Category: Entertainment

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ventura County’s Golf Classic announces 50th Anniversary Celebration: Title Sponsor Needed!

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Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ventura County (BBSVC) is seeking a philanthropically-minded Title Sponsor to help commemorate the 50th anniversary of the agency’s annual Golf Classic. BBSVC’s Golf Classic is the organization’s top-performing event, which delivers the funds necessary to support mentoring programs for over 1000 youth facing adversity in Ventura County. 

This year’s tournament will be held on Monday, May 8, 2023. The BBSVC Golf Classic is returning to The Spanish Hills Club in Camarillo for a day of golf, entertainment, giveaways, auctions, and the 50th Anniversary After-Party. “A Title Sponsor who aligns with our agency’s mission of youth mentorship would help BBSVC make a powerful statement that we are ready to come together as a community to support youth connectivity, individual youth success, and youth mental health,” says BBSVC CEO Danica Selvaggio.

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Shell-ebrate All Things Mermaid At 8th Annual ‘March is Mermaid Month’ At Ventura Harbor Village in Ventura

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VENTURA — A tail of a good time awaits mermaids and mermen as they return to the sea for the 8th Annual “March Is Mermaid Month” at Ventura Harbor Village, a mer-mazing, month-long celebration.  All events are FREE to the public…

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The Toland Group Named Marketing Agency of Record for the Ventura County Fairgrounds

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The Ventura County Fairgrounds & Event Center announces it has named The Toland Group as its official Agency of Record (AOR) after a competitive bid process. As the Fairgrounds’ marketing and public relations AOR, The Toland Group will be responsible for developing robust marketing and advertising strategies for events, managing partnerships with the media, and spearheading community outreach efforts.

Effective immediately, all media inquiries will go through Megan Hook of The Toland Group atmedia@venturacountyfair.org or 805-469-0055.

“We are thrilled to have The Toland Group, a local agency, on board to help us build on our marketing programs and media presence. Their experience with large-scale events meets the needs of the fairgrounds and we are excited about this new partnership,” said Stacy Rianda, Chief Executive Officer of the Ventura County Fairgrounds.

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2022 Santa Barbara Fair & Expo wins 15 awards at the Western Fairs Association’s annual convention

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We are proud to announce that the Santa Barbara Fair & Expo, “MEET ME AT THE FAIR” theme held in April 2022 and produced by Earl Warren Showgrounds has won 15 awards for the “small fair category – under 50,000 attendance” at the Western Fairs Association’s annual convention and trade show.

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Bilingual report — Viva el Arte de Santa Barbara! announces three free performances of Grandeza Mexicana on March 17, 18, 19

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Grandeza Mexicana is L.A.’s premier folk ballet company, preserving the traditions and customs of Mexico’s historic past and promising present. A nonprofit performing arts organization founded by Jose Vences in September 2003, the company was formed to advance the field of Mexican folk ballet and to enhance the public’s appreciation for the diversity and depth of Mexican culture. Backed by careful research, Grandeza Mexicana’s work is committed to preserving the traditions and customs of Mexico.
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Grandeza Mexicana, una compañía de ballet folklórico de Los Ángeles, conserva las tradiciones y costumbres históricas así como también del presente prometedor de México. La organización benéfica de artes escénicas fue fundada por José Vences en septiembre de 2003. La compañía se formó para avanzar el campo del ballet folklórico mexicano y aumentar la apreciación del público por la diversidad y profundidad de la cultura mexicana. Grandeza Mexicana está comprometida a la preservación de las tradiciones y costumbres de México.

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Santa Paula Art Museum — It’s Our Anniversary

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The Santa Paula Art Museum will celebrate its thirteenth anniversary on Valentine’s Day—an auspicious date, as this Museum runs on a whole lot of love. We hope you’ll join us for the Museum’s 13th Anniversary Party on Saturday, February 25, 2023. The event is one of SPAM’s biggest fundraisers of the year. Enjoy an exciting evening of art, live music by Studio C featuring Sophie Holt, cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, a silent auction, and more. Tickets to the event are $100 per person and include two complimentary drink tickets. Advance ticket purchase is recommended.

