Culture

GLENDALE — About 25 teachers attended a seminar on Korean culture Wednesday afternoon that participants said would help them interact with students of all immigrant backgrounds. The seminar, co-sponsored by the Glendale Unified School District and the Korea Academy for Educators, was held at the district’s Professional Development Center and gave a three-hour historical and cultural snapshot about Koreans to teachers, organizers said. The hope, Korea Academy President Mary Connor said, was that the session would be a starting point for exploring the similarities between students of different backgrounds and specifically initiating education about Koreans, a group that makes up about 15% of the district’s population, school board member Nayiri Nahabedian said.

On any given day, he’ll walk into class with deli meat and fresh bread from Mario’s Deli, lay it out on his desk and welcome students to dig in and taste Italian culture through its cuisine. Flavio Frontini, a 49-year-old native of Bologna, Italy, has been an Italian-language professor at Glendale Community College for eight years, teaching students in Glendale and abroad. He uses film, music and food as education tools and teaches the culturally diverse student body about their similarities and differences.

Unity Fest 2008’s downtown debut drew thousands of people Sunday to the 300 block of Brand Boulevard with cultural and ethnic fare as part of Glendale’s seventh annual celebration of its diverse population. Midway through the festival, which shut down Brand Boulevard between California Avenue and Lexington Drive for most of the day, city officials said more people had come through than the whole of last year’s event at Verdugo Park. It was the first time the cultural festival was held under the city’s skyline as city officials start to place more emphasis on downtown as an arts and event-oriented destination.

A second-generation tango instructor is organizing a three-day intensive study on the subject in hopes of igniting passion in would-be dancers. Orlando Paiva Jr. is carrying on the tradition of his father, world-renowned instructor Orlando Paiva Sr., by creating excitement in the dance of their native Argentina. Tango Masquerade, packed with workshops, social dances, dance instructor exhibitions and a dinner show featuring the Otero Dance Company, will be from Oct. 31 to Nov. 2 at the Marriott Burbank Airport Hotel & Convention Center.

GLENDALE — The city’s ever-changing cultural and ethnic landscape will converge Sunday when the city throws its seventh annual Unity Fest on one city block downtown. It will be the first time the cultural festival takes place under Glendale’s Brand Boulevard skyline and not the tree canopy of Verdugo Park as city officials continue to put more focus on downtown as more than just a business or shopping district. “I am absolutely committed to having more community-related events downtown,” said Mayor John Drayman, who was chairman of the event’s planning committee this year.

Seniors were treated to a sample of Polynesian culture during a luau Thursday at the city’s Adult Recreation Center. About 150 seniors came out for a special meal of orange chicken, tropical fruit salad and pineapple upside-down cake topped with a cherry, prepared by Morrison Catering, which provides the city’s daily lunch meals at the center. The center usually feeds 70 people daily, but attendance doubled because of the party, which included dancing by Polynesian group Keiki O Ka Aina, said Carolyn Fuentes, community services manager for the Adult Recreation Center.

A Burbank couple that grew up learning to love the traditions of their Lithuanian heritage are now passing on the culture to their children in hopes they will carry on the legacy. Undine and Kari Petrulis’ parents were born and raised in Lithuania. They came to America like many Lithuanian families did, during World War II to escape Communism, and settled in large cities. Undine Petrulis’ parents moved to California when she was 3 and discovered St. Casimir Lithuanian Church Parish near Los Feliz Boulevard in Los Angeles, the only Lithuanian church west of the Mississippi.

Thirty-one young women from countries as diverse as Israel and Indonesia took the stage Saturday night at the Alex Theatre for the 20th annual Miss Asia USA Cultural Pageant, an event that organizers say aims to bring together the nations of Asia. ?It?s unity among the 58 different countries in the Asian continent,? said Virgelia Villegas, president of Virgelia Productions, which produces the event. Jessica Mogi, a 17-year-old from Rancho Cucamonga who was representing Indonesia in the contest, said the pageant gives contestants a chance to develop their poise and public speaking skills, as well as interact with people from a variety of cultural backgrounds.

Glendale resident Sevak Ohanian recreates the problems of growing up in an Armenian American family in his new film “My Big Fat Armenian Family” but adds a twist of humor. The film, which will premiere July 12 and 18 at Glendale High School, tells the story of a family of four — a father, mother, son and daughter. The son can’t seem to do anything right in his father’s eyes, and there is a constant air of friction between them. The parents, Robert and Rima, are played by one man, Ajmin Baghramian, Ohanian said.