World Tour

Aziz Sahmaoui, photo by Manuel Lagos

If you missed out on this summer's sold-out Solstice, Cleveland Museum of Art's premier celebration of global music, you're in luck. Every Wednesday night in July you can soak up world beats with the new CMA concert and film series, Ohio City Stages. And there's no need to worry about tickets here, the event is free.

"It's an upscale, museum-style block party celebrating summer and the city," says Tom Welsh, director of Ohio City Stages.

The series introduces people to global musicians they wouldn't normally have access to, such as Aziz Sahmaoui & University of Gnawa from Morocco. On July 24, the band will share their interpretation of Gnawa trance music, a fusion of Arabic north and sub-Saharan south sounds, with attendees. Sahmaoui, who has only performed once before in the United States, is looking forward to playing for Clevelanders.

"We love cultural diversity," Sahmaoui says through a translator. "When people identify themselves to that powerful energy, then we all become one."

Tonight, Fanfare Ciocarlia, a Balkan brass band that plays gypsy music, will play a set at 7:30 p.m. on a stage set up on the block surrounding Transformer Station on West 29th Street. Don't worry about the gloomy weather canceling the concert — the show goes on rain or shine.

Fanfare Ciocarlia, photo by Arne Reinhardt

After the concert, continue your night of cultural enrichment with a film screening by Bellwether, a project of the museum's Contemporary Arts Society, on the lawn of the Transformer Station.

Up tonight is artist Kevin Beasley, who will show a selection of his favorite films that range form old Hollywood to foreign movies, artist films and movie trailers.

"It's films that I think are really great," he says. "I thought this was a good opportunity to show films people don’t really know about. They are kind of obscure, but they are things I like to think about."

Sun Salutations

It may not be as warm as we'd like it this month, but the atypical weather isn't stopping yogis from celebrating the beauty of the sun. This Friday, Free Akron Yoga will be hosting its 4th Annual Summer Solstice Festival at Howe Meadow where participants will perform 108 sun salutations with the rise of the sun.

"It's an opportunity for a very high-energy community of people to come together and celebrate the longest day of the year," says Nancy Holland Myers, co-founder of Free Akron Yoga and co-director of the festival. "The whole idea behind yoga asana is to use breath and use movement to arrive at a quiet meditative state. There's a certain point where it becomes so fluid we literally stop thinking about the to-do list, our iPhones and what happened last Thursday.”

Photo by Litsa Varonis

The gates will open at 5:15 a.m. for visitors to park and register for free with the celebration beginning at 6 a.m. As participants arrive, they will tread down a path lit by luminaria into the field where the festival takes place.

"We hope to circle the entire practice area with luminaria and the effect will be this sweet, kind of cosmic glow," says Myers. "It's going to be magical."

Brian Feltner and The Help will play an acoustic set, creating a peaceful, meditative environment during the practice. Afterward, participants can sample breakfast-related food and drink from Miss Julie's Kitchen and KC Coffee Co.

Nancy Holland Myers
Photo by Lynn Keller Photography

Before the business of summer ensues, Myers encourages people to take a break and head to the picturesque Howe Meadow to welcome the season in peace.

“By doing 108 sun salutes in a beautiful setting like the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, we have that sort of double-dip opportunity to be fully present in our bodies in one of the most beautiful places around."

For more information, visit facebook.com/FreeAkronYoga.