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Museum of Ventura County — Celebrate 5 years of the Ag Garden, upcoming events

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Behind the Curtain:
An Insider’s Look at
The George Stuart Historical Figures®
New Set of Figures
Now On Display!

Visitors can now experience a new rotation of George Stuart Historical Figures®, each with a magnifying glass for an up-close look.
Each Figure in this exhibit shows the comprehensive historical research and artistic details behind its creation, such as the use of a goose egg for the Pope’s hat!

Made possible in part by the Fred W. Smith Gallery Fund and additional support from Bethe and Tim Sullivan in memory of Rosemarie Magness

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Farm Bureau of Ventura County — Upcoming events in VC!

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The Center for Economic Research and Forecasting (CERF) at California Lutheran University will present the latest Ventura County economic forecast at the County’s premier networking event. CERF will provide in-depth analysis of the county’s economic performance through COVID-19 and into the post-pandemic environment. CERF will also present its award-winning forecasts for the United States and California. The event will provide important context for individuals and organizations operating in the current policy environment. Featured speakers will include: Kimberly Strassel, member of The Wall Street Journal editorial board, and Matthew Fienup, Executive Director of CERF.

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Bilingual report — 20th Annual County of Ventura Employee, Retiree, and Family Art Show award winners announced

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On Friday, January 13, 2023, the winners of the 20th Annual County of Ventura Employee, Retiree, and Family Art Show were announced by the Ventura County Arts Council and the National Arts Program at a special awards reception. The reception took place on the Main Plaza of the Atrium Gallery, at the County of Ventura Government Center, Hall of Administration, with art entries on display throughout the building.

County Executive Officer Sevet Johnson, PsyD, was in attendance and provided opening remarks, along with Ventura County Arts Council Board Chairperson, Carolyn Mullin. David Yoshitomi, County’s Arts and Culture Manager, announced the winners.

“It was such an honor to announce the winners for this year’s show,” said Mr. Yoshitomi.  “The level of talent and creativity connected to the County of Ventura team is so impressive,” he continued, “and it’s wonderful to see it all on display on the walls of the Government Center.”

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37th Annual California Strawberry Festival Call for Applicants: Makers of Unique, Quality Handcrafted Artwork and Craft items

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The 37th Annual California Strawberry Festival is accepting applications from individual makers of quality, handcrafted works by artists and crafters for this year’s festival taking place May 20 and 21 at the festival’s new location, the Ventura County Fairgrounds. The deadline to submit an application is February 13.

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Ventura County Arts Council — See Ventura County Employee, Retiree & Family Art Show Winners

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Congratulations to the winners of our annual, all-ages competitive art show for Ventura County employees, retirees and their family members. The show is hosted in partnership with the County of Ventura and is generously sponsored by the National Arts Program.

You can see the show now through Friday, February 3, 2023during business hours in our Atrium Gallery inside the Ventura County Government Center Hall of Administration located 800 S. Victoria Ave., Ventura, CA 93009.

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37th Annual California Strawberry Festival Seeks Sponsors & Exhibitors

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The 37th Annual California Strawberry Festival, taking place May 20 and 21, is seeking corporate sponsors and commercial exhibitors. After a three-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the festival is back at a new location, the Ventura County Fairgrounds in Ventura.

The family-friendly festival attracts over 57,000 visitors and pays tribute to Ventura County’s number one crop: strawberries. Festivalgoers come from throughout Southern California including Los Angeles, Ventura, San Bernardino, Kern, Santa Barbara and Orange counties. They enjoy over 40 strawberry-themed food and beverage stands, up to 200 fine arts and craft vendors, strawberry-themed contests for all ages, a Ninja Nation obstacle course, live entertainment on three stages, fair-style carnival rides and a “build-your-own” strawberry shortcake tent. An estimated 1.5 million strawberries, picked fresh locally, will be eaten during the two-day festival.

