28 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY February 2-8, 2023 www.montereycountyweekly.com the nonprofit Black Leaders and Allies Collaborative (BLAAC) shows a movie that examines some element of race and racism in America. The screening is free (and so is the popcorn), but there is one contribution you’re expected to make. After the movie, BLAAC founder Dirrick Williams facilitates a brief conversation. What stood out to you in the movie? What scared you? Made you mad? Made you think? This Wednesday, Feb. 8, attendees will watch the first two parts of the series Black America Since MLK (And Still I Rise). Discussion will take place at intermission, and after part two. [TCL] 6pm Wednesday, Feb. 8. Lighthouse 4 Cinemas, 525 Lighthouse Ave., Pacific Grove. Free. blaac.org. Speak Up Poetry Out Loud is a California-wide initiative that awakens poets in high schoolers in 46 counties and 261 schools, reaching nearly 73,000 students statewide. The students are encouraged to pick, commit to memory and present a poem of their choice, building self-confidence and public speaking skills while learning about literary history along the way. California’s Poetry Out Loud is the largest event of its kind in the U.S., and has grown steadily since its inception in 2005. The California state winner receives a $200 cash prize, an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., $500 for literary materials, and an opportunity to compete in the national finals. Eleven Monterey County high schools are participating in the 2023 edition and the space is limited to 65 guests, but the event will be streamed online. [AP] 1-2:30pm Saturday, February 4. CSUMB Alumni and Visitors Center, or via livestream on the Arts4MC YouTube channel. Free. 6229060, arts4mc.org/services/poetry-out-loud. Hot Picks by Tajha Chappellet-Lanier, Dave Faries, Kyarra Harris, Celia Jiménez, Pam Marino, Rey Mashayekhi, Agata Pop˛eda, Sara Rubin and David Schmalz. Send ideas to calendar@mcweekly.com HOT PICKS Feb. 4 Sense of Purpose Sol Treasures prides itself on nurturing an appreciation and passion for the arts. With a focus on community, the nonprofit offers an array of workshops, after-school sessions and performances geared towards creative outlets. Similarly, Blue Zones Project is also in the business of a better community through healthier living. Together, these two groups host a Purpose Workshop, hoping to “gift you the opportunity of finding or reinforcing your gifts and talents.” Open to anyone with a purpose or seeking one. Appropriate for ages 15 and older. [KH] 11am-1pm Saturday, Feb. 4. Sol Treasures, 519 Broadway St., King City. Free. 386-9809, melissa.alvarez@sharecare.com, soltreasures. com. Trendy Stuff Arts Habitat of Monterey County presents Arts in Progress: Where Photography’s Past Meets Its Future, an event featuring an artists panel with The Weston Collective. Join local photographer Zach Weston and several of his colleagues, as well as students from the Weston Collective, for a discussion with the next generation of photographers. The event will be moderated by Jalena Jampolsky, the head curator and educator at the Weston Collective. She is also a Ph.D. student focusing on the history of photography and 19th- and early 20th-century American art at the University of Delaware, for those looking to get academic in addition to soaking in the art. [AP] 1-2pm Saturday, Feb. 4, Pacific Grove Art Center, 568 Lighthouse Ave, Pacific Grove. Free. 375-2208, eventbrite.com. Circles and Squares Contrary to what you might think, contra dancing is not for squares, although squares are formed. Nor is it like country line dancing, even though lines are an important part. To explain more clearly, dancers start in a longways set. A caller—in this case a contractor brought in for the occasion—lays out the figures…or steps? Something like that. Contrarians might think it sounds too difficult. But this is a community folk dance, adapted through the centuries, that can be taught in a matter of minutes, in contrast to most modern dance. Keen to give it a try? All ages and skill levels are welcome at Monterey Contra Dance gatherings. Lessons start at 6:40pm, dancing at 7pm. Bring water and some dancing shoes (and masks, which are required, along with proof of vaccination.) [DF] 6:30-10pm Saturday, Feb. 4. YMCA of the Monterey Peninsula, 600 Camino El Estero, Monterey. $12; $10 contra dance members; $5 students and military. monterecontradance.org. Feb. 8 Rise Up Black History Month movie nights continue. Each Wednesday in February, Mahi Shah of Notre Dame High School in Salinas was the winner of last year’s Monterey County Poetry Out Loud competition. This year’s edition happens Wednesday, Feb. 8. Daniel Dreifuss Beach Comb “Cannery Row in Monterey in California is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream,” John Steinbeck’s book Cannery Row opens. While the stink is long gone, traded for tidy tourist attractions of today—trinket shops, restaurants and a network of inviting waterfront access points—the vibe of nature-meets-industry remains. Especially at low tide, beaches along Cannery Row open up to pedestrians, with rocky (and slippery—use caution) stretches passable beneath buildings. You can start at the southern end, at McAbee Beach, on the sand, and from there wend your way a quarter-mile north to the Monterey Bay Aquarium— but this is not a straight path. To get from point A to B, you’ll need to go up and down stairs, through and around businesses, and even on walkways over the bustle of the paved Cannery Row below you. Choose your own adventure. The great thing about a walking tour along this stretch is that you’re never far from amenities, so you can stop in for a beverage or a meal anywhere along the way. Take a pause at the monument in Steinbeck Plaza (at the top of one of the staircases that connects the commercial strip to the beach below) to honor the characters in the novel who immortalized the Cannery Row of another era, accessible today, perhaps, by a walk in their footsteps. [SR] daniel dreifuss outside
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