Santa Cruz is so much more than a surf town—it’s a sanctuary for wellness seekers. Whether you’re visiting for a weekend or a local looking to explore new fitness options, the area offers a vibrant array of yoga, Pilates, barre and movement experiences designed to nourish body and soul. Whether you’re seeking a vigorous workout, a peaceful meditation or a unique movement experience, Santa Cruz has something for everyone. Embrace the opportunity to rejuvenate your body and spirit in this coastal wellness haven.
Yoga: Beachfront Bliss to Studio Serenity
Santa Cruz Yoga—A variety of classes suitable for all levels, from beginners to experienced practitioners. Skilled instructors lead each session, ensuring a safe and fulfilling practice. Drop-in session: $20. santacruzyoga.net
Yoga Center Santa Cruz—This Iyengar yoga studio provides a spacious room with natural light and essential props. Drop-in classes are $20, payable directly to the instructor. yogacentersantacruz.com
Hot Elevation Studios—Hot room classes are between 90-95 degrees with wäarm room and cycle classes set to a comfortable 80-85. Choose from hot pilates, yoga sculpt, cycle, barre, TRX, MIXT™, HIIT and hot yoga—including power, slow flow 26+2. Drop-ins: $30. hotelevationstudios.com
Breath and Oneness—Immerse yourself in a transformative journey of self-discovery and wellness with a wide array of classes—Vinyasa Flow, Gentle and Restorative Yoga, Qigong, Reiki, Sound Baths and more—infused with unique elements that cater to both beginners and seasoned practitioners. Drop-ins: $24. breathandoneness.com
Pilates & Barre: Strengthen and Tone
Club Pilates Santa Cruz—Offering low-impact, full-body workouts, Club Pilates provides a variety of classes that challenge both mind and body. A complimentary 30-minute intro class shows off the state-of-the-art equipment and studio; additional classes are $39. clubpilates.com
BodyFit Santa Cruz—This Pilates fusion studio on the Westside features Pilates, barre, strength training and reformer classes for both group and private instruction. Offerings are designed to challenge and inspire at every level. Solo session: $90; Duet session: $62. bodyfitsantacruz.com
Unique Wellness Experiences
Pacific Edge Climbing Gym—Get on the wall to experience Pacific Edge’s Yoga Suspension System. This class combines a yoga flow with wall suspension and inversions. Drop-ins: $18. pacificedgeclimbinggym.com
Beach Yoga at Sunny Cove—Sessions at Sunny Cove Beach are offered by Pleaure Point Yoga. Experience the blend of sun, sand and sea as you practice yoga in a serene environment. Bring a large beach towel and/or yoga mat, water, sunscreen and sunglasses; layered clothing recommended. Drop-ins: $22. Offered year round; check mindbodyonline.com for cancellations due to weather.
A cool breeze cut through the chatter on the rooftop patio, where the weight of all the tech talk at a recent networking event was nearly tangible. Feeling slightly out of place, I struck up a conversation with a man in reflective wraparound sunglasses. As we talked, we realized we’d met before—during an interview at a local yoga studio, where he’d joined the conversation as the CEO.
This evening, I also learned he co-founded CrossFit, the privately held global fitness brand now estimated to generate over $100 million annually. Clearly Hot Elevation is in good hands. I ask him whether the popular yoga studio, which is slated for relocation in the fall of this year, is worried about competition. “No,” he confidently replies. “We know we just have to keep innovating.”
The comment stayed with me as I stepped into the elevator down to Pacific Avenue and all through the drive home. It somehow felt counterintuitive based on my traditional yoga teaching, which was more about cultivating inner self-awareness than even the postures we learned. But I get it: If consumers demand innovation, businesses need to respond to survive.
Still, I continued to wonder, does yoga really have to keep innovating to stay relevant? No doubt this practice will help you to strengthen, lengthen and balance your physical form. And a one-hour heated power vinyasa class is a great way to burn all kinds of calories. But is that really the true intention of yoga?
The Yoga Lifestyle
As yoga teacher Alisha Slaughter told a recent class of practitioners at Capitola’s Breath+Oneness, “With all the unrest in the world, I feel like yoga is an act of rebellion. By regulating our nervous system, refusing to get caught up in the confusion, we’re standing up to the man.”
Long before yoga was a billion-dollar industry with fancy gear and branded water bottles, it started as a quiet revolution—one that found fertile ground here on the edge of the Pacific. Santa Cruz may be known for its surf, redwoods and laid-back vibe, but it also holds a significant, if often unsung, place in the history of yoga in the West.
The roots of yoga in Santa Cruz stretch back to the 1960s and ’70s, when seekers began looking beyond conventional religion for spiritual guidance. At that time, Mount Madonna Center—now a world-renowned yoga and retreat destination—was just beginning to take shape.
Founded in 1978 by students of Baba Hari Dass, a silent monk from North India who taught classical Ashtanga Yoga and philosophy, Mount Madonna brought a deep authenticity to the region’s yoga culture. It wasn’t about perfecting your handstand or earning a teaching certificate; it was about transformation through disciplined practice, service and self-inquiry. That foundation continues to inspire generations of yogis today.
The practice arrived at UCSC in a series of classes led by Ann Barros in the late 1970s. Meanwhile, the Santa Cruz community was also home to other spiritual leaders and influences. From the Vedanta Society’s teachings on Pacific Avenue to community centers offering everything from breathwork to Kundalini, yoga became part of the city’s countercultural DNA. It was never just fitness. It was a lifestyle, a worldview, a spiritual practice.
TriYoga was one of the first yoga centers to appear in Santa Cruz. This flowing, meditative style of yoga described as systematic practice designed to awaken the body’s natural rhythms and inner wisdom was founded by internationally renowned teacher Kali Ray. The studio remained a viable part of the community from 1986 to 2019, and although no longer part of the Santa Cruz scene, the teaching continues on a global level today.
