Dance

The La Cañada Flintridge Public library was anything but quiet on Saturday. Children and their families screamed out “Ole” and “Bravo” for a twirling, stomping performance by Spanish Flamenco dancer Susana Elena. Elena performs in libraries in an ongoing series that promotes free community arts throughout Los Angeles County. Joining her for this performance was classical guitarist Almer Imamovic and his wife, classical flautist Jessica Pierce. The two form the group AlmaNova.

The students who acted and danced in ?Visions of Sugarplums? this weekend in the Glendale High School auditorium performed a one-of-a-kind piece written by Tracy Vonder Haar. The ballet revolves around a series of dreams the main character, Jane, has one snowy night while asleep at her home in New York City. ?Visions of Sugarplums? takes place during World War II, and Jane?s father is off at war. As they are walking in the city on Christmas Eve, Jane spots a famous ballerina dancing ?

"All God's Creatures, Great and Small", an original ballet by Caroline Broes, will be presented on Saturday, May 12, at 3 p.m. on the lawn at St. George's Episcopal Church. The church is located at 4467 Commonwealth Ave. in La Cañada Flintridge. Proceeds will benefit "Ahead With Horses," a therapy program for disabled and disadvantaged children in the Los Angeles area. The audience is welcome to bring blankets and lawn chairs to sit on the greens while enjoying the performance of many enthusiastic, young dancers.

Limón Dance Company, led by Artistic Director Carla Maxwell, makes its Music Center debut for two performances only, March 25 and 26 at the Ahmanson Theatre. Acclaimed around the world, the Limón Dance Company, now celebrating its 60th year, illustrates vision of its legendary founder, José Limón. The program includes a much-anticipated revival of Limón's "Missa Brevis," and the West Coast premiere of "Recordare" by choreographer Lar Lubovitch, which evokes Limón's Mexican roots using the Day of the Dead Festivities and its characters as its inspiration.

?Cirque du Soleil? was the theme of La Cañada High School?s Monte Carlo dance. The themed dance and card events took place Jan 12, preceded on Friday by a Monte Carlo assembly. As attendees entered the dance they received poker chips which they used to bet in various card games. The dealers were teachers from the high school . The school?s large north gym was the site of the event, with a dance floor in the center and card games at tables encircling it, providing the students with a chance to bet their poker chips for prizes like Clippers?

A standing room only crowd of Crestview Preparatory School's parents, staff, and teachers were treated to the annual dance performances by the students on April 24. Arsine Gendal, Ms. "G", the school's physical education teacher, taught kindergarten through sixth grade students different dances from countries around the world. "Throughout the school year I spend a lot of time teaching traditional sports like volleyball and softball, and we do a lot of stretching and calisthenics,"Gendal said.

The Luckman 2005-06 International Dance Experience will culminate with a performance by Montréal Danse, the acclaimed Quebec-based ensemble that previously appeared at the Luckman in 1997 and 2000. Critically acclaimed for its "intelligent repertory composed of original and unique works by rising choreographers" (Stéphanie Brody, La Presse, Montréal), Montréal Danse will perform Big Bang — Désir, an evening of three works by choreographers Ae-Soon Ahn, José Navas and Karine Ponties on Saturday, May 13 at 8 p.m., at the Luckman Theatre, Cal State L.A. Tickets are $40 through $50 and are available through the Luckman box office at (323)

All week I had a strange feeling, like something was about to happen. I hadn’t felt that way since my days of debauchery hanging in Lucy’s Tiger Den in Bangkok, Thailand. I was younger then and was both foolish and fearless of heart, inflictions often found in youth. For a few days I noticed an unusual scurry of activity and conversation between Kaitzer and Sabine. Something was in the wind; I could smell it! While sitting at dinner, Kaitzer asked me, “Can you take Sabine to the dance at LCHS on Thursday?

I hope you had memorable holiday celebrations. I certainly did, as we celebrated with my sister, Nubby (don't ask - the explanation is too long), at her home in San Clemente. It was a stunning day, with the islands of Catalina and San Clemente in sharp focus on the horizon. The beginning of Christmas week had a slow start. I had a hitch in my gitalong that landed me at Verdugo Hills Hospital for a five-day stay. Of course nobody likes to be hospitalized, but I had exceptional care from doctors and the terrific nursing staff who took great care of me. There were a couple of events to cheer me up while I was lounging - a beautiful service dog named Liza came to visit.