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Museum of Ventura County — New Exhibit ‘Finding the Light’ Now Open, upcoming events

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Finding the Light:

Works from MVC’s

Permanent Collection

Now Open

at the Museum of Ventura County

Finding the Light explores how artists use light not only to influence shape and color, but also to impart deep meaning. The exhibit, featuring works by renowned and diverse regional artists including Guy Webster, Andrea Vargas, Henry Chapman Ford, and Susan Petty, is the first exhibit installed in the new Esther and Thomas Wachtell Family Gallery.

This gallery has been created through a generous endowment from the Esther and Thomas Wachtell Family Fund and is designed to showcase the Museum of Ventura County’s permanent collection.

Learn more about Finding the Light here.

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Explore Lompoc Announces 2023 Events In Lompoc

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A new year brings new opportunities. And in Lompoc, there’s always something exciting, engaging, and new to discover and experience.

From heavenly cuisine to cursed pirates. From colorful days in flower fields to electric nights in downtown Lompoc. From winemakers to trendsetters. From now through December 31, 2023, you’ll find all of this and more right here in the Lompoc Valley. All year long.

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Singers of all ages and vocal ranges encouraged to audition for the CSUCI University Chorus

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Auditions are now open for singers who would like to join the CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI) University Chorus and be part of the Spring 2023 “Choral Spectacular!

Anyone wishing to audition is invited to send an email to University Chorus Artistic Director KuanFen Liu at downbeatplus@gmail.com to make an appointment for an audition from now until January 20.

Auditions are open to singers of all vocal ranges, ages 18 and up, and anyone on the CSUCI campus or in the surrounding community is welcome to audition. Liu is especially hoping to add more male singers to give the chorus more tenor, bass and baritone.

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California Strawberry Festival is Back – at a New Venue

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After a three-year hiatus due to challenges brought on by the pandemic, the 2023 California Strawberry Festival will take place May 20-21. For the first time ever, the event will be held at the Ventura County Fairgrounds.

“We are thrilled to relaunch the California Strawberry Festival in 2023 at the Fairgrounds,” says Dean Kato, Chairman of the California Strawberry Festival Board of Directors. “We realized that the event had outgrown the available space at our longtime venue, Oxnard’s College Park. It’s our ‘comeback’ year – and we want to come out bigger and better than ever.”

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Happy New Year from MVC!

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Behind the Curtain
George Stuart Historical Figures®
New videos series!

The “Behind the Curtain: An Insider’s Look at The George Stuart Historical Figures®” exhibit offers visitors the opportunity to investigate each of George Stuart’s figures closely so that they can decide if they’re works of art, historical objects, or something else entirely. This new video series offers viewers the very same opportunity from the comfort of home. Watch more here.

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Santa Maria High School Spanish Teacher Enedina Castañeda performs two poems at the Cultural Center of Tijuana (CECUT), Mexico

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Santa Maria High School Spanish Teacher Enedina Castañeda recently joined more than 60 artists from the United States and Mexico to perform two poems at the Cultural Center of Tijuana (CECUT), Mexico.

Castañeda, who is a member of the 3rd Binational Congress for Mexican Artists Residing in the United States, was accompanied by the music of guitarist and tenor Iván Orellana.

Castañeda presented two poems on stage, Paz and La Tierra Distante. Along with her poem, Peace (Paz), she exhibited the banner of peace during the performance. The Distant Land (La Tierra Distante) is a nostalgic poem conveying the feeling of missing your country when you’re standing on a foreign land. Castañeda recited that piece holding dirt from Mother Earth.

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Jan. 21, 22 — Santa Barbara Symphony Presents Plains, Trains & Violins – The Journey of a Lifetime

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The Santa Barbara Symphony’s 70th Anniversary season continues with Plains, Trains & Violins: The Journey of a Lifetime on Saturday, January 21, 2023, at 7:30 pm, and Sunday, January 22, 2023, at 3 pm, preceded by a pre-concert “Conversation with Kabaretti” at 2:00 pm.