Eventually the Pacific Cultural Center, formerly located on Seabright Avenue, expanded the Ashtanga tradition from Mount Madonna to Midtown. It was also the studio where I first discovered yoga, becoming part of a community committed to practicing with renowned teacher Kelly Blaser.
In 1988 Yoga Center Santa Cruz was founded by Ruth Hille, Juliet Heizman and Susan Merritt as an Iyengar-based studio, a practice known for its use of props such as belts and blocks. Iyengar is a form of another style, Hatha yoga, which focuses on the structural alignment of the physical body through the development of asanas, or postures. Renowned teacher Kofi Busia later joined and continues to teach there today.
By the ’90s and early 2000s, the yoga scene had begun to expand. Village Yoga, the first local heated studio, arrived on the scene in 2001. Co-founder Amy Mihal explains she and Sally Adams “were young and just so passionate about sharing our love for the yoga” after completing their Bikram training in 1999. They were based in San Francisco and didn’t know much about Santa Cruz, other than there weren’t any hot yoga studios there. Looking back, Mihal says, she can’t believe they “had the gumption” to start Village Yoga.
It was around this time that yoga started to find its way into mainstream wellness culture. Surfers, college students, tech workers and new moms all started discovering the benefits of a regular practice. Yoga became less of a fringe pursuit and more of a community touchstone. By 2009 there were more than 20 yoga venues in Santa Cruz, each with a varying technique and purpose.
What made our hometown yoga scene unique wasn’t just its accessibility—it was its authenticity. This wasn’t LA or NYC, where yoga often came wrapped in hype and hashtags. In Santa Cruz, yoga was still grounded in service, spirit and community.
NAMASTE Yoga remains a tool for grounding, growth and grace. Photo: Wendy Yalom/Mount Madonna
Pandemic Pause and Quiet Return
When COVID-19 hit, yoga, like everything else, went quiet. Studios shuttered, classes moved online, and shared practice turned into solo sessions in front of laptop screens. Some longtime studios closed for good, while others decided it was time to get creative.
Teachers began offering donation-based classes in parks, on beaches and under redwoods. Online platforms blossomed, and many local instructors built followings far beyond city limits. In some ways, the pandemic reminded us of yoga’s most important teaching: how to return to ourselves when the world turns upside down.
Today, yoga in Santa Cruz is thriving once again—but with a renewed sense of purpose. It’s less about chasing the perfect pose and more about cultivating resilience, healing and connection. Most studios managed to reopen; some, like Yoga Center Santa Cruz, were forced to relocate. Last November they reopened in the former Hart’s Fabric space.
I spoke with Maya Lev, Yoga Center Santa Cruz’s studio owner since 1993. She says that in the months since their move, all of the teachers are experiencing a resurgence. It’s typical to have 25 to 28 students attend a Sunday morning class, most of whom Lev describes as “in the upper years,” including many former yogis, but more younger people as well. “After 30 plus years of teaching, I’m happy to say traditional yoga is alive and well. Like any good product, fads will come and go but thanks to word of mouth and loyal customers, quality always sustains.”
Village Yoga’s Amy Mihal says in terms of student trends, she sees so many types of people from all walks of life; a wide range of ages, a lot more men and younger people coming in. She attributes this to benefits which go beyond the physical. “For many people yoga also addresses a sense of mental well-being, emotional balance and just helping people feel grounded, stable, strong and steady not just in the physical plane but really in all of the parts of our humanness.”
A Living Legacy
Whether you first experienced yoga through a class at Cabrillo, a retreat at Mount Madonna, or a session at your local gym, chances are it left an impression. Because yoga is more than just a workout—it’s an invitation to turn inward. It’s a spiritual practice that’s not about religion; instead, it’s about tuning into your deepest sense of self. It’s how we remember to slow down and breathe in a world that too often urges us to speed up and scroll on.
“The heart of the personal and spiritual growth that is yoga’s true potential lies less in the specific movement sequences and more in how you pay attention as you move and how you apply the resulting insights to your daily life,” Dr. Amanda Blake writes in Your Body is Your Brain. “When you learn to pay attention in this way you can do so just as easily walking down the street as you can in the studio.”
As we continue to navigate uncertainty—climate change, social unrest, personal upheaval—yoga remains a powerful tool for grounding, growth and grace. And in Santa Cruz, it’s not going anywhere.
So unroll your mat. Inhale the salt air. Exhale the noise. And whatever your practice looks like, know you’re part of a movement rooted in wisdom, community and the simple act of coming home to yourself.
Monthly subscription services have become commonplace in our lives, with everything from magazines and streaming services to clothing bundles, specialty flowers and pet care boxes. But a member-based monthly service is now coming to an unexpected place: your doctor’s office.
A relatively new model for family physicians called Direct Primary Care is rapidly emerging. In this scenario, family physicians charge patients a monthly, quarterly or annual fee. According to the American Association of Family Physicians, this fee covers all or most primary care services, including clinical and laboratory services, consultative services, care coordination, and comprehensive care management.
Dr. Jeannine Rodems is the practice lead at Santa Cruz Direct Primary Care. After getting her undergraduate degree at UC Santa Cruz, she went to medical school at UCLA. She had been in private practice in Los Angeles, but felt dissatisfied and unfulfilled with the “onerous demands” of insurance companies that resulted in less time talking to and working directly with patients and more time spent on paperwork and regulatory burdens. In response, she founded Santa Cruz Direct Primary Care in 2016 and never looked back.
“Santa Cruz Direct Primary Care was founded to provide a simpler model of healthcare to deliver what matters most to patients—excellent care, personalized service, access when you need it, and affordability,” she says.
At Santa Cruz Direct, care is provided under a monthly fee, based on age. And here’s the twist: they don’t take insurance.
While that may sound counterintuitive or even a bit scary, Dr. Rodems makes an important distinction: “Health insurance is not health care.”
“And besides,” she adds, “many people have enormous deductibles or are under-insured, which creates potentially high risk for big surprising bills if someone needs an emergency room visit.”
In the Direct Primary Care model, the monthly costs are predictable. But the real advantage for patients can be summed up in one word: access.
