Arts + Entertainment

In the 1980s, Lee Baxendall started The Naturist Society with the goals of body positivity and enjoying our place in nature. His efforts have blossomed and borne many fruits, so that today there are many nude beaches and hot springs and hiking trails available...

Folks began setting up their lawn chairs and spreading their blankets on the Civic Center Lawn as early as 11 am on Sunday. By show time, it was packed. Attendees knew that those “The Houserockers” would deliver an enthusiastic performance, and that the lawn...

Pacific Mambo Orchestra is one of the most electrifying Latin bands around today. This Grammy Award-winning big band from San Francisco is a leading force in keeping the unique style of mambo alive. It is intricate and enticing music. Mambo is known to get...

Get ready to move and groove. Put on your Gatsby look and those high heel sneakers. The Jazz Sophisticates Dance Orchestra opens up this year's Jazz on the Plazz series at Town Plaza Park. Can you East Coast swing dance? Are you a swinger? This...

Back 250 years ago, after 11 years of war with Great Britain, the United States Declaration of Independence was signed by the revolutionists. The American Revolutionary War lasted from 1775 to 1783. Thirteen original colonies broke free from the British Crown. The Kingdom of Great...

William McClure Stout attended three separate high schools to pursue a future in the arts. After completing two years at Los Gatos High School, his Los Gatos Ballet instructors, Peter Doll and Kristin D’Addario, suggested he consider transferring to a program at San Francisco...

At two years old, Shane Tarkington was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at Good Sam Hospital. By then, a child is usually capable of speaking words and communicating in other ways. But Tarkington's parents recall how their son wasn't able to do so...

Karen Joy Fowler, the author of The Jane Austen Book Club and Recalling Cinderella, spoke in Saratoga on Saturday to over 50 attendees. Fowler, who lives in Santa Cruz, encouraged the writers in attendance to focus on making their settings interesting.  She told them to “set...

I accidentally arrived 30 minutes early to the opening-night showing of A24’s “Backrooms” at the Santa Cruz Cinema in downtown Santa Cruz. The room was dark, empty and silent. Every seat sat vacant, the screen blank and there were no previews. There were no conversations,...

On Sunday, “Ragtime” achieved the Tony for Best Revival of a Musical. And sure, Ben Levi Ross, Caissie Levy, Joshua Henry and Nichelle Lewis got their due in a four-page New York Times Arts & Leisure photo spread in this week’s Sunday Edition. But another hero...