Q. As Christmas approaches; I am getting concerned about my mother and the festivities. She has dementia, but enjoys being with the family. How can I keep her engaged and yet not overwhelmed? As you know, people with dementia lose their short-term memory first and their long-term memory last. For example, they often remember people and events from their earlier years, but have difficulty remembering what they ate for breakfast the day before. The first thing to keep in mind is to relax and have fun. Here are some activities she can do with the family: Reminisce!

It's hard to imagine a country with just 13 swimming pools. Three years ago, when Jeremy Piasecki, a Marines warrant officer, began to dream of putting together a national water polo team in Afghanistan to boost the moral of the country's swimmers, that's all the fledgling team had to work with. Now, the dream has grown, and the Afghan team has its collective eye on qualifying for the 2016 Olympics in Brazil. But how does a team with access to so few pools adequately train to compete against the world's best teams?

We are now officially into summer, as June 21 was the longest day of the year and the date of the summer solstice. However, in places “down under” such as Australia, this very same day was celebrated as the winter solstice. On that longest day, it was almost like the sun was standing still for us here in the northern hemisphere. Just a little bit of trivia to file away: in Latin, “solstice” means “sun stands still.” The ancients celebrated the summer solstice by rolling fire wheels down the hills.

Amidst spectacular views of the San Gabriel Mountains, family and friends gathered at Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy’s Crane Field Sunday afternoon as 96 young women graduated in the class of 2011. Dressed in a white gown and holding a bouquet of red roses, each young woman also wore a school medallion. In addition to the common processional song, Sir Edward Elgar’s “Pomp and Circumstance,” the young women personalized their ceremony as the school’s Chamber Ensemble and Contemporary Music Ensemble and Chorus sang “I Hope You Dance,” a song about choosing to dream in spite of the possibility of failure.

Stardusters’ presidents Jim and Gigi Schlueter chose “Our Love Blooms in the Spring” as the theme for the April Spring dinner dance held at the San Gabriel Country Club. The featured dance of the evening was the rumba, making for a lively evening. A theme song for the evening was the well-loved standard, “Green Eyes.” The band, Swing 4 Sale, played more than enough swing dance music to keep everyone on their toes and on the dance floor all evening. Hot-pink cloths covered the dining tables, which were centered with bountiful bouquets of mixed spring flowers accented with sparkly curly-cue twigs.

The La Cañada Flintridge Public library was anything but quiet on Saturday. Children and their families screamed out “Ole” and “Bravo” for a twirling, stomping performance by Spanish Flamenco dancer Susana Elena. Elena performs in libraries in an ongoing series that promotes free community arts throughout Los Angeles County. Joining her for this performance was classical guitarist Almer Imamovic and his wife, classical flautist Jessica Pierce. The two form the group AlmaNova.

The La Cañada Thursday Club's Home Dining Group recently celebrated the end of their season with a fiesta at the clubhouse on Woodleigh Lane. Flavored margaritas flowed from the bar as a traditional Mexican meal was served and strolling mariachis filled the clubhouse with sounds from south of the border. The party was planned by chairman Angelica Edelbrock and committee members Stephen Edelbrock , Nancy Fraines , Joanne Gilson , Melida Liptak , Dave MacPherson , Dave Moffett and Sue Tutt . Also in attendance were Fran Andrews , Peg and Bill Barber , Mary Berglund , Joanne and Les Bruckner , Valerie and Cab Burgess , Shirley and Jack Callahan , President Judith Cooper and her husband Peter Cooper , Mary Cota , Gracella Gibbs and Eugene Wilcott , Bonny Gibson , Dotty Greenawalt , Pat Hicks , Mary Anne Houston , Diane Johnson , Elaine Kaiser , Aline and Paul Kuhnle , Dorothy and Bob Lyans , Rose and Don Manning , Cyndy and Marty Mayer , Margaret and Bob McMurray , Martha and Bob Moore , Millie Powell , Roberta Raffaelli , Joyce Riebling , Audrey Schaub , Betty and Michael Sheridan , Nancy Thurston , Jacquie Townsend and Jean and Ron Zink . Stardusters gather for dance A private...