In the insurance-based model, patients can find themselves waiting several weeks if not months for a basic appointment. And many times, that visit amounts to a terse 5- to 7-minute conversation with a doctor who is looking less at the patient and more at a tablet or computer because they need to capture insurance codes. They aren’t truly listening to or connecting with the patient to understand and resolve their issue. Even worse, that visit can often end with a referral to a specialist, and those appointments are even harder to come by—which further delays patient care.
Dr. Rodems founded her practice as a response to these challenges, which can be as frustrating for doctors as they are for patients. “We can see more patients at a lower cost without insurance,” she says.
This is due to the fact that the staff, operations and back-office systems needed to process and file insurance claims actually diminishes the care while increasing the cost, something the Direct Care model strives to eliminate.
“We aren’t beholden to the insurance world, so we don’t have all the overhead,” Dr. Rodems says. “This keeps costs down. It also enables us as doctors to get back to our roots…like ‘old-fashioned’ family physicians. We get to know you. There is trust and continuity. We can step back and really listen. We can coordinate care, manage complex conditions and advocate for our patients. The insurance-based, fee-for-service model doesn’t support that.”
At Santa Cruz Direct Primary Care, appointments are set at 30- to 60-minute increments to ensure unhurried visits and adequate time to address patient concerns and medical decision-making. Email, texting, phone and after-hours access to physicians is provided and included with the monthly fee. Collaboration with patients is prioritized and specialty care is possible due to the time the doctors can dedicate to each person’s unique needs.
Direct Care proponents believe that providing more time for detailed discussions with patients results in better long-term health, better treatment decisions, and better overall well-being for patients and their families. The Direct Care model also can provide a broader range of socio-economic groups with access to care at a lower cost than the insurance-based model.
A similar but slightly different spin on the “monthly doctor subscription” model is called “Concierge Care.” The main difference from Direct Primary Care is that Concierge Care tends to cater to higher-income populations and may continue to accept insurance and bill a patient’s insurance company for covered services. This creates higher overhead, which is why Concierge Care can be significantly more expensive than Direct Primary Care.
Dr. Rodems says that she has a variety of patients, but they all have one thing in common. “They have a deep desire to better connect with their doctor,” she says. “They want someone they can trust. Some patients have complex medical management needs. They need access and advocacy. That’s precisely what we provide.”
For more information about Santa Cruz Direct Primary Care, visit santacruzdpc.com.
The proposed 22-mile rail/trail from Watsonville to Natural Bridges will cost an estimated $4.3 billion to build and as much as $41 million a year to operate, according to a new study released by the Regional Transportation Commission—figures more than four times the estimated costs released in 2022 during the campaign in which voters approved the concept with 70 percent of the vote.
The RTC originally bought the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line from Union Pacific in 2012 for $14.2 million.
Public meetings were held last Monday and Thursday to go over a draft report released June 6, in which it listed the costs and estimated ridership of 3,500-6,000 passenger boardings per weekday for the year 2045.
“Boardings” and “ridership” refer to the number of times a person rides the train. A single person can account for multiple boardings in one day.
The project’s new price tag is a divisive topic among community members.
“We’re in this for the long haul and we know we’re years away from the community having to make funding decisions,” said Matt Farrell, the board chair for the interest group Friends of the Rail Trail. “RTC’s work helps us understand how rail transit could work and what it will take to make it a reality.”
Farrell referred to the current progress being made on the project as “something we can all agree is great news.”
Others are more skeptical.
Bud Colligan, who works with Greenway—the local organization in support of preserving the rail and creating a trail over it—said, “The $4.3 billion is absolutely beyond the capacity of Santa Cruz County taxpayers.”
The RTC should “invest in transportation that actually moves people,” he added, suggesting Santa Cruz METRO and ParaCruz as better options.
Speakers at the Monday meeting from the RTC and the engineering companies HDR and Fehr and Peers reviewed the data presented in the Zero Emission Passenger Rail Trail or ZEPRT’s Draft Executive Summary. The summary was published Friday and details the RTC’s preliminary plans for the 22-mile rail system.
HDR is a multinational engineering firm based in Nebraska that has offices in 15 countries. Fehr and Peers is a transportation planning and engineering firm with offices across the nation. They are headquartered in Walnut Creek.
In 2023, the county secured funding to finance a study conducted by HDR, the preliminary results of which are presented in the Executive Draft Summary. It was expected that the full study would take about two years, and the Final Concept Report is planned for submission sometime this fall.
According to the summary, the RTC projects a daily ridership of 3,500-6,000 boardings per weekday for the year 2045, although they plan to open the rail line sometime before that year.
The train cars that the RTC plans to use will have a maximum capacity of 234, with room for 116 seated and 118 standing passengers.
There is no exact figure for estimating weekend ridership, but it is expected to be lower than weekdays, which is in line with the RTC’s goal for the ZEPRT to primarily be used by commuters.
The current plan is for the rail system to operate daily from 6am to 10pm, with train service every 30 minutes. The RTC estimates that it will take 40 to 45 minutes for the train to travel from the southernmost stop in Pajaro to the northernmost one at Natural Bridges Drive in Santa Cruz. HDR Project Manager Mark McLaren said the train could “operate safely” at up to 60 mph.
One of the project’s long-term goals is to connect the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line to other rail systems in Castroville, Monterey, Gilroy and the Bay Area via the Pajaro station. An estimated 10% of riders would transfer in Pajaro, according to Fehr and Peers civil engineer Matt Haynes.
The annual cost of operation, with trains running every 30 minutes, is estimated to be up to $41 million. Alternatively, if the trains were to run every 60 minutes, the estimated annual cost could be up to $21 million.
There will be nine stations at the following locations: Pajaro, Downtown Watsonville, Aptos, New Brighton Road (intended for students of Cabrillo College), Capitola near Park Avenue, 17th Avenue, Seabright Avenue, Beach Street in Santa Cruz, and Natural Bridges Drive.
