From the Los Angeles Times:<P><B>Lula Washington Dance Theatre</B><P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Harriet and Charles Luckman Fine Arts Complex <BR>5151 State University Drive, Los Angeles<P>Whether commemorating Kwanzaa, Christmas or an amalgam that Times reviewer Victoria Looseleaf dubbed "Kwansmas," Lula Washington's annual "Gospel Kwanzaa Celebration" is a holiday program with legs.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://www.calendarlive.com/top/1,1419,L-LATimes-Theater-X!EventDetail-36077,00.html" TARGET=_blank><B>A Bit More...</B></A>

Two more articles on the theme. I'm intrigued that, despite our large Afro and Afro-Carribean populations, I have never come across this. In the UK in December we do hear about Diwali, the Indian Festival of Light. <P><B>Cultural rhythms power group</B> <BR>By Janet Blackmon Morgan for The Sun News <P><BR>GEORGETOWN Rhythms are rolling off the drums like thunder rumbles across the horizon. <BR>The groove hits the dancers with force enough to make their bodies sway to the beats. <BR>Suddenly, Falola Jackson, 43, and Tandeyah Jackson, 9, twist, turn and bend to the music first made by their ancestors and shout "Africa!" <BR>Their fists are then thrust into the air in a back-and-forth motion that beckons the drummers to give them more furious funk. <BR>This group of performers known as Egbe Killimanjaro is having a party of pride. <BR>The group, which includes a husband, his wife, their four sons and granddaughter, works to heighten cultural awareness and appreciation of the arts through African and Caribbean drum and dance. <P><A HREF="http://web.thesunnews.com/content/myrtlebeach/2001/12/25/local/C01-2018028.htm" TARGET=_blank><B>click for more</B></A><P>***************************************<P><B>'Kwanzaa 101' to be held soon</B><BR>Community celebration teaches week's lessons in an evening's entertainment <BR>By Lena Mitchell for The Daily Journal<P><BR>The day after Christian religions pause to celebrate and give thanks for the birth of Jesus for Christmas, a cultural celebration of the African-American community begins. Dec. 26 is the first day of the week-long cultural celebration that continues through Jan. 1. On Friday beginning at 6 p.m. in the Christian Life Center at new Providence Missionary Baptist Church, a community celebration of Kwanzaa will be held highlighting all of the principles usually commemorated each day throughout the week. <P>"There needed to be a cultural program to teach people what Kwanzaa is all about," said cultural arts organizer and program originator Charles "Wsir" Johnson. "Schools only recently introduced study about Kwanzaa. Church programs focus on the birth of Christ, but where is the cultural holiday in that? Culture is about exposure and education." <P><A HREF="http://www.djournal.com/djournal/site/articles/news/808736.htm" TARGET=_blank><B>click for more</B></A><BR>

<B>Kwanzaa festival off to an upbeat start</B> <BR>MICHELLE MOWAD, Times Herald (Philidelphia)<P> <BR>NORRISTOWN -- Central Presbyterian Church kicked off Kwanzaa Wednesday night with a little poetry and African dancing. Zakiyyah-Joyce Lyons, artistic director and founder of Persona Zenobia Dance Ensemble, a Norristown-based dance company and organizer of the Kwanzaa celebration, welcomed those in attendance to the first night of Kwanzaa.<P>Lyons was one of three dancers that took part in Lambaa, an African dance, in front of a captivated audience. The three ladies, including Yusrah Lyons and Dalia Starkey, were dressed in red, green, yellow and black as they rhythmically strutted, hopped and swayed.<P><A HREF="http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=2849893&BRD=1672&PAG=461&dept_id=33380&rfi=6" TARGET=_blank><B>click for more</B></A>

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Finding a connection to their African past<BR>Kwanzaa: Through stories, games and music, African-American children are learning the history of their culture at a three-day camp.<P>John Rivera, Baltimore Sun<P>Moving to the beat of African drums, about a dozen girls twirled, swayed and rhythmically stomped their feet yesterday in East Baltimore, intently following the motions of their instructor as they learned the steps of a dance possibly performed by their ancestors.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><a href=http://www.sunspot.net/news/yahoo/bal-md.kwanzaa27dec27.story?coll=bal%2Dnewsaol%2Dheadlines target=_blank>More</a>