Emcee Dennis Mangers promised the “Sacramento Has Talent” show audience that they would leave saying, “That’s entertainment!” His prediction proved true, as a lineup of talented local dancers, bands, musicians, comedian, filmmaker, singers and a spoken-word artist delighted the crowd. The April 4 show at the Crest Theater was presented by Access Sacramento as a benefit for a neighborhood youth reporter program. Guest artist Lisa Daggs and her five-member band opened the show with a rocking performance of her hit single “Forgiveness is a Powerful Thing.” An energetic Daggs connected with the crowd as she moved about the stage and let her raspy, powerful voice soar. Daggs’ musical career

This past Second Saturday, I ventured off the midtown grid, away from the usual suspects, to a cultural hotbed at the Brickhouse Art Gallery in Oak Park. The occasion was the launch party of HAIRitage: Celebrating the Legacy of the Barber Shop with Art, Poetry and Jazz, a book full of black and white photos taken at the Master Barber Shop and Beauty Salon by local artist Gerry “GOS” Simpson, and poetry centering around the barbershop experience and its positive influence in the black community. And community is just what I found there, in spades. The exterior of Brickhouse was topped with a painting of President Obama, his smile shining like a beacon of hope and solidarity, and the atmosp

Young poets from all over the world gathered in Los Angeles this year to compete at the Brave New Voices event. Among them were members of the arts-based literacy program SAYS (Sacramento Area Youth Speaks), who placed fifth in the youth poetry event – an international spoken-word contest televised on HBO. After observing both the peril and potential of the educational system, former Bay Area high school teacher Vajra Watson founded SAYS in partnership with the UC Davis School of Education, and the Twin Rivers, Sacramento City and Elk Grove UnifiedSchool districts, the Sacramento Office of Youth Development and the Sierra Health Foundation in January 2009. SAYS and Watson now advocate fo

 Community was the name of the game at the South Sacramento games on Saturday. Residents played a variety of games, all focused on building cooperation without competition. We made the games so that nobody’s a winner and nobody’s a loser,” volunteer Charles Chenauot said. The games  included capture the flag, don’t spill the beans and Simon Says, but with a twist. Simon and Simone used the same concept as Simon Says, but without winners or losers. Instead, when Simon told a player she was out, she could join Simone’s game and keep playing. “We have a lot of community games where people can come together and play without having to be competitive,” volunteer Staphonya Cabrellin said.

A crowd of more than 500 Henry Rollins fans poured into the Crest Theatre on Thursday to hear the punk rock frontman turned spoken-word madman spill his opinions about the world. The audience ranged from teenage to old age, from followers of Rollins' former band, Black Flag, to people who simply had seen him as a commentator on VH1's "I Love the '80's." Whether a diehard fan or just curious, no one was guessing what Rollins' would say or do once he took the stage. Dressed in black pants, a fitted T-shirt and skateboarding shoes, the tattooed Rollins grabbed the microphone vigorously at 8 p.m. sharp. Throughout his two hour and 45-minute set, the 49-year-old kept the same level of intensit

  The 34th Street Dance company put on another high energy performance last Saturday at the Guild Theater. The theme was Fiat Lux, which is Latin for "let there be light.  The show wrapped up with a tribute of dance routines to the late Michael Jackson, along with a heart felt and tearful ceremony to the seniors graduating from the company. “Our mission is to use dance as a tool to build community and develop each dancer as a creative thinker, dance technician, and a leader” said Sheila Coleman, the founder and director of the company.  The company trains in modern, hip-hop, and contemporary movement forms and for seven years, has shared its passion for dance with audiences all over Cali

An interview with Henry Rollins may seem like an intimidating one -- not only because the punk rocker, actor and spoken word artist’s hulking frame, myriad of tattoos, steely brush cut and bristling stare leave him looking like a discharged drill sergeant. His demeanor seems to hold an even deeper intensity, especially during his impassioned spoken word rants about current affairs that he’ll bring to the Crest Theatre June 3. That intensity was also showcased in the questions he posed to his guests on "The Henry Rollins Show." He would sit on the edge of his seat, posture rigid, each query rapidly fired as he pounced on subjects with a rigorous vigor that could leave any reporter worried

Award-winning slam poet Andrea Gibson will be performing in Sacramento for the first time on Thursday, April 22, to help celebrate the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) community during California Statue University, Sacramento's Pride Week. Boulder, Colo.,-based Gibson placed third in both the 2006 and 2007 Individual World Poetry Slam and was the first poet to win the Women of the World Poetry Slam in 2008. Although awarded many slam titles, Gibson considers herself a spoken word artist rather than strictly a slam poet and now puts her emphasis on performing rather than competing. The themes within Gibson's poetry range from gender norms to civil rights, from passionate love

Terry Moore (T Mo) In Sacramento, we are very fortunate to have award-winning spoken word poet Terry Moore as part of our poetry scene. While he has performed his poetry all around the country, he organizes and hosts plenty of local events to showcase other artists from the Capital region and beyond. Terry hosts The Show, the popular Saturday night series in Oak Park. You’ll see him there on the last Saturday of every month, taking videos, making sure everyone is comfortable, getting young people to participate, and introducing acts with warmth and style. But when T-Mo takes the stage to speak his own pieces, the intensity goes up. Working smoothly, often with a two- or three- piece band

Milton Bowens would like to believe that when you look at his art work you're not merely viewing paintings, his personal opinion or guarded pieces of his soul. You the viewer are being asked to confront history, truth, cultural stereo types and engage the possibilities of the future. Because when he paints he is not just engaging the viewer or confronting the critic over artistic merit, style and validity, he is confronting the use of art as a tool to communicate. He is asking questions, He is seeking solutions. Born and raised in Oakland, Calif., Milton Bowens is the fifth boy of ten children. Milton’s artistic promise began at the age of five with nothing more than a few pencils and cut