The Downtown Watsonville and Beach Street stations are expected to have the highest numbers of weekday riders, with 800-1,200 and 800-1,500 daily boardings, respectively. Capitola Station and Beach Street are projected to have the highest weekend ridership.
According to the RTC’s summary, the trains will be fully ADA compliant and will be able to accommodate multiple types of mobility devices and bicycles.
Much of the discussion at the Regional Transportation Commission Meeting on Thursday was about how the county intends to finance the project. According to McLaren, there are two possible federal grant sources: the Federal Transit Administration and the Federal Railroad Administration. McLaren said the FTA rarely gives grants above 50% of the cost, while the FRA has historically covered up to 80%. The county would apply on the condition that the ZEPRT is an inner-city rail system.
RTC officials said the cost to the county could vary from 20 to 50 percent of the total $4.3 billion and the board voted for the RTC staff to prepare a report estimating the taxpayer responsibilities for each amount.
According to RTC Executive Director Sarah Christensen, the largest grant to date that the county of Santa Cruz has received for the rail corridor was a $67 million Active Transportation Program grant in 2022.
However, there are portions of the overall cost that cannot be funded with federal or state grants, and therefore must be paid for by the community—such as the annual operating costs, which could be up to $41 million.
The county is also responsible for funding pre-construction environmental analysis, which could take about three years and would cost between $14 million and $16 million, according to McLaren.
In a response to these conditions of the project, Commissioner Kim De Serpa said, “People are tired of shouldering the burden of communities that can’t make ends meet.”
Commissioner Manu Koenig also questioned the financial feasibility of the project.
Koenig speculated that the county would have to raise its sales tax rate from where it currently sits at 9.75% to as high as 12.5% in order to be able to fund the project and the operating expenses. That increase would make Santa Cruz County’s sales tax the highest in California.
He called the expense a “crushing amount,” and said, “The pressure on our local sales tax capacity…would take all the oxygen out of the room for funding any other kind of service through sales tax pretty much ever again.”
When asked if she thought the county could realistically afford the project, Christenen said, “If we prioritize this project over other needs, and we are serious about delivering this project, our team is going to figure out how to get it done.”
De Serpa said she would not support “any effort to take money away from roads and infrastructure.”
She said that the community has other transportation-related needs, such as a lack of sheltered bus stops and roads in need of repair.
CLEAN FUEL The RTC proposes a hydrogen-powered commuter train and had a sample riding the tracks before the 2022 election. Photo: Brad Kava
The projected expenses and ridership numbers are based on preexisting rail transit systems throughout the United States that the RTC deems comparable to the ZEPRT. Some of these systems include the eBART in the Bay Area, SPRINTER in San Diego, and the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART).
However, the reliability of these comparisons is questionable.
SMART initially projected a daily ridership of 5,200 in a 2014 forecast submitted to the Federal Transit Administration. Sonoma and Marin counties have a combined population of about 736,219.
Santa Cruz County has a population of about 267,551 (according to the Santa Cruz County website), and the ZEPRT has a projected daily ridership of up to 6,000.
SMART did not meet its anticipated daily ridership rate of 5,200. In a Draft Strategic Plan for the years 2025-2030, the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District said “the SMART pathway averaged 63,610 users per month” in 2024, which is about 2,120 per day.
They also said that one of their goals for the next five years is to “increase ridership to 5,000+ per day.”
Commissioner Steve Clark expressed doubt about the accuracy of the RTC’s comparison of the ZEPRT’s ridership model to that of San Diego’s SPRINTER rail.
Clark said that the Sonoma-Marin and San Diego metro areas have a “much larger population area,” and asked, “How do we get to that ambitious conclusion that we’re going to outperform those systems?”
The original projected daily ridership for SPRINTER was 11,000 in 2012. During the fiscal year 2023- 2024, SPRINTER reported an annual total of 1,822,849 boardings, according to the San Diego Union Tribune. That’s an average of about 4,994 boardings per day.
According to McLaren, stops at each station are expected to last about 90 seconds, approximately adding an additional 10 minutes to the total trip time for anyone traveling from Pajaro to Natural Bridges Drive.
Two previously proposed station locations—at Ohlone Parkway in Watsonville and 41st Avenue in Capitola—were removed from the updated proposal. Although these are well-traversed areas, McLaren said they were withdrawn from consideration because of concerns about losing ridership over excessive travel time.
The projected total cost of $4.3 billion is broken down into different categories.
The previously calculated Conceptual Railroad Bridge Replacement and Rehab Cost of $980 million is now included in several of the cost categories listed in the Draft Executive Summary, the largest of which is titled “Contingency.”
The Contingency cost of $1.283 billion is allotted for all of the unknowns regarding construction of the rail.
The $980 million cost was calculated earlier this spring because 28 of the 33 bridges along the rail line need replacing to make the project feasible, and the remaining five need repairs. However, this amount does not account for other expenditures, such as rail construction and the implementation of signal systems.
“At this point [the contingency] is essentially the insurance policy to make sure that as the project moves forward, there aren’t risks that come forward that would significantly impact the cost of the project in a way that’s detrimental,” McLaren said.
The Final Project Concept Report will be submitted sometime this fall.
Although it is a founding principle of our great democracy, many people do not understand what the absence of “The Rule of Law” really means.Because I lived in Guatemala for several years, it means to me that if your car is stolen there is zero possibility that you will get it back. It also means that if you own a business, you must pay “renta” (protection) to the local gang. A big part of the reason that our country is descending into chaos is the lack of respect for our laws. Who is responsible for this? Mostly, our current president, who ignores our laws, and his supporters that, after over 60 lawsuits concurred that Trump lost the 2020 election, continue to believe that the election was rigged. So, if you are one of those folks who believe that the 2020 election was rigged, you are an enemy of our beloved democracy, and I will stand in your way.
Don Eggleston | Aptos
RAIL/TRAIL OVERVIEW
The RTC has a bloated plan that is missing key components and will have to charge a ticket and parking amount that is so high [$21 to $32 per day] in order to cover costs that no one will ride. The rail design is for heavy freight that runs up the cost when there has been no appreciable freight on the present line for years. Where do you park the thousands of cars each day when there are no available spaces today?
