Dance Ensemble

For performance group Footworks, bright city lights and enchanting foreign lands can't beat the reliable charm of home. The renowned percussive dance ensemble will be kicking off its 25th season with its seventh annual hometown performance at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts in Annapolis, where the group has been based since starting as the Fiddle Puppet Dancers in 1979. Success has followed the group on its 25-year journey of travels, both national and international, a switch from grassroots to a nonprofit organization in 1994, followed by a name change to Footworks the same year.

NOW OR NEVER Discover Cambodia's history, myth and legends at a performance by the music and dance ensemble of the Cambodian Buddhist Society tomorrow at Towson University. The performance will be led by master musician Chum Ngek and will include performances by Mater dancer Sam-Oeum Tes and Cambodian artists who survived the Khmer Rouge regime. The performance is tomorrow at 8 p.m. at Towson University's Stephens Hall Theatre, at 8000 York Road. Admission is $5-$15. Call 410-704-2787 -- Ann McArthur COMING UP Spend the evening with documentary filmmaker Ken Burns Monday at the Kennedy Center as a part of the 18th annual Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy.

Art Maryland Art Place offers several exhibits that, taken together, showcase a group of artists -- sculptors Adam Bradley, Patrick Burke and Erik Sandberg; Kay Hwang and Lila Snow -- at various stages in their careers. page 13. Scene Sonar's weekly electro-industrial dance event known as Kommencement continues to draw a larger crowd after outgrowing its original home at the Depot Club. page 28. Music Wynton Marsalis' new album, The Magic Hour, which comes out Tuesday, reflects the many influences in the musician's life.

Back in the 18th century, Christmas was a time for family and friends, feasting and entertainment. The merriment went on for days, 12 to be exact. The season then concluded with a Twelfth Night Celebration -- more feasting, entertainment and the ritual of the burning of the greens.At the Francis Land House in Virginia Beach, Va., on Saturday you can witness a Twelfth Night Celebration from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Visitors will move back in time to 1783 as interpreters, dressed as Francis Land and members of his household, welcome guests.

If you've never thought much of the dance scene in the Baltimore area, this coming season is going to make you change your thinking. Along with classic traditional ballet and modern standards, this year brings a host of area premieres that feature extraordinarily physical dancing in all styles and genres from around the globe. International-caliber companies from the United States, Russia, Mexico and China will grace area stages, presenting new works and showcasing virtuoso dancers. Kicking off the season this weekend, the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center presents Doug Varone and Dancers with an area premiere and the "indoor" premiere of a new work.

Benjamin Karim, a longtime associate of Malcolm X during the years of his greatest popularity and the author of a new biography and memoir of the outspoken Nation of Islam leader, will speak at Western Maryland College on Feb. 16 as part of the college's observance of African-American History Month.Mr. Karim, who spent eight years working with Malcolm X in the Black Muslim movement, will discuss his experiences in a lecture at 7:30 p.m. in McDaniel Lounge. The event, like all others scheduled for the monthlong celebration, is free and open to the public.

Anne Arundel was one terrific place to be a child last weekend.Saturday afternoon, the Chesapeake Children's Museum threw a whale of a party with its first "Round the World Festival," a benefit held at Anne Arundel Community College in Arnold.Arts, crafts, and hands-on activities with an international theme were available for children, who spent a delightful afternoon fashioning Russo-American friendship medals, examining currency from around the world, learning about the tropical rain forests of South America and getting the lowdown on how to celebrate St. Lucia's Day in Sweden.

With the lineup of concerts in its 2003-2004 Vice Admiral Eliot Bryant and Miriam Bryant Distinguished Artists Series, the Naval Academy adds to its legacy as a source of cultural enrichment for the region. Ethnic folk dancing from Russia, a marvelous pianist appearing with a distinguished European orchestra, one of the great choral symphonies of the 20th century, perhaps the most glamorous ballet of all and a gut-wrenching night of treachery at the opera are all in store for this year's subscribers.

"Footworks," an internationally recognized dance ensemble that played to packed houses in the State House on New Year's Eve, brings its step-dancing act to Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts tomorrow as part of a fund-raiser for the Annapolis Chorale.The group, which has appeared with the Riverdance troupe in England and Scotland, is to be joined by the Kevin Broesler School Irish Step Dancers and "Dark Horse," a step-dancing trio, to celebrate St. Patrick's Day a little early."Footworks," which presents an array of traditional and contemporary percussive dances based on Appalachian clogging, was selected by the Smithsonian Institution to represent American culture in Japan.

Name: Ginny Parrish, 17, of PasadenaSchool: Chesapeake High SchoolAccomplishments: Consistently on the honor roll, Ginny has taken college-level courses in mathematics, biology and English.She is active in her school's theater program and has worked in at least one production a year, either onstage or backstage. Other performing venues have included occasional modeling work, shows at the Spotlighter's Theater in Baltimore and work as an extra on an independent film parody of "Sleeping Beauty," which was shown at the Cannes Film Festival but has not been released in the United States.