly Dance Studio visit http://www.adrianedance.com.

Wonderful photos and excellent coverage Kati! I am so happy that Sac Press sent you and you were able to capture the essence of all the activities & festivity of the event! It was a beautiful celebration and great way to kick-off all the Kwanzaa events this week around Sac. This comment post is a representative THANK YOU from myself, The Kuumba Collective Art Gallery and The Sojourner Truth Multicultural Art Museum. Thank you for showcasing the highlights of this event! I will be posting this to my social sites, and if I could I'd hit that thumbs up button several times more!

If you are curious about The Vivian Lee Quintet or just enjoy jazz music, visit www.reverbnation.com/vivianlee. The site has a few samples of music as well as a recorded performance. The evening was a wonderful tribute and the music was excellent. I thoroughly enjoyed covering this event. I definitely went home singing "Satin Doll," "It Don't Mean A Thing" and the modern jazz song "Take 5."

Yeah I enjoyed it! And the didn't skimp on the plot...I was intrigued from start to finish. I was also intensely moved...it's a great film. And the film fest was a great change of pace...

The art gallery is a place for Latin Americans to celebrate their culture and educate others about it. You missed the whole point of the article and the review of the film. They do great works in their community especially trying to give the public insight into their culture--so as to not be misunderstood. There is ONLY a positive purpose for their gallery. Can we leave racial politics out of this? And what does the World Cup have to do with anything here? The article written above was about the film in appreciation of this particular culture and event/venue. Spouting off unrelated rantings which borderline racist and xenophobic are not welcome.

I had fun, it was a different outing for me to listen to his music. I'm a new fan. And so far his performance is the best I've attended this year. I felt that he has the pulse of his audience--knows how to wow them, enchant their ears...He's just really in tune. A lot of artists nowadays don't possess that kind of refinement. But then again, artists nowadays don't typically perform with live instruments either...So the experience is vastly different than offering your listening audience synthesized / studio produced tracks. It really does something to you to hear that guitar...I'll never forget it.

Me too! He's a difficult act to follow--I'm glad he was on the ticket performing alone!

Trying to keep it once you got it knowing that there's someone equally or more vicious that wants the job. That's what happened to the main character at the end of this film. The viewer is left to assume that the cycle starts allover again when a woman is stalking him now. It was a really good film!

Great I enjoy poetry too. That's why I was intrigued to go to this opera.

i agree it isn't a hobby for everyone. I actually had a little difficulty prior to the assignment enjoying antiquing. But I can't refuse A GOOD BARGAIN lol! And the more unique the item that catches my interest...the better! And my mother taught me a little bit about knowing what certain antiques are worth/ are regarded as collectible. So I got a chance to test out some of that knowledge!

yeah i thought the event was open to the public...When you go to the flea market, they don't charge to enter the market. So that was a little odd. I agree while it's not a theme park, I met some pretty cool people and learned some different stuff in the process. And the few modern pieces that caught my eye seemed unique enough to not buy in a thrift store.

Yes, it was great going out to that event. I looked out at the crowd sprawled on the grass and everyone appeared so content.