This project should be changed to trail only. WHO ARE THE POTENTIAL RIDERS? The present-day traffic on Highway 1 is made up of workers coming from Watsonville to work in the shops and businesses of mid-county and Santa Cruz along with college students. These are the people we are trying to move to our rail system and most of them are low-income or no-income travelers and they cannot afford a break-even rail plan.
The current fare for a Metro all-day pass is $6. The Highway 1 widening project will improve the commute time, especially for buses. So why would a low-income person or student pay over $30 to ride the rail versus ride the bus for $6 which takes the same time to get from Watsonville to Santa Cruz?
Do you really believe that the public will approve a sales tax increase to 12%? I do not and several supervisors do not either.
Bill Beecher | Aptos
DEFEND FREEDOM
Our democracy is dying. It is being bludgeoned by fascists who care only about power. We have one hope, the same hope that has saved us before: Every American, regardless of party, must stand up and defend freedom. Donald Trump and his sycophants are attempting an armed takeover. Trump has amped up his scare tactics to justify turning our streets into battlefields. Then, by his order, he would pit our U.S. Armed Forces, sworn to support and defend the Constitution, against the very people who believe the same. Statements of solidarity, email petitions or letters to the editor are not enough. It is time to vote in the streets. Show up. Future generations are counting on us to defend the Republic. We are you: your relatives, your neighbors, your fellow countrymen, your fellow humans. We can do this. We MUST do this. We will do this.
The first thing you’ll notice in our cover story, a report from Ukraine in the center of a war, is that although the headline talks about the bravery and victimization of teen girls by Russian troops, there are no photos of the girls.
Santa Cruz author Steve Kettmann gave me a quick lesson on why not: we have to protect their identities.
But they did open up with Kettmann, a father of two children who spent a week doing relief efforts and researching a book on the war in a place few would dare to tread. Kettmann runs the Wellstone Center, a writing institute in Soquel, and has reported on politics and sports for national publications.
There are two photos that really tell the story: Kettmann and partners in front of a beautiful building, then another shot the next day, after it was bombed to rubble. I give Kettmann high praise not only for going there but also for filing the story on deadline over Father’s Day weekend. That’s what great journalists do.
A side note in keeping with the theme of an alternative entertainment weekly is that one of the people he met over there was Ken Casey, singer and bassist for Boston punk band the Dropkick Murphys, who was bringing aid, including an electric wheelchair for a victim of Russian bombing.
Kettmann was frightened by the cruelty of Russians so unabashedly attacking civilian targets and kidnapping young residents, and he was inspired by the courage of the Ukrainians.
“Ukraine will keep fighting, no matter what,” he writes. “Even if their cities are overrun and they have to take to the hills or the sewers or a remote location where they pilot drones that wreak havoc. As one Ukrainian told me, ‘One thing that Ukrainians do best is we can adapt to pretty much anything and make the best scenario out of the worst possible situation.’”
Thanks for reading.
Brad Kava | Editor
PHOTO CONTEST
LOOKING FOR HOME There are so many pets at the SPCA shelter looking for a new home. Go check them out. Photograph by Rebecca Hall, rebeccahallphoto.com
GOOD IDEA
Community radio station KSQD, known as K-Squid, holds its fourth Broadcast and Podcast Workshop, planned for Salinas at the El Gabilan Library, July 19, 1:30-3:30pm. The series is scheduled to continue Aug. 20 in Marina and Sept. 18 in Monterey.
It will cover interviewing techniques and best practices, how to pick and use the right equipment and editing for radio and podcasts. All experience levels are welcome. To register contact Omar Guzman at Om**@**qd.org. K-SQUID broadcasts at 90.7 Santa Cruz, 89.7 Monterey, and 89.5 Salinas. Visit KSQD.org.
GOOD EATS
Remember Santa Cruz Burger Week? It’s now Bay Area Burger Week, with restaurants participating from the North Bay down to Silicon Valley. Visit BayAreaBurgerWeek.com or download the app for Android or Apple phones. The following local restaurants are participating: Belly Goat Craft Burgers, Churchill and Beers, Emerald Mallard, Hook & Line, Hula’s Tiki Bar and Grill, Laili Restaurant, Laughing Monk Brewing, Makai Island Kitchen & Groggery, Pana Food, Parish Publick House, Pono Hawaiian Kitchen and Tap, Riva Fish House, Rosie McCann’s, Salty Otter Sports Grill, Seabright Social and Sevy’s Bar + Kitchen.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“More parents would face the impossible choice between paying rent and buying groceries, and homelessness will increase.”
Aries writer Joseph Campbell was a world-renowned mythologist. His theories about the classic hero archetype have inspired many writers and filmmakers, including Star Wars creator George Lucas. As a young man, Campbell crafted the blueprint for his influential work during a five-year period when he lived in a rustic shack and read books for nine hours a day. He was supremely dedicated and focused. I recommend that you consider a similar foundation-building project, Aries. The coming months will be an excellent time for you to establish the groundwork for whatever it is you want to do for the rest of your long life.
TAURUS April 20-May 20
In Japan, komorebi refers to the dappled sunlight that streams through tree leaves. It names a subtle, ephemeral beauty that busy people might be oblivious to. Not you, I hope, Taurus! In the coming weeks, I invite you to draw on komorebi as an inspirational metaphor. Tune in to the soft illumination glimmering in the background. Be alert for flickers and flashes that reveal useful clues. Trust in the indirect path, the sideways glance, the half-remembered dream and the overheard conversation. Anything blatant and loud is probably not relevant to your interests. PS: Be keen to notice what’s not being said.
GEMINI May 21-June 20
In Finnish folklore, the Sampo is a magic artifact that generates unending wealth and good fortune. Here’s the catch: It can’t be hoarded. Its power only works when shared, passed around or made communal. I believe you are close to acquiring a less potent but still wonderful equivalent of a Sampo, Gemini. It may be an idea, a project or a way of living that radiates generosity and sustainable joy. But remember that it doesn’t thrive in isolation. It’s not a treasure to be stored up and saved for later. Share the wealth.
