Around Berkeley: Henna party, spring equinox, glow dance for Berkeley middle schoolers

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Around Berkeley

🌤️ If skies are clear, head to the Cesar Chavez Park solar calendar for an equinox gathering marking the changing of the seasons. Led by Jason Del Aguila, an observer of the Mayan Day Count, and featuring Exploratorium scientists Isabel Hawkins and Lori Lambertson, the event aims to celebrate the hope from the returning light. Dancers from the Yucatec Maya Jarana Dance Group will be performing. Thursday, March 20, 6 p.m. Cesar Chavez Memorial Solar Calendar. FREE 

✡️ UC Berkeley’s Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life and JIMENA (Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa) present Henna Party: Celebrate Middle Eastern Jewish Wedding Traditions, offering a first-hand experience of the special garments, tastes, songs and spirit of a traditional Sephardic and Mizrahi henna ceremony. Thursday, March 20, 6 p.m. $10-$40

🌹 The word on the street is Berkeley High Theater’s production of the Broadway hit Hadestown is a blockbuster, with just about every show sold out, though there might still be tickets for Thursday’s show, and walk-ups have gotten lucky. Thursday-Friday, March 20-21. Florence Schwimley Little Theater. $12.62-$43.82

🎭 We’re all living it but Brian Copeland has put it on stage with The Great American Sh*t Show, a one-night-only event in which he offers humorous observations and tries to provide a hopeful look at where we were, where we are and a path forward as a nation. Thursday, March 20, 7 p.m. The Marsh. $40-$100

🎶 Born to Sephardic Moroccan parents in Israel, vocalist, trombonist and pianist Nani Vazana has carved out a singular niche singing contemporary jazz-steeped original songs in Ladino, the ancient Judeo-Spanish language spoken by the ancestors of Jews exiled from Spain in 1492. Thursday, March 20, 8 p.m. Ashkenaz. $20

🍴Berkeley foodies can get a 33% discount on gallery admission and film tickets at BAMPFA by showing a restaurant reservation or receipt for one of the many restaurants participating in Berkeley Restaurant Week. You can find the list of participating restaurants on the Berkeley Restaurant Week website. Friday, March 21, through Monday, March 31. $12 

🎻 Trio Solano will be joined by pianist Miles Graber for a free chamber music concert at UC Berkeley’s recently-renovated Wu Performance Hall, housed inside Morrison Hall. On the program is UC Berkeley Professor Cindy Cox’s “what music the stops allow” and Antonin Dvorak’s Piano Quartet No. 2. Friday, March 21, 12 p.m. Morrison Hall, UC Berkeley. (RSVP recommended)

⚡ BUSD middle schoolers can attend the city’s Middle School Neon Glow Dance. There will be free food, a live DJ, glow sticks and other glow items. Wear neon outfits and remember to bring your school ID. City staff and security will be monitoring the event and you’re asked to leave your backpacks at home. Friday, March 21, 6 p.m. Frances Albrier Community Center (RSVP required)

🎺 Trumpeter, composer and Berkeley High grad Erik Jekabson, an essential creative force on the Bay Area jazz scene, has been exploring orchestral writing in recent years, and he celebrates his new “Daggerboard” Wide Hive Records release Breakthrough with a chamber orchestra and jazz quartet featuring heavyweights like flutist Mary Fettig, Berkeley cellist Ben Davis and Berkeley reed expert Harvey Wainapel. Friday, March 21, 7 p.m. Hillside Club. $20-$25

🇹🇷 Returning after a two-year hiatus, Alaturca Connection presents an evening of Turkish music and dance featuring traditional songs from every region of the nation, dance performances, and a special appearance by Romanian folk-pop star Ionela Guzic. Friday, March 21, 8 p.m.  Ashkenaz. $30

🥕 Author and designer Stefani Bittner will teach a class on mastering the art of growing organic, edible gardens. Topics will include soil preparation, planting techniques, disease prevention, pest management, pollinator support, companion planting and optimal watering practices. Saturday, March 22, 10 a.m. UC Botanical Garden. $85 (RSVP)

🎭 The annual Butoh Celebration of Life and Death, dedicated to the Japanese dance form’s late founder Hijikata Tatsumi, features long-time Berkeley butoh artists and founders of Harupin-Ha Butoh Dance Theater, Tamano-San, as part of an Ankoku Butoh’s spring ritual that includes a bazaar swap, seasonal foods, interactive art offerings, music and a beautiful honoring of the lineage of Butoh. Saturday, March 22, 1-4 p.m. Finnish Hall. Donations accepted

