Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday Thursday 26 SPANISH HEIGHTS. The Spaniards brought more than greed and the nasty plague with them to the New World. They also toted a potent concept known as Catholicism, which they rapidly forced on their fresh subjects. And with it came a stunning religious tradition of highly inspired art, long used by the Church to teach and capture the souls of converts. The style was just as quickly transformed by native hands into unique spiritual hybrids, just as they integrated their own beliefs with the imported theology. More than 20 testaments to that creative collaboration are now on display in the Arizona Historical Society's Imago Caeli: The Image of Heaven exhibit. Meant both to trace the history and highlight the central role of religious art in Spanish America, it tells the story through wood, copper and canvas pieces produced by the Spanish and later colonial artists, with influences ranging from the schools of Europe to indigenous villages touched by conquest. The display runs through March 15 at the Arizona Historical Society, 949 E. Second St. Admission is free. Regular hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday, noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. Call 628-5774 for information Friday 27 INDIGENOUS ACTION. The North American Indian Information and Trade Center sponsors a massive gathering of dancers and Native American goods with its New Year's Competition Powwow and Indian Craft Market. The dancers come from more than 50 tribes, and the crafts from across the country, says center director Fred Synder. "This competition will feature the best singers, dancers and drummers from most of the western states," he says. "The gathering is sponsored by Indian people for Indian people." But everyone is welcome to attend, he says. "We'll have more than 40 different art vendors with work they've produced themselves. An eight-foot-tall Christmas tree tops things off, with ornaments coming from the different tribes." Synder stresses the gala includes plenty of activities for kids, including ornament-making workshops. The event runs from 4 to 10 p.m. today, noon to 10 p.m. tomorrow, and noon to 7 p.m. Sunday at Rillito Park, on First Avenue south of River Road. Admission is $7 per day. For details, call 622-4900. LOOMING INSPIRATION. Juanita Velasco, a Mayan Indian from the Guatemalan highlands, demonstrates her backstrap loom weaving techniques at Tohono Chul Park. Popular since pre-Hispanic times, the simple, portable backstrap loom is fastened to a post or tree on one end and worn around the weaver's hips on the other. Threads are then stretched or loosened by the weaver moving her body back and forth. The results are richly hued fabrics still widely seen throughout Mexico and Central America. Velasco learned the technique from her grandmother, and now travels the country displaying those skills through cultural exchanges, a tour that's included such topnotch venues as the Heard Museum in Phoenix and the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. She'll display her talents locally from 1 to 4 p.m. on the Spanish Colonial Patio of Tohono Chul Park, 7366 N. Paseo del Norte. A $2 donation is suggested. For details, call 742-6455 Saturday 28 JUMBO MAMBO. Take a samba, add salsa, bossas, a dash of frevos, and you end up with Terra Firme, a new seven-piece dance band charting original Latin paths throughout Tucson. "It was an idea brought about by myself and Alieksey Vianna, an excellent Brazilian guitar player who's studying at the university," says Terra Firme singer and sometime percussionist Janice Jarrett. "We're more of a dance band than some of the other Latin bands in town," she says. "This music is so good to start with, and then some of the dances--samba and the others--aren't that hard to learn, so we think people will like it." The group will also perform a few jazz standards and songs in English, she says. Terra Firme plays from 9 p.m. to midnight at El Parador, 2744 E. Broadway. Admission is $5. For information, call 881-2808. MATCH-UP. Anticipating his own funeral, Hans Christian Andersen remarked, "Most of the people who will walk after me will be children, so make the beat keep time with short steps." Those pint-sized strides continue when the Bianco Theatre Company kids perform the Danish writer's classic, The Little Match Girl. Andersen's tales were anything but warm and fuzzy, and their sometimes harsh morality might not pass today's politically correct muster. The Little Match Girl, about a noble street urchin and her steadfast will to survive, lands smack in that category. The company also presents Christmas in the Park, a story about two tykes and their baby-sitter who spend Christmas Eve among denizens of New York's Central Park. There they learn lasting lessons about the holiday's true meaning, and as evidence, return the next day bearing gifts for their new-found friends. Performances are 10 a.m. today, and 6 and 8 p.m. Monday, December 30, at the Gaslight Theatre, 7010 E. Broadway. Tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for children and students. For reservations, call 299-2931. Sunday 29 GLEANER LEANINGS. Roberta Sinnock began as a student in the UA Fine Arts Department. She then undertook a geographical and creative pilgrimage, working as an art instructor, graphic designer and book illustrator. Now her travels come full-circle as she returns to Tucson to practice her craft in the surrounding desert. Sinnock's Southwestern Gleanings series is now showing at the De Grazia Gallery in the Sun. "Roberta does a lot of landscapes, many of them from New Mexico," says gallery spokeswoman Lucy Potter. "Her works are diverse, ranging from watercolors to sketches. There's a real variety." Southwestern Gleanings is on display through January 3 at the De Grazia Gallery in the Sun, 6300 N. Swan Road. Hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Sunday. Call 299-9192 for information. PAST REVELATIONS. Most of us probably consider Tucson a sweet little place to set up shop. But we're hardly the first with such hankerings. In fact, this valley has been marketed as a charming oasis for centuries now, dating back to those hardy souls who first pitched camp at the base of "A" Mountain 2,500 years back. The Hohokam built a major village under what is now St. Mary's Hospital sometime around 700 A.D., and the Spanish mission of San Agustín later sat on the banks of what was then a free-flowing