Conductor Nir Kabaretti has crafted a symphonic journey that speaks to the themes of migration, multi-culturalism and discovery spurred on worldwide by the Industrial Revolution (1750 – 1914) that continue to this day.

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Jan. 24 — UCSB Arts & Lectures presents mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato’s new groundbreaking tour de force EDEN

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UCSB Arts & Lectures (A&L) presents Joyce DiDonato in EDEN, Tuesday, January 24 at 7:00 p.m. at Granada Theatre. Fusing music, movement and theater, EDEN is a breathtaking, through-performed tour de force from the multi-award-winning Joyce DiDonato. EDEN explores our individual connection to nature and its impact on our world. By traveling seamlessly through four centuries of music, including a new commission from Academy Award-winning composer Rachel Portman, a searing and singular experience of hope unfolds. To ensure that the EDEN experience continues to grow outside of the concert hall, each audience member receives seeds to plant as DiDonato asks: “In this time of upheaval, which seed wIll you plant today?”

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Jan. 27 — UCSB A&L presents Emanuel Ax – Leonidas Kavakos – Yo-Yo Ma at the Granada Theatre

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Praised for its remarkable ensemble cohesion and immaculately refined interpretations, this musical dream team reunites in Santa Barbara for an unforgettable evening of chamber music. Get tickets for Emanuel Ax – Leonidas Kavakos – Yo-Yo Ma on Jan 27, 2023 at The Granada Theatre in Santa Barbara. Presented by UC Santa Barbara Arts & Lectures.

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Jan. 28 — UCSB Arts & Lectures presents Ensemble Intercontemporain at the Lobero Theatre

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Regarded as the world’s leading contemporary music group, Ensemble Intercontemporain make a rare appearance to present Olga Neuwirth’s score for the 1924 satirical silent filmDie Stadt ohne Juden (The City Without Jews). Under music director Matthias Pintscher, the French musicians will accompany the movie directed by Hans Karl Breslauer for which Neuwirth wrote music “both touching and harsh, warm-hearted and open, amusing and furious, involved and distanced, humorous and sad all at once.”

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Jan. 28 — Santa Barbara Museum of Art to present From Page to Silver Screen: The Maltese Falcon

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Santa Barbara Museum of Art to present “From Page to Silver Screen: The Maltese Falcon — SBMA Museum Collectors Council Film Screening,” from 1:30 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 28 at SBMA’s Mary Craig Auditorium, 1130 State St., Santa Barbara.

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Through Jan. 2023 — SBMA’s Parallel Stories features artist Marshall Brown and the opening of ‘The Architecture of Collage’

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The Santa Barbara Museum of Art’s Parallel Stories features artist Marshall Brown and the opening of “The Architecture of Collage” at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct.. 2 at 1130 State St., Santa Barbara.

Layering, fragments, appropriation, cutting, higher cribbing, collage, and what artist Marshall Brown has called “creative miscegenation,” are all part of the crucible in which familiar themes are recast in art and literature. Is the resulting cross-disciplinary mashup an homage to what is left, what is kept, and what is removed? Award-winning andNew York Times bestselling author Jonathan Lethem joins artist, Urbanist, Princeton University professor of Architecture, and critical-thinking futurist Marshall Brown in a conversation about what Lethem termed the “Ecstasy of Influence.” Book signing to follow.

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Feb. 2 — Channel Islands Maritime Museum to Present the Art of Marie McKenzie

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Beginning February 2, the Channel Islands Maritime Museum (CIMM) will be presenting its latest pop-up exhibition featuring the incredible artwork of Marie McKenzie.

Ojai-based artist Marie McKenzie places sustainability at the heart of her practice. Using salvaged wood and other earth-friendly materials, McKenzie creates abstract and figurative representations of marine flora and fauna with loving detail. The exhibit at the Channel Islands Maritime Museum will feature a variety of paintings and an ethereal wooden kelp sculpture. Art and environmentalism truly synthesize into something beautiful through Marie’s creations.

