Metroactive

By Photos by Christopher Gardner Romana Machado plans to live forever. Well, if not forever then for as long as is feasible given the current hurdles to immortality. Yeah, you say, Don't they all? Isn't that what packs quivering mortals into the pews each week? Isn't that the same crumbling sentiment preserved inside those overdecorated Egyptian mummy crates? Maybe.

RE-VIVE Calpulli Tonalehqueh dancer Alexis ixcoxoxhitl Rosas at 2021’s Mexica New Year. Photo Credit: Buggsy Malone Jessica Veikune’s brow knits together in concentration as she uses a needle to scoop small beads and pieces of seashells onto a delicate thread in a repeating pattern. Veikune is one of many Indigenous dancers hard at work in preparation for the first annual Cali Native Night and 24th annual Mexica New Year Ceremony. She points the needle down and repeats the pattern.

CALLIN' OUT: Lyrics Born is keeping it all funky for San Jose. Exhibit Z in NorCal’s oft overlooked contributions to the hip hop world: Solesides Records. In the early ‘90s, the label and collective helped to first define and then spread the sound of alternative hip hop, bringing the world such luminaries as DJ Shadow and Blackalicious’ Gift of Gab, both of whom changed the rap game forever.

ENTER THE TENT: Explore the tantalizing shows of the Circus of Sin. It’s hard to believe, but it’s been 15 months since San Jose’s premier burlesque troupe, the Circus of Sin, called San Jose’s premier dive, the Caravan Lounge, home. This weekend’s dramatic return reunites the troupe’s belly-dancers, drag artists, burlesque performers and assorted ne’er-do-wells with the beloved downtown watering hole they have so often covered in glitter, sweat and bodily joie de vivre.

BOLLYWOOD BLUES: Poor House Bistro throws a birthday bash for this singer. San Jose’s own Bollywood bluesman, Aki Kumar, has long cut a distinct figure in the South Bay. Blending American blues with Hindi lyrics and elements of Indian bhangra, Kumar creates a cocktail like no other before. On 2021 single “Zindagi” (“Life,” in Hindi), Kumar and crew throw Jamaican roots reggae into the mix for a truly global sound with few comparisons.

TAKE FIVE: Abel Selaoceo will make you rethink whats possible with the Cello. Cellist Abel Selaocoe bends parameters of tradition and style as gracefully as his bow bends the strings of its instrument. The South African musician has performed as a chamber musician and as a soloist across the UK, played as part of a virtual celebration of Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s 90th birthday alongside classical legend Yo-Yo Ma and most recently released a three-part BBC radio show called Cello Retold.

JANE AUSTIN CLASSIC: The early 19th century classic comes to the stage. Photo Credit: Kevin Berne In a society where marriage was closely tied to money and social status, the sensible Elinor and sensitive Marianne Dashwood champion two distinctively different perspectives on love, womanhood and marriage. Under the masterful direction of Robert Kelley, this musical based on Jane Austen’s all-time classic abounds with the author’s signature emotional depths and hilarious sidekicks.

PIZZA TIME One of two remaining original portrait animatronics from the original Winchester location. -Photo Credit: Travis Schafer Driving through East Side San Jose near the Tully Road overpass, a trio of red turrets juts up through white smog. Beneath the center dome, a 30-foot anthropomorphic rodent in a bowler hat waves his four-fingered paw. I learn, with some alarm, that I can drive straight up to the towering rat and park in a slim row of stalls at his feet.

TRUE FICTION Author Lee Kravetz puts his journalistic eye to work in his first novel, ‘The Last Confessions of Sylvia P.’ Photo Credit: ComePlum Photo Lee Kravetz’s agent begged him not to become a novelist. With his first two books of non-fiction, his career as a reliable psychological journalist was cemented. But after reading the manuscript for Kravetz’s novel The Last Confessions of Sylvia P., his agent said he couldn’t go back to non-fiction.