CALARTS : Black History Month Planned

CalArts will kick off its observance of Black History Month with a performance by African dancers and musicians at noon Feb. 2.

Featured will be the Zadonu Music and Dance Co., James Makubuya Ensember and the Djimbe West African Drummers and Dancers.

Also scheduled are poetry and jazz featuring Watts poets Kamau Daa’ood, John Priestly and Ojenke Mapenzi and Nedra Wheeler, jazz bassist, at noon Feb. 3; a concert by Black/Note and Albert (Tootie) Heath and Friends, noon Feb. 4, and a lecture, “Black Pride and Pluralism: Is This a Contradiction?” by Troy Duster, UC Berkeley professor of sociology, noon Feb. 10.

Other events include a concert by Roscoe Mitchell, jazz soloist, at 8 p.m. Feb. 10; the play “The Colored Museum” by George Seawolf, at 8 p.m. Feb. 12 and at 2 and 8 p.m. Feb. 13; a slide presentation on prominent black photographers’ perspectives of Los Angeles, noon Feb. 16, and an art exhibit and video on multicultural African-Americans, all day Feb. 16-19.

Also planned are a one-woman show by actor Beah Richards, noon Feb. 18; “The Meeting,” a play, at noon and 8 p.m. Feb. 18; films by black women, at 8 p.m. Feb. 21 and 22; a dance concert with Boris James and Arthur Sabb, at 8 p.m. Feb. 26, and an “Evening of Soul Celebration,” 9 p.m., Feb. 17.

All events are free.