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Feb. 2 — UCSB Arts & Lectures presents Amor Towles at Campbell Hall

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Amor Towles is heir to the American literary tradition of thrilling narratives that follow memorable young men on intricate journeys of risk, discovery and redemption. Through his evocative, absorbing novels including Rules of Civility, A Gentleman in Moscow and The Lincoln Highway, Towles has become a critical favorite and a popular success.

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Feb. 9 — Santa Barbara Museum of Art features ‘Parallel Stories — Couples’ with Rachel Cusk, Siemon Scamell-Katz, and Andrew Winer

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The Santa Barbara Museum of Art features “Parallel Stories” with Rachel Cusk, Siemon Scamell-Katz, and Andrew Winer at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9 at the Mary Craig Auditorium, 1130 State St., Santa Barbara.

Inspired by the artistic collaboration of Ed Kienholz and Nancy Reddin Kienholz and the SBMA exhibition Scenes from a Marriage: Ed & Nancy Kienholz, Parallel Stories examines what happens in fiction and life when artist couples work together.

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Feb. 12 — Santa Barbara Museum of Art to present ‘Transformation: Personal Stories of Change, Acceptance, and Evolution.’ Free Concert with Ted Nash

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This free concert features student composers, performers, and writers from a workshop led by Grammy Award-winning saxophonist and composer Ted Nash who joins them on stage. Responding in part to artist Joan Tanner’s unorthodox use of materials and inspired by Nash’s original composition first performed with Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, these young artists explore the idea of transformation, both personal and collective, bringing word and music together in this exuberant community-sourced celebration of the expressive and empathetic power of art. 

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Feb. 12 — Free Winter Family Day at the Wildling Museum in Solvang

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he Wildling Museum is pleased to announce the winter edition of its popular free Family Day event, which returns on Sunday, February 12, 2023, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. The now twice-yearly event invites visitors to bring the whole family and enjoy free museum admission during event hours, along with a day of art and nature-inspired activities. 

The winter lineup of events will include a live owl meet-and-greet by Santa Barbara Audubon Society’s Eyes in the Sky, a wildlife education program featuring rescued birds of prey. For their 11 a.m. presentation at the Wildling’s Free Family Day, visitors will have the chance to meet Puku the Western Screech-owl and Athena the Barn Owl and learn more about the native raptors in our region. 

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Feb. 23 — OC LIVE: The PAB comes alive with incredible acrobatics, energizing African drumming, dancing and gravity-defying stunts!

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The PAB comes alive with incredible acrobatics, energizing African drumming, dancing and gravity-defying stunts! Celebrate Black History Month with this amazing performance of a 2000-year-old cultural tradition from East Africa. This interactive 90-minute show includes human pyramids, dish spinning, stick balance, contortion, juggling, hand to hand balance, pole acts, music, comedy, and much much more. Join us on campus Thursday night!

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Feb. 25, 26 — UCSB Arts & Lectures presents Ballet Preljocaj’s Swan Lake at the Granada Theatre

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UCSB Arts & Lectures (A&L) presents Preljocaj’s Swan Lake, Saturday, February 25 at 8:00 p.m and Sunday, February 26 at 3:00 p.m. at the Granada Theatre. France’s contemporary dance superstar Angelin Preljocaj tackles the Mount Everest of the ballet world, Swan Lake. Combining Tchaikovsky’s musical masterpiece with new arrangements, Preljocaj reinvents the timeless tale of love, betrayal, seduction and remorse into a modern ecological tragedy. With 26 dancers, this beautiful tribute takes flight as an ingenious adaptation in which “the excellent performers… move with nuanced, fragile physical poetry, and a sense of the wounded souls they have become” (The New York Times).

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Feb. 25 — Santa Paula Art Museum to hold 13th Anniversary Party

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Don’t miss our biggest party of the year! On Saturday, February 25, join us at the Museum for an exciting evening of art, live music, cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, a silent auction, and much more. All proceeds from the event benefit the Santa Paula Art Museum, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. Tickets to the event are $100 per person and include two complimentary drink tickets. Advance ticket purchase is recommended.

PURCHASE TICKETS >>

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