🎻 Lark Traditional Arts presents an all-day spring celebration with a series of song sessions — Shay Black leads the Irish tunes, Suzy Thompson and Frannie Leopold lead classic country and Cajun, Sue Willard teaches a Balkan dance lesson — that culminates with a double bill of Wake The Dead and Fanfare Zambaleta. All proceeds go to Lark Camp. Saturday, March 22, 3 p.m. Ashkenaz. $25 for sessions or concert. $45.75 all-day pass

🎺 Trumpeter Noah Franks’ band Sueños plays a dreamy mix of jazz, hip hop and indie rock, an electro-acoustic sound that encompasses original tunes and inviting interpretations of music by innovators like Roy Hargrove, Christian Scott, Kanye West, and J Dilla. Saturday, March 22, 7 p.m. Jupiter. FREE

🐯 Last chance: Gather a team of four to eight people and join the “Tiger Trials,” an event billed by its organizers as an Amazing Race-style challenge course at the Berkeley marina. Prizes include up to $500 in Berkeley Bucks, and there will be awards for best costume, best team spirit and more. The event is the brainchild of Myles Nye, a member of the Longfellow Middle School PTA and professional game master who has designed real challenges for the reality TV show Survivor and will raise funds to support Longfellow Middle School. (Register by midnight on Saturday, March 22.) Sunday, March 23, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. 124 University Ave. $54-$86 per team (RSVP)

💃 Luna Dance & Creativity’s 30 Points of View packs a whole lot of dance movement and thought into several days of brief, up-close-and-personal demonstrations. Thursday, March 20, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Wednesday, March 26, 3:30-7:30 p.m. Luna Dance & Creativity. FREE (registration encouraged)

🎤 UC Berkeley English Professor Poulomi Saha will be joined in conversation with California Magazine Editor-In-Chief Pat Joseph for a discussion on the influx of movies and documentaries about cults in America. Tickets to the talk include BAMPFA gallery admission and a wine reception. Thursday, March 27, 6:30 p.m. BAMPFA. $32 (RSVP)

🍣 Chef Kaz Matsune of the San Francisco-based sustainable sushi and catering company Breakthrough Sushi will be teaching a sushi making class as part of Berkeley Restaurant Week. You’ll learn how to slice fresh Steelhead, prepare sushi rice and make both a rainbow and hand roll. The course includes equipment, a meal and a cookbook. Saturday, March 29, 11:30 p.m. 2701 Eighth Street #115. $76 (RSVP required) 

📚Journalist Jeanne Carstensen will present her new book “A Greek Tragedy,” in which she takes readers through the dramatic twenty-four hours that transpired on Oct. 28, 2015, when a small boat carrying hundreds of refugees capsized off the coast of the Greek island of Lesvos. Carstensen will be joined in conversation by journalist and Cityside co-founder Frances Dinkelspiel. Monday, March 31, 7 p.m. Mrs. Dalloway’s Bookstore. FREE (RSVP)

🥓 Explore the “future of food” at the Lawrence Hall of Science’s latest Instagrammable exhibit, which features a burping model cow and even live mealworms. (Read our story.) Open Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., 1 Centennial Drive, Berkeley. $20

Beyond Berkeley

📚 Last May, Oakland historian and educator Javier Armas released a book titled Mam History: Oakland Notes on the History of Mayan-Mam Language. The book is a collaboration between Armas and two of his students, Lorena Mendoza and Miguel Ortiz. In Oakland, the Guatemalan Maya-Mam immigrants are one the largest newcomer populations. This Thursday, Armas will give a lecture on the Mam language. The event is presented by the Oakland Heritage Alliance. Thursday, March 20, 7 p.m. Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. $12.51-$17.81

📰 Street Spirit has teamed up with Left in the Bay and East Bay Yesterday for a discussion of the importance of grassroots media in an age when most publications no longer print physical copies of their papers. Representatives from publications like Berkeley Barb, the Black Panther and Street Sheet will also join the discussion. There will be music, a special curation from the Black Panther archives and live music. Friday, March 28, 7 p.m.  510 Firehouse, 815 Alice St., Oakland. FREE

☕ The Caffè by Mr. Espresso location in downtown Oakland often does special collaborations with local and international chefs. This Saturday, pastry chef Giovanni Liguoro of Cafe Poesia in San Francisco will bring specialty croissants and Roman-style maritozzi, a brioche bun usually made with orange zest, vanilla and honey and filled with whipped cream. Saturday, March 22, 9 a.m.-noon (or until it’s sold out), 1120 Broadway, Oakland.

If there’s an event you’d like us to consider for this roundup, email us at [email protected]. If there’s an event that you’d like to promote on our calendar, you can use the self-submission form on our events page.

The Oaklandside’s Arts and Community reporter Azucena Rasilla contributed to this list.