The Brief

In Bollywood films, people break into song and dance just about anywhere, anytime. Tonight, you can experience that vitality and spontaneity at Metro Art's Bollywood Express event, an Indian music and dance show taking place at Union Station.

Get moving at the Metro

Members of Blue13 pose in traditional Indian clothing for a photo shoot.

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Blue13 Dance Group

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Blue13 Dance Group

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“We sometimes like to be playful about bringing in events where you’re actually moving your body,” said Heidi Zeller, senior manager of cultural programming for Metro. “And so we thought Bollywood would be really fun for that.”

To bring that idea to life, Metro went to one of the premiere Indian dance troupes in Los Angeles — the Blue13 Dance Company.

For many Angelenos, it’s a chance to experience something new, but for members of the Blue13, Indian dance is their whole life.

“It was kind of non-existent when I started about a little over 20 years ago,” said Achinta S. McDaniel, founding artistic director of Blue13.

Many of the dancers are first generation, born to South Asian parents. They remix traditional practices and turn them into new dances that reflect their lives in Los Angeles today.

A multitude of artists

Metro Art’s Bollywood Express will give people a chance to learn modern Bollywood dances in the Cathedral-like space of Union Station. But the event is much more than a dance class.

Renowned Indian DJ, Sandeep Kumar, and Dhol drummer group, Dholnation, will accompany Blue13 through their performance.

“Dhol, it’s a two-sided Punjabi drum that you hit with mallets and you wear a strap on your shoulder so the drummers can walk and dance,” McDaniel said.

A grand entrance

The event will open with a procession through the station with dancers and drummers emerging from the B/D lines. They’ll then arrive at the stage in the ticket concourse.

“ There are so many Bollywood films that take place on trains and famous scenes on trains,” McDaniel said. ”So I was so excited to bring the company there and to be able to mesh that with the sort of epic majesty and grandeur and huge production value that we see in Bollywood. It's a dream come true.”

Also on the program

A convergence of Indian performance art isn’t all that will be at the event. Bollywood Express Metro wants attendees to get the full cultural experience.

Henna artist Neha Assar will be showing off her dye-art skills, and food will be provided by Bollywood Bites.

Popular dishes include go-to street food like chaat and samosas.

Every element of the night contributes to the special showcase of Indian culture and celebrates SoCal's Indian diaspora.

“It's really about memory making and having things that we know, that we created together with the audience, these incredible moments that will live on,” McDaniel said.

Members of the Blue13 Dance Group frozen in various dance poses.

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PETER ZUEHLKE

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Blue13 Dance Group

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Details 

Bollywood Express

Location: Los Angeles Union Station
800 North Alameda St., Los Angeles

Date & Time: Saturday, Aug. 30, 7-10 p.m.

If you’ve noticed more wildlife visiting your yard in recent years — maybe digging up your vegetable garden or even drinking from your pool — you’re not alone.

A recent study from UCLA found that larger predators like mountain lions and bears are more likely to interact with humans and travel closer to population centers in drier years. To determine this, the researchers analyzed state data collected on reported property damage, nuisances, conflicts and sightings.

“It kind of runs the full gamut of how people interact with wildlife around their neighborhoods and their homes,” said UCLA postdoctoral researcher Kendall Calhoun, the lead author on the study.

It's not just P-22. Mountain lions across the whole state are forced to leave their habitats for survival.

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Courtesy Kendall Calhoun

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Different motivations for different animals

As you might expect, different animals might have different reasons for entering populated areas. But in large part, Calhoun said, it comes down to animals’ survival instincts.

The primary motivator for many herbivores is likely to be food. That’s because with less precipitation, there’s also less plant material for them to eat. (Don’t forget: even with all the rain we’ve had recently, much of Southern California is still in a drought.)

“ Deer and elk might be pushed to find those food resources in places that they normally wouldn't go, like agriculture, crops, things from people's yards, persimmons from your tree,” Calhoun said.

And as herbivores get pushed toward humans, the animals that prey on them are too. In fact, the species that saw the highest increases in clashes with humans were omnivores and carnivores, specifically mountain lions, coyotes, black bears and bobcats.

But even these animals have varying reasons for getting close to people.

“Mountain lions might be more inclined to look for supplemental food in livestock — that might be a sheep or a goat,” Calhoun said. “Black bears may be more willing to go into your trash to look for food to help supplement what they're missing in their resource-scarce natural areas.”

Meanwhile, animals of all kinds might enter a yard even when they have enough food to look for standing water.

About the data

Researchers analyzed data from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife that were reported over the last several years as part of a citizen science initiative.

One important caveat is that the researchers primarily looked at conflicts between wildlife and residents, and there may be differences in how these interactions are reported.

For example, you might not report a deer eating fruit from an overloaded tree as a nuisance, but even a peaceful black bear digging through your trash could raise alarm bells.

 "People also really value having wildlife living alongside them," Calhoun said. "It really is important for us to try to strike that balance where there's pros for both sides, without some of the negative interactions that come with living in close proximity with wildlife species."

Learn more about human-wildlife interactions

There’s more background on the research on UCLA’s website, and you can find the full study here.

You can also learn much more about interactions between humans and wildlife in LAist’s Imperfect Paradise podcast series, “Lions, Coyotes, & Bears.”

Low-cost internet service will soon roll out in parts of L.A. County at the end of this year, and organizers say eligible households can sign up for alerts when the service becomes available.

The service — a partnership between L.A. County and internet provider WeLink — is the latest project from the county’s “Delete the Divide,” an initiative meant to bridge the digital divide in underserved neighborhoods.

Major funding for the project comes from the American Rescue Plan Act, as well as a grant from the California Public Utilities Commission.

It’s badly needed

About 23%, or more than 20,000, households in the East L.A. and Boyle Heights area don’t have home internet, according to Delete the Divide.

The service will also soon be coming to South L.A., where more than 40,000 households were identified as lacking home internet.

What you need to know

There will be different plans available — including low-income, market-rate and small business options — at fixed prices. The low-cost plan will start at $25 per month for qualifying families. Those who don’t qualify could also purchase plans starting at $65 a month. Monthly rates are fixed until at least September 2027.

Every plan includes unlimited data, a router and parental controls.

Low-cost internet service will soon roll out in South L.A. at the end of this year.

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Courtesy of L.A. County

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Low-cost internet service will soon roll out in parts of East L.A. and Boyle Heights at the end of this year.

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Courtesy of L.A. County

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How it works 

WeLink will install a Wi-Fi router inside a home and a 4-inch radio on the roof to connect the household to the internet.

Interested households can sign up for updates and be notified by WeLink when service is available here.