CANCER June 21-July 22
Tides don’t ask for permission. They ebb and flow in accordance with an ancient gravitational intelligence that obeys its own elegant laws. Entire ecosystems rely on their steady cyclical rhythms. You, too, harbor tidal forces, Cancerian. They are partially synced up with the earth’s rivers, lakes and seas, and are partially under the sway of your deep emotional power. It’s always crucial for you to be intimately aware of your tides’ flows and patterns, but even more than usual right now. I hope you will trust their timing and harness their tremendous energy.
LEO July 23-Aug. 22
Some jewelers practice an ancient Korean art called keum-boo, in which they fuse pure gold to silver by heat and pressure. The result is gold that seems to bloom from within silver’s body, not just be juxtaposed on top of it. Let’s make this your metaphor for the coming weeks, Leo. I believe you will have the skill to blend two beautiful and valuable things into an asset that has the beauty and value of both—plus an extra added synergy of valuable beauty. The only problem that could possibly derail your unprecedented accomplishment might be your worry that you don’t have the power to do that. Expunge that worry, please.
VIRGO Aug. 23-Sept. 22
Some Indigenous cultures keep track of time not by clocks but by natural events: “the moon when the salmon return,” “the season when shadows shorten,” “the return of the rain birds.” I encourage you to try that approach, Virgo. Your customary rigor will benefit from blending with an influx of more intuitive choices. You will be wise to explore the joys of organic timing. So just for now, I invite you to tune out the relentless tick-tock. Listen instead for the hush before a threshold cracks open. Meditate on the ancient Greek concept of kairos: the prime moment to act or a potential turning point that’s ripe for activation.
LIBRA Sept. 23-Oct. 22
Botanists speak of “serotiny,” a plant’s ability to delay seed release until the environment is just right. Some pinecones, for instance, only open after a fire. What part of you has been patiently waiting, Libra? What latent brilliance has not been ready to emerge until now? The coming weeks will offer catalytic conditions—perhaps heat, perhaps disruption, perhaps joy—that will be exactly what’s needed to unleash the fertile potency. Have faith that your seeds will draw on their own wild intelligence.
SCORPIO Oct. 23-Nov. 21
One of your superpowers is your skill at detecting what’s unfolding beneath the surfaces. It’s almost like you have X-ray vision. Your ability to detect hidden agendas, buried secrets and underground growth is profound. But in the coming weeks, I urge you to redirect your attention. You will generate good fortune for yourself if you turn your gaze to what lies at the horizon and just beyond. Can you sense the possibilities percolating at the edges of your known world? Can you sync up your intuitions with the future’s promises? Educated guesses will be indistinguishable from true prophecies.
SAGITTARIUS Nov. 22-Dec. 21
Sagittarius-born Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944) got a degree in law and economics and began a career teaching those subjects at the university level. But at age 30, he had a conversion experience. It was triggered when he saw a thrilling exhibit of French Impressionist painters and heard an enthralling opera by Richard Wagner. Soon he flung himself into a study of art, embarking on an influential career that spanned decades. I am predicting that you will encounter inspirations of that caliber, Sagittarius. They may not motivate you as drastically as Kandinsky’s provocations, but they could revitalize your life forever.
CAPRICORN Dec. 22-Jan. 19
The ancient Egyptians revered the River Nile’s annual flooding, which brought both disruption and renewal. It washed away old plant matter and debris and deposited fertile silt that nourished new growth. In the coming weeks, Capricorn, I suspect you will experience a metaphorical flood: a surge of new ideas, opportunities and feelings that temporarily unsettle your routines. Rather than focusing on the inconvenience, I suggest you celebrate the richness this influx will bring. The flow will ultimately uplift you, even if it seems messy at first.
AQUARIUS Jan. 20-Feb. 18
Medieval stonemasons worked not just in service to the immediate structures they made. They imagined eternity, laying foundation blocks in cathedrals they knew they would never live to see completed. I think you are being invited to do similar work: soulful construction whose fruits may not ripen for a while. A provocative conversation you have soon may echo for years. A good habit you instill could become a key inheritance for your older self. So think long, wide and slow, dear Aquarius. Not everything must produce visible worth this season. Your prime offerings may be seeds for the future. Attend to them with reverence.
PISCES Feb. 19-March 20
In the frigid parts of planet Earth, some glaciers sing. As they shift and crack and melt, they emit tones: groans, pulses, crackles and whooshes. I believe your soul will have a similar inclination in the coming weeks, Pisces: to express mysterious music as it shifts and thaws. Some old logjam or stuck place is breaking open within you, and that’s a very good thing. Don’t ignore or neglect this momentous offering. And don’t try to translate it into logical words too quickly. What story does your trembling tell? Let the deep, restless movements of your psyche resound.
A tribute album dedicated to the musical pioneer of zydeco music, Clifton Chenier, arrives on a platter (there are other options, besides vinyl), on June 25. Twelve deep grooves by some of the juiciest names in entertainment, like the Rolling Stones, Lucinda Williams and Taj Mahal.
The record was produced by Steve Berlin (Los Lobos), Joel Savoy (Cajun legend) and John Leopold, a Santa Cruz activist and former county supervisor.
“If you have ever heard of zydeco music, it’s because of Clifton Chenier,” Leopold says, looking very fit and drinking coffee outside the Verve on 41st. Like a man on a mission, Leopold begins an in-depth Ted Talk on the roots of zydeco and the influence of Chenier. Leopold’s passion for this under-represented form of music is evident in every word he says.
For brevity’s sake, here’s a condensed history.
Zydeco is often a blistering-fast genre of music that moves your feet, and soul, whether you consent or not. Ground zero seems to be southwest Louisiana, where people spoke Creole, pidgin, English, French and other languages on the reg.
