Eugene Weekly : Calendar : 01.22.04

Experience a taste of Zimbabwe while supporting the Kutsinhira Cultural Arts Center this weekend. Sam Bond's Garage will host a Marimba Dance Party on Saturday, where attendees can dance all night to vibrant, exhilarating music. Shamwari Marimba starts the evening with an all-ages family hour, followed by Eugene Mbira Circle and joyful, high-energy performances by Jenaguru Marimba and Zambuko Marimba (pictured). Proceeds will benefit Kutsinhira Cultural Arts Center, and all bands are performing arts ensembles of Kutsinhira who have performed at many community events. See Saturday Calendar.

Jacobs Gallery is always filled to the brim with exciting art, and this week, work by Susan Lowdermilk (pictured), Tallmadge Doyle and Ken Paul will begin a month-long exhibit. Hear a gallery talk and attend the artists' reception at the Hult Center. See Art in the Galleries and Friday Calendar.

The Drinking Gourd School and the Downtown Library offer a unique way to celebrate Black History Month with "Heroes, Every One: Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Thousands of Other Heroes Just Like You and Me." The play, performed annually by students ages 5 to 8, tells the story of the Montgomery bus boycott, which sparked the civil rights movement. The play encourages audience participation, and the students perform in front of a packed house each year. Written by Drinking Gourd School director Trisha Whitney, the production aims to emphasize the importance of working together to bring about positive changes in words young children can understand. It tells about heroes we remember, such as Rosa Parks (pictured) and Martin Luther King, Jr., but also about the other nameless heroes who stood up for their cause. See Wednesday Calendar.

Jamaican reggae pioneer Norma Fraser will grace Sweetwater's with her signature sound this week. Fraser, one of the first artists to sign with Studio One (the label Bob Marley later signed with), has been a musical force to be reckoned with since the early days of the reggae revolution. She has worked with many other notable artists, including Marley, to whom she pays tribute with two covers at each of her performances. She's an international legend with local appeal. See Saturday Calendar.

Poet Joseph Millar reads from his collection, Overtime, and new works this week in the UO Knight Library Browsing Room. Millar, who has taught for the Oregon Writers Workshop, Mountain Writers Workshop Series and Mt. Hood Community College, holds an MA in poetry from Johns Hopkins University. Overtime is a highly praised collection of poems about blue-collar work; Millar's poems have also been published in a wide array of literary journals. See Thursday, Jan. 22 Calendar.