Dance review: 'The Cinderella Principle'

What makes a family? Complex, sprawling ideas of the modern family - interracial, interethnic, binuclear, blended - are at the center of 'The Cinderella Principle: Try These On, See If They Fit,' Robert Moses' sometimes engrossing, sometimes enigmatic new dance work, which his company, Robert Moses' Kin, premiered Thursday at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts' Novellus Theater.

It's an ambitious effort, and Moses, a dancemaker of passionate ideas, has brought together a multiplicity of resources. Barely visible behind a pale scrim, Anne Galjour delivers the text, giving voice to stories drawn from real-life interviews. In the shadows beside her, violinist Todd Reynolds and beatboxer Kid Beyond unleash an evocative, assaultive original score, reflecting the kind of modern angst in the robotic motions of the 11 dancers inhabiting the world in front of them.

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Black History Month at Habitot touts community

Music, dance and storytelling are part of life in Africa, and when Jiji La Watoto appears at the Habitot Children's Museum on Sunday, they'll offer a virtual journey into the heart of a warm, rich culture.

During the hourlong presentation - part of the museum's daylong Black History Month celebration - kids can play with tot-size drums and shakers, listen to stories about Africa, learn some Swahili so they can sing along, watch African dancers and show off a few African dance moves. But unlike the weekly classes for 2- to 5-year-olds that Jiji La Watoto conducts at Habitot, Sunday is geared toward getting the whole family involved.

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Dance Review: "Two-Year Old Gentlemen"

Raw movement and spirituality coincide in Ronald K. Brown's eloquent 'Two-Year Old Gentlemen,' which his 25-year-old dance company, Evidence, brought to the Novellus Theater at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts over the weekend.

An undercurrent of ceremonial solemnity often marks Brown's distinctive mix of African dance, modern and hip-hop, and in this meditative communion for five men - danced by Brown, Arcell Cabuag, Waldean Nelson, Joel Sule Adams and Otis Donovan Herring - he investigates questions of masculine identity in a post-feminist era.

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Orion Children's Author festival

Indulge a love of books at Orion Alternative School's annual Children's Author and Illustrator Festival. For anyone with a bookworm in the family, or even if you're just looking for unusual gifts for a child, the festival is a great chance to check out some of your favorite authors or discover new ones, says event spokeswoman Sharon Grant.

The daylong event, which raises money for Orion's school library, brings in half a dozen local authors and artists for book signings, so people can meet an author in a low-key, intimate setting.

In addition, the writers will give individual talks throughout the day in Orion's comfortable classrooms. Sometimes, Grant says, illustrators will even do an impromptu drawing demonstration.

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