The music that bubbled up out of this multi-ethnic rabbit stew used an accordion and other forms of homemade percussion instruments, like washboards, to create a new world of sound. Like much regional music, at the time, it stayed regional—until a star broke out and shared it with the world. Clifton Chenier.
Having grown up with an accordion-playing father, Chenier was born to tour. In 1955, he had his first national hit (“Hey Little Girl,” a remake of New Orleans legend Professor Longhair’s song), and all the states, across the land, got their first taste of spicy gumbo.
Chenier’s success got him sudden attention and he began to tour with people like Ray Charles (his hero), Etta James and Chuck Berry. But it wasn’t until 1966—when esteemed San Francisco Chronicle critic Ralph J. Gleason wrote a magical, glowing review of Chenier’s performance at the Berkeley Blues Festival—that Chenier was able to step out from behind the legends and find his rightful place onstage.
NEW GENERATION Sherelle Chenier Mouton, zydeco king Clifton Chenier’s granddaughter, plays on the tribute album. Photo: Jo Vidrine
There’s an undeniable power to zydeco. Back when Chenier was playing in the 1950s, he was still in his 20s and his shows would run all night long. “Clifton made zydeco his own,” Leopold begins. “Not only was he a great musician, but he would play shows to unite audiences. Clifton would book shows down in southwest Louisiana, where black and white audiences didn’t mix. But when he played, he would bring everyone together.”
“I heard an interview that Clifton gave once. He said he would get harassed if he walked offstage and went to the bathroom. It was easier just to stay on stage, and all his musicians had to stay onstage as well. And they would play for four hours. He had an amazing band,” Leopold recounts.
The three producers, through decades of connections, brought together a legion of artists to celebrate and record the music of Clifton Chenier. “We did six days of recording in Lafayette, Louisiana,” Leopold says, with a revolving door of talent like Jimmie Vaughan (Fabulous Thunderbirds), Molly Tuttle, John Hiatt and David Hidalgo. “We had close to 40 positions on this album. The house band was all stars,” Leopold beams—and one of its members, Sherelle Chenier Mouton, is Chenier’s granddaughter.
Of course, having the Rolling Stones on your album is sure to up your real estate. “It just raises the amplitude of people knowing about the album. It’s good to bring in people so they can connect with zydeco. And you get to hear Mick sing in French,” Leopold adds.
A true champion of Chenier on vinyl and stage was Chris Strachwitz, who founded Arhoolie Records in Berkeley in the mid 1960s. Carrying the torch of promoting underrepresented voices into the 21st century is album co-producer Joel Savoy, who also owns Valcour Records. Savoy comes from a family that has loved Cajun music for generations, and his father was close to Strachwitz. He “was my dad’s best friend, so we grew up hearing Chris talk about the label and about Clifton and all the artists,” Savoy says from his home in Louisiana.
Savoy is also a fiddle player who tours the world, much like Chenier, and is more than happy to share the sounds of his home. “I would say that whenever I travel, I’m an ambassador to my people and my culture. I do represent Louisiana every time I go somewhere, whether I want to or not, because you know me and all of my other traveling musician friends from here, anytime we go anywhere, we are spreading the gospel about the great state of Louisiana. Louisiana is so mysterious to many. We love our Acadiana, the community here, and we’re very proud to go all over the world and share our music. People really have started to connect to not only traditional vernacular music from the South Louisiana corner, but from all over,” Savoy says.
You couldn’t possibly honor the legacy of the King of Zydeco without the music benefitting and uniting others. Valcour Records is donating all profits from the sale of the album to the Clifton Chenier Memorial Scholarship Fund.
Valcour Records partnered with the Center for Louisiana Studies at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The fund will offer annual financial assistance to students studying traditional music, specifically zydeco accordion, at the university. It’s a sure thing Chenier would approve of the music moving through the generations.
A Tribute to the King of Zydeco, Clifton Chenier will be available for shipping and download starting June 25. Pre-orders are available now at valcourrecords.com.
An old favorite Broadway play has gotten a facelift. Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean: A New Musical is being produced by TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, with its world premiere on June 18. This is a reimagined, pump-up-the-volume version that is spearheaded by the original creators—and Shakina.
Not everyone will recognize the name yet, but Shakina has been wowing audiences with her acting on Hulu’s Difficult People, and NBC’s Connecting, her work behind the camera on Quantum Leap, and her one-person show, Manifest Pussy.
Before all that, Shakina was a student at UCSC, an undergraduate in community studies, soon to minor in theater arts and eventually earn a graduate certificate in theater as well.
But academia was never her sole/soul focus. “Even while working on my degrees, I was directing at the Actors’ Theatre, in Santa Cruz,” Shakina says, speaking from rehearsals for 5 & Dime. “Basically, I always believed that you don’t need permission to make theater, so I just found ways to make it.”
With a passion for the avant-garde, like ritual movement theater, Shakina was able to manifest her obsessions. But she secretly longed for her roots in musical theater. And now, with the world premiere of Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean: A New Musical, everything is coming together for this powerhouse performer and artist.
“I wrote the lyrics with my mentor and lyricist, the incomparable William Finn, who just passed in April. He would always say, ‘A song isn’t a song until someone else is singing it.’ I saw him work with so many songwriting students, but it wasn’t until the words got into the mouth of an actor, who could interpret them, that the song really came to its own life. And getting to be not only a singer of some of those songs but to also work on both sides of the creative team has been incredible,” Shakina says.
Ed Graczyk’s play has already had numerous renditions across the country since its launch in 1976—even resulting in a Robert Altman film with Karen Black, Cher and Kathy Bates. The story follows a group of James Dean fans who gather inside a piece of history, the local 5 & Dime store, in a small Texas town. They are an all-female fan club for actor James Dean, whose reunions are hectic and funny.
“The community of creation is so massive in TV and film. Having worked on camera, and in producing and writing on TV, I’ve seen the teamwork that really goes into making anything happen—it’s just so brilliant and mind-blowing. On Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean: A New Musical, we have between 100 and 250 people on our contact sheet. There are creative production crews in our marketing office, a team who focuses on catering, and it just takes such a human effort of passion to put on a show.”
