Few children and older guests dressed up in Halloween costumes for Saturday night’s “Dracula” performance at the Community Center Theatre, which included two other performances: “Second Before the Ground” and “Serenade.” “Second Before the Ground” is a fun, light performance with simple backdrop colors and costumes. The dancers perform controlled and comical ballet movements with creative contortions choreographed by Trey McIntyre. As a united family of wildlife dancing to bongo drums and African-inspired music by the Kronos Quartet, their performance was something like out of “The Lion King,” with dancers running across the stage like a stampede of smiling, prancing antelope. Intermissi

Raley Field was a rock venue for those who showed up Tuesday night for Incubus. Fans trickled to the front of the stage for opening artist AWOLNATION, leaving seats available for the mellow rockers who chose to sit over standing in the pit. AWOLNATION’s loud, blood-rushing sound engulfed the eardrums of the early birds. They played songs off their debut album, “Megalithic Symphony,” including the radio hit single “Sail,” which was received by cheers. The stage was set up at the outfield line allowing for better acoustics, harnessing the sound before it escaped into Sacramento River. By 8 p.m., the surrounding stage area was packed and seats were filling up. Assigned seating was overloo

The wet weather on Saturday afternoon did not stop hundreds of wine enthusiasts from attending the ninth annual Raley’s Grape Escape at Cesar Chavez Park. Grape Escape is an outdoor event for foodies and wine lovers to sample the region’s finest wineries and restaurants. Few attendees bought their ticket at the door, due to the weather, but those who bought their ticket in advance, paid $40. Some attendees traveled from as far as Reno to get out of the cold weather, and although their day trip was greeted with more cold, they quickly forgot about it after a few glasses of wine. The grass was muddy, and attendees dressed in rain boots and scarves while juggling their food plates, wine g

More than 25,000 people participated in the Race for the Cure at Cal Expo early Saturday morning. The starting line was flooded with the color pink: tutus, bathing suit tops, beads and wigs. The Susan G. Komen Sacramento Race for the Cure celebrated 15 years of fundraising for breast health education, awareness and breast cancer research. Prior to the 5-kilometer race, the runners and walkers danced Zumba to get their body moving and celebrate uniting for this cause. Building up the crowd’s energy, KCRA news reporter Edie Lambert had pink beaded necklaces for the runners as they began the race. “You don’t have to, you know, to get these beads,” she said. Runners took off, which l

Saturday night, Sacramento Ballet invited guests to enjoy beer and a variety of appetizing performances choreographed by the dancers. Pairing beer with a highbrow type of entertainment is a welcoming event for theater lovers and beer drinkers. Brew It Up provided the beer that the dancers brewed themselves. The dancers mixed specialty blends to create a Heffeweisen, “Stumble-ina” and a Märzen Dark Beer, “Black Out Swan”. The gentlemen I sat next to would not put his cup down, at the end of each short performance he would clap for the dancers while holding his cup with his teeth. In the casual setting of their studio, seating was limited. Guests were stacked in the three rows of seating

Bakesale for Japan has become a popular fundraising event in cities like Berkeley, Oakland and San Francisco, and as of Saturday morning Sacramento can proudly join the list of charitable cities. Organizers Milena Pointer and Jill Wegrzyn enlisted Café Au Lait in Midtown as the venue. Pointer was moved by the Japan disaster. “I watched the videos, and I really wanted to do something to help,” she said. “I just wasn’t quite sure what to do.” Pointer saw an ad for a Bakesale for Japan in the Bay Area, and instead of traveling there to donate, she teamed up with Wegrzyn to plan their own. Within a week and a half, their efforts were a success. They found eight businesses to donate baked

It’s been two weeks and Pizza Rock has established itself as serving K Street’s nightlife with late-night food and entertainment. This hot spot located between District 30 and Dive Bar is getting many positive reviews for their quick delivery and, of course, Tony’s pizza-throwing skills. Co-owner Tony Gemignani is reaching out to the younger pizza eaters of Sacramento by offering weekend cooking classes for kids. What better way to enjoy a gloomy Saturday afternoon than to spend it in the kitchen cooking up some comfort food? Ten children reserved their spots for this week’s cooking class with Jay Sherman, Pizza Rock’s other acclaimed pizza-spinner. Sherman began the class with a very i

On a sunny Saturday afternoon, the Crocker Art Museum held a Tour, Taste and Talk on “The Art of Tea.” Four-year docent Paul Lee was an informative guide on the museum’s teaware collections and the history of tea culture worldwide. Beginning in the Asian ceramics collection, Lee educated the visitors on the history of tea in China. “In China, tea was a drink enjoyed by scholars or drank when discussing philosophy,” he said. The tea culture took on a more religious connection when it was introduced into Korean and Japanese cultures. In Japan, it was associated with Buddhism and the wealthy-class. “Monks would drink tea in meditation to keep them awake,” Lee said. Once tea was introduce

We have a lot to be grateful for at The Sacramento Press. We celebrated our two-year anniversary in October, and we expanded our office over the summer. We are most thankful for our community contributors – you take the cake. Your comments fill in the blanks of questions unanswered. You keep us honest and accurate by pointing out errors. Your thoughts and opinions spark a stream of community dialogue. Your stories and photos document Sacramento’s history in the making. Your firsthand accounts often break stories like the evacuation of the Roseville Galleria Mall or give us an up-close at, say, a fire in Midtown. A lot of what comes in is unexpected: a letter written by Thomas Enterprise

Pianist Lara Downes captivated all ages with her concert performance that celebrated the classic tales “Peter Pan” and “Alice in Wonderland.” Downes opened with just her and the piano, delicately playing each key with passion, setting the stage for the jubilant children performers. “Enjoy the trip from Neverland to Wonderland,” she said. Her music transitioned between the two imaginative worlds that the children could relate to. This was the first performance from the new Mondavi Center Young Artists Theater Workshop program. The program was a 12-week acting workshop for children from fourth to sixth grade. For the first time, these children weren’t the ones listening to the stories, bu