Santa Cruz River. As a result, we current dwellers are scuttling amidst one historically rich treasure chest, a point the non-profit Center for Desert Archaeology hopes to drive home with ongoing tours throughout the year. Outings range from visits to the Valencia Site, where excavations revealed artifacts from a Hohokam ball court village, to the Tanque Verde Site, complete with a reconstructed prehistoric house and other exhibits relating to the thousand-year-old farming hamlet. And those just scratch the surface of what's available, including moonlight petroglyph visits offered for the first time this year, says the Desert Archaeology spokeswoman Lisa Piper. "We try to educate folks in the richness of Tucson and the presence of those historic sites," she says. "They're really neat tours. Most are about four hours in length, and none of them are very difficult." Half-day and full-day tours are available, and can be booked at any time. Cost is $40 per person for the half-day excursions, and $70 for a full day, including lunch. For reservations, call 881-2244. Monday 30 BRAVE COMBO. What do a Sousa marching tune, Riecha's Blaserquintett in E Flat, Ibert's Trois Pieces Breves and Bill Holcombe's' Metro and Roaring Twenties suites all have in common? They'll all be performed by the local Sirocco Wind Quintet, along with the Sailor's Hornpipe by Burnett Tuthill, and several Dixieland and contemporary offerings. The free concert is from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Border's Books and Music, 4255 N. Oracle Road. Call 292-1331 for details. FOUR-BY-FOUR. For the fifth year in a row, Tucson artist Syd Clayton-Seeber will present a show of her paintings and teaching methods, including three-dimensional wall sculptures and watercolors in Four Walls/Four Mediums/One Artist. Clayton-Seeber calls her work "pretty versatile. I create fine art from found objects, and also work extensively in faux stone. In fact, I just finished my number 23 in the storyteller series, which is the most-painted Native American female form in the Southwest," she says. "I also teach all those mediums, everything except oils." Four Walls is on display through tomorrow at the Unity of Tucson Gallery, 3617 N. Camino Blanco. Hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, and 9 a.m. to noon Sunday. For information, call 577-3300. Tuesday 31 MOLLY HOLIDAY. For six years the kinetic Mollys have brought Tucson an eccentric hybrid of Irish-laden rock and roll. Now, with a pair of nationally recognized CDs and a big tour under their belts, they'll carry tradition into the new year with a performance featuring special guests The Hooligans and Stefan George at the Southwest Center for Music. This show also represents what will probably be the last big Celtic hurrah for the center, soon slated to become the Tucson Symphony's new home. So pull on your dancing gear and come tip your hat to Father Time and the hall's metamorphosis. Doors open at 8 p.m. at the Southwest Center for Music, 2175 N. Sixth Avenue. Tickets are $15 in advance, and include party favors and a midnight champagne toast. They're available at Hear's Music, Loco Music and Video, and Antigone Books. Call 887-6942 for information. TEEN SCENE. Now the under-aged have an excuse to get out and about without encountering big trouble, as Tucson Parks and Recreation Department sponsors the Midnight Jam at the Tucson Convention Center. The action includes a DJ and dancing, sports events, jousting contests and even an Aero-Trim gyroscope or two. "This is the third year for this event, and we usually have a turn-out of about 800 or so," says Parks and Recreation supervisor A.J. Rico. "Basically, it's a safe, alternative New Year's Eve party for teens ages 13 to 19, and it's gotten pretty popular." The event runs from 8:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. at the TCC, 260 S. Church Ave. Admission is $2. For details, call 791-4101. BANDA GRANDE. South of the border lands in Tucson to celebrate, with Manuel Morán y la Banda, MR-7 and Carmen Jara taking the Tucson Convention Center stage for a New Year's Eve "superdance." "This has become a yearly family tradition," says event organizer Oscar Stevens. "Originally, we were going to stop in the year 2000. But I think it's probably too popular for that now. We usually get between 4,000 and 5,000 people for the shows." Tonight's line-up ranges in musical style from norteño to banda, he says, adding that Carmen Jara is currently among Mexico's top recording artists. In addition, there will be door prizes including a new car or truck. "This is definitely a big dance event," Stevens said. "And besides, we'll also be serving free menudo." The concert begins at 6 p.m. at the TCC, 260 S. Church Ave. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door, and available at Yoly's Music Shop, Joyeria Blanca, Ana's Records Cassettes and CDs, Arizona Records, Dillard's and the TCC box office. For information, call 628-7089. Wednesday 1 MENUDO BLUES. Okay, so you did just what we expected by simply overdoing it. Now comes the next challenge--how to give those twisted post-eve neurotransmitters time to repair and regroup, and replace that green stuff growing on your tongue with culture that's a bit more substantial. In other words, you need menudo, spiritual salve for the hungover soul, legendary antidote to la cruda. Nothing like a little tripe floating in a sea of hominy and chiles to recover your lucidity, says Rudy Lira, owner of Tania's Flour Tortillas. "Menudo does have that reputation," he says. "It's supposed to help clean the blood, too." And those chiles tackle sinus problems as well, he says. "Some people like it that way, the red menudo with chiles in it. Others like the white menudo better." Of course, you can't forget the subtle role of stewed appendages in rescuing your ravaged tastebuds. "Cows' feet or ox feet, sometimes that goes in as well," Lira said. "Sure, menudo is an acquired taste." You can get 12-ounces of redemption and a tortilla for a measly $2.25 from 5:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. today and every day at Tania's Flour Tortillas, 614 N. Grande Ave. Call 622-0685 for more menudo information. City Week includes events selected by Calendar Editor Mari Wadsworth. Event information is accurate as of press time. The Weekly recommends calling event organizers to check for last-minute changes in location, time, price, etc.

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