DROPPING A ‘DIME’ For Shakina, moving between television and the stage is an organic experience. PHOTO: Tracy Martin
Shakina has been a director, an actor, a book writer and lyricist, and in this new project, all of her hard-earned skills come into focus. Finding new back stories, subtext and nuance, she was able to give voice to the poetic subconscious of the characters that were already so artfully drawn in the original play.
“We moved around gender in the piece with me playing the trans woman [Joanne, played by Karen Black in the Altman film],” says Shakina, who herself is trans. “And we have the young version of the trans woman, played by a trans masculine actor. So no matter when you meet the character of Joanne, whether you’re meeting Joanne or Joe, it’s being played by an actor of trans experience—which I think is pretty radical.”
While the setting of the play is in Texas, no previous productions leaned into the Latina experience. Shakina had no such restrictions. “The show takes place in South Texas, along the borderlands. When they filmed the movie Giant there in the 1950s, so many people from across the border were instrumental in its success. And that narrative was left out of the original play. We found room to bring it in, which only adds to the complexity of the story, in a really beautiful, harmonic way. I’m super excited for people to see it, and feel it, and receive it.”
For Shakina, moving between television and the stage is an organic experience that is about the product, but also about the beauty of working together with a large group of people. “There’s so many things I love about both ways of working and I feel really blessed that I get to continue to work in both arenas. This is so essential to my identity as an artist,” she says.
Runs June 18–July 13 at Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St., Mountain View. Tickets are available at theatreworks.org.
Though named after the King of the Cowboys, guitarist Roy Rogers isn’t a country and western yodeler. The Bay Area resident and Redding native is an acclaimed Delta blues musician and producer. His extensive credits include work with a diverse array of celebrated figures including John Lee Hooker, Norton Buffalo, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott and Ray Manzarek. But Rogers’ body of work under his own name—showcased on dozens of albums—has earned him fame in and beyond the world of blues. Rogers comes to Moe’s Alley on June 22.
Rogers’ musical journey has taken him far and wide. In the early, pre-Beatles 1960s, he was already playing in a band. The group’s repertoire included “Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, standard fare of the time,” Rogers recalled. But when his older brother brought home a vinyl copy of Robert Johnson’s King of the Delta Blues Singers, his life changed. “That record blew my mind,” he said. “‘What is this? How does he do that?’”
Hearing Johnson’s powerful voice and unusual guitar tunings struck a chord with the then-teenage musician. “Nobody could approach him rhythmically,” Rogers said. “He borrowed from other guys—like Son House—but Robert put it all together in a way that was just stunning. Still is; always will be.”
Thus inspired, Rogers dove deeper into the world of blues. Reading the credits on the back of early releases from British groups like the Animals and the Rolling Stones, he was fascinated by their blues-oriented songs. He recalls wondering, “‘Who’s McKinley Morganfield? Who’s Chester Burnett?’ I was a kid, so I didn’t know who those guys were!”
But he made a point of finding out. The ’60s brought the peak of the Fillmore West and Avalon Ballroom, so he got to see legendary bluesmen like Jimmy Reed and John Lee Hooker live onstage. Rogers was especially moved by the blues’ Delta variant. “The passion and delivery of that type of blues … it all emanates from there for me,” he said. By the time British blues boom artists like John Mayall’s Blues Breakers and Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac came to the attention of American ears, Rogers was already a seasoned blues guitarist.
Rogers worked regularly, teaming up with fellow Bay Area musician David Burgin. “It was a harmonica and slide-guitar duet in the Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee mold,” he said. The pair gigged extensively, releasing A Foot in the Door in 1978. By 1980, Rogers had earned a spot in John Lee Hooker’s band. He went on to play on and produce four of Hooker’s albums, including the 1989 Grammy-winning release, The Healer. He learned a lot working with the legendary figure. “You’re not trying to reach everybody” with your music, Hooker told him. “You’re trying to make a statement.”
Like many guitarists, Rogers plays a variety of models, but one instrument closely associated with him is a double-neck model based on a Gibson 125. For his playing, one neck might be tuned in standard fashion, with the other set to an open tuning, best for the distinctive slide playing that characterizes much of Rogers’ work. “The whole Delta blues [style] is based on being able to approach the music as a soloist,” he said.
While Rogers is steeped in the blues, he uses the form as a foundation, not the be-all and end-all. “I don’t consider myself a straight-ahead blues guy,” he said. “Because I like to stretch the envelope.” That musical open-mindedness and versatility has led to work—live dates, studio sessions, production—with an extensive assortment of musicians outside the blues idiom.
Rogers’ credits in the 1990s and beyond include work with Miles Davis, Taj Mahal, Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt, fellow Bay Area musical heroes Steve Miller and Carlos Santana, and many more. He also recorded and released a trio of albums with former Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek.
Even amid his numerous collaborative projects in various genres, the giants of blues remain closest to Rogers’ heart. “It all goes back to the Delta blues,” he said. “And if I can come within even a minuscule approach of what they achieved, I’m a happy guy.”
Roy Rogers & the Delta Rhythm Kings play at 4pm on Sunday, June 22 at Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. Tickets: $40.61 via ticketweb.com. 510.644.2020.
TriYoga was one of the first yoga centers to appear in Santa Cruz, described as systematic practice designed to awaken the body’s natural rhythms and inner wisdom.
A relatively new model for family physicians called Direct Primary Care is rapidly emerging. Family physicians charge patients a monthly, quarterly or annual fee.
There are two photos that really tell the story: Kettmann and partners in front of a beautiful building, then another shot the next day, after it was bombed to rubble.
An old favorite Broadway play has gotten a facelift. Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean: A New Musical is being produced by TheatreWorks Silicon Valley.
Bay Area resident and Redding native Roy Rogers is an acclaimed Delta blues musician and producer. His credits include work with a diverse array of celebrated figures.
