MARK MORRIS MAKES MAGIC Berkeley is blessed to have the Mark Morris Dance Group perform annually at Zellerbach Hall as part of Cal Performances. The group is in residence this weekend and will be performing what the New York Times says “is his luminous masterpiece L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato, set to the Handel oratorio of the same name.” Morris’s epic returns to Cal Performances for the fifth time since it premiered in 1988. The production includes a cast of 24 dancers and the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Chorus. “I find no end to the intricacies of Mr. Morris’s construction and the meanings that continually pour from them. It fills the soul with wonder; it fascinates the mind with suggestion” (The New York Times). The performances are Friday and Saturday, March 11 and 12 at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, March 13 at 3:00 p.m. Tickets start at $40.
MUSICAL RESISTANCE AT LA PEÑA One of the beauties of La Peña Cultural Center is how it highlights the role music plays in resistance. On Friday, March 11, the program will feature numerous musicians who “honor the resistance and resilience of Indigenous and African communities from the Bay to Bahia.” The evening will begin at 8:00 p.m.with words, prayers, and traditional songs by Ohlone leaders Wichacpiluta Candelaria and Anthony Sul. Reverend Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou and Jay-Marie Hill from Rev. Sekou and the Holy Ghost will speak about the Black Lives Matter movement and share a song from their recently released album, “The Revolution Has Come.” The band ManoMasa performs at 9:00 p.m. Namorados Da Lua, a band that incorporates musical influences from reggae, jazz, pop, rock and funk as well as Brazilian samba, forró, and Axe carnival music, goes on at 10 p.m. Tickets are $12. La Peña is at 3105 Shattuck Ave.
RESPONSES TO THE DESTRUCTION OF CULTURAL ARTIFACTS Much of the world gasped in collective horror in 2015 as ISIS destroyed the 1,800-year-old Arch of Triumph in Palmyra, just one of 28 irreplaceable historic cultural sites the extremist group has demolished. UC Berkeley is hosting a two-day public symposium on March 11 and 12 named “Beyond Destruction: Archeology and Cultural Heritage in the Middle East.” “This symposium aims to move public discourse around cultural heritage beyond reactions to looting and destruction and to engage more deeply with responses from academic and governmental institutions.” The symposium begins Friday, March 11 at 7:00 p.m.with a keynote address by Dr. Patty Gerstenblith (DePaul University) and reception at the Badè Museum on the Pacific School of Religion campus at 1798 Scenic Ave. The symposium continues March 12 at 8:30 a.m. at the James Lau Auditorium (106 Stanley Hall). The Center for Middle East Studies and the Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology have also organized Pop-Up Palmyra: Responses to the Destruction of the Past, an informal, short-term exhibit on display in the Stanley Hall Atrium on March 12. Details and registration here.
AUTHORS IN CONVERSATION Susan Griffin, noted writer and theorist (A Chorus of Stones, Woman and Nature), is leading discussions with seven authors in an intimate literary series of four programs at the Berkeley Central Library titled “Works in Progress, Conversations with Writers.” On Sunday, March 13, at 2 p.m., she talks to novelist and poet Elizabeth Rosner and writer Joan Miura in an event titled “Inheriting Trauma, Secrets and Stories.” Miura was sent to a Japanese relocation camp along with her parents during World War II and Rosner’s parents both suffered from the Holocaust, one in hiding, the other in a concentration camp. Admission is free. Berkeley Central Library, 2090 Kittredge St., downtown Berkeley.
WHAT GOES IN THE SAUSAGE? This is one time when you will want to know how the sausage gets made! The Local Butcher Shop at 1600 Shattuck Ave. is hosting a workshop on Sunday, March 13 that will reveal the secrets of tasty sausage. Each participant will make their own pork and lamb sausage. They will learn how to grind the meat, add spices, and use casings. Everyone will go home with approximately three pounds of pork sausage and two pounds of lamb sausage. The 7 p.m. workshop costs $135.
Don’t miss these other events featured on Berkeleyside:
Michael Blake brings Tiddy Boom to Berkeley
Judith Belzer: Recent work from the Panama Project
Big Screen Berkeley: ‘Bleak Street’
On the couch with David Weisberg, creator of Central Works’ ‘Totem and Taboo’
Glittering stars in ‘Macbeth’ at Berkeley Rep
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