Holly Sierra

Shanti Medina dreamed up the first Women's Summer Solstice journey while having tea with another female yoga therapist. "We were talking about how the yoga business in general doesn't really support a lot of collaboration," she remembers. "It was very, 'I have my class, you have your class.' So we decided to shift it. We thought, let's do something together and bring our communities and our clients together -- because her gifts as a yoga therapist are very different from my gifts as a yoga therapist, and we really complemented each other." After deciding to hold the event as a summer solstice celebration, they lined up yoga, dancing and live music, and a good time was had by all.

Fittingly for a solstice celebration, however, things shifted in a major way last year -- the celebration's sixth year.

See also:
- Yoga Rocks the Park starts rocking the park again this weekend
- Ana Forrest on Fierce Medicine and her journey through yoga
- Lisa Wimberger's five fast ways to slow down quickly (INFOGRAPHICS)

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RedLine

Jail bunks meet video art in LIDA and SOURCE's collaboration.

Over 15 percent of inmates in the U.S. prison system report having been homeless at some point in the year before their incarceration. This statistic from a 2008 Yale study is cited by Cycles of Street to Prison / Prison to Street, an original collaboration between the LIDA Project and Source Theatre Company that's a companion to the new exhibit at RedLine, Not Exactly: Between Home and Where I Find Myself. "In comparison with other inmates," the study states, "those who had been homeless were more likely to be currently incarcerated for a property crime, but they were also more likely to have past criminal justice system involvement for both nonviolent and violent offenses, to have mental health and substance abuse problems, to be less educated, and to be unemployed."

See also:
- The LIDA Project takes on barriers of class and language in O'Neill's The Hairy Ape
- Everything adds up as the LIDA Project embarks on its 18th season
- RedLine's Artist's Studio series celebrates resident artists

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Sara Ford

Local athlete-turned-model-turned-jewelry-designer Megan Kaltenbach brings a lot of love to the work she creates. For MKaltenbach, her handpicked line of necklaces, bracelets and earrings, the craftswoman makes sure each piece of agate, turquoise, onyx and amber is to her standards. "It's a long process, because I'm very picky; all of my materials are handpicked," says Kaltenbach. "It's an intense process, but I am really pleased with the product. That's what I want my customers to know -- they're getting the piece that is the real materials; it's not fake."

See also:
- Meet five designers showing at Frost: Fashion Denver's Holiday Market
- Photos: Behind the scenes at Denver Fashion Week
- Pamela Love on mysticism as inspiration and her dream client, Neil Young

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TEDxMileHigh.com

Slam Nuba performing at last year's TEDx Mile High.

The final ticket deadline for TEDx Mile High is today. This is the third annual Denver-centric version of TED, which has been touting "Ideas Worth Spreading" since the non-profit organization started bringing the best and brightest minds of the world together back in 1984.

See also:
- Obama's 2012 DNC speech spurs memories of 2008 at Mile High
- TEDx marks the Spot
- Get ahead with TEDx

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Danielle Lirette

We met this guy at Denver Comic Con 2013 -- and many others.

Denver Comic Con took over the streets of Denver near the Colorado Convention Center last weekend during three days of celebrities, events, panels and displays. We're still reeling from it all -- and you might be too. While you plan the early stages of next year's costume, check out our video recap of Denver Comic Con 2013.

See also:
- Winners of our first annual Comic issue contest
- Costumes of Comic Con 2013
- Doctor Who fans of Comic Con

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Koffi Toudji at the future site of the Koffi Togo Cultural Center in Togo, West Africa.<

Koffi Toudji is a welcome,well-known face around Denver: He's the founder of a traditional West African drum-and-dance ensemble, leader of Koffi Togo Vibe Band and a teacher and performer at the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble. But Toudji also arranges summer tours from the U.S. to his native Kpalimé in Togo, West Africa, and this Friday, June 7, he will be raising money to give back to his hometown.

Last year Toudji bought a plot of land in Togo, where he hopes to build a cultural center there in the next few years. "The cultural center came about because growing up there, I experienced a different life -- we had a lot of music and dancing going on," he explains. "But every time I take students back to my home, I'm feeling a lot of change. I feel like there's less music and less dancing every time I go. The little town I grew up in is becoming a city, and the old traditions are getting lost. "

See also:
- Koffi Toudji uses drums, dance and a little humor to benefit the Koffi Togo band
- How Cleo Parker Robinson conquered her fear of skiing and other confessions
- Montbello high school drumline is headed to Takayama, Denver's sister city in Japan

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Civic Center Park played home to the 2013 People's Fair over the weekend for two days of food, entertainment and art. Keep reading for a few highlights from photographer Kyle Huninghake, and visit our People's Fair slide show for more photos.

See also:
- Fifty best costumes of Comic Con
- Here's what it costs to party in Civic Center Park
- Denver Chalk Art Festival 2013

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Green Spaces

Green Spaces provides a home for sustainable small businesses in Denver.

Coworking spaces are hot right now. Denver has a network of such spaces, places with names like Creative Density and The Desk. These are converted houses or rehabbed industrial buildings that offer shared workspace to entrepreneurs, nonprofits and startups. Members work side-by-side in a cubicle-free environment, sharing office equipment, food and often a game of kickball after hours. One of the most venerable of these enterprises is Green Spaces, a coworking space with a focus on environmentally-sustainable business that has been operating in both Denver and New York City for several years. Tonight, it will celebrate its anniversary with music, food, drinks and (as always) networking.

See also:
- Green Spaces Full Moon Harvest Festival
- Best Workspace for Greenies - 2010
- Tonight: CHOMP Vegan Supper Club at Green Spaces

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Aaron Thackeray

Big Lebowski fans at 2011's Film on the Rocks screening.

When Film on the Rocks announced its 2013 summer line-up and The Big Lebowski was nowhere to be found for the second year in a row, fans were upset. But the Denver Film Society has saved the best for last: The non-profit announced last night at the season opener of FOTR that for a $25 donation to the DFS Kickstarter, you can get a ticket to an exclusive "backers only" screening of The Big Lebowski on July 31 -- if the $150,000 goal is made.

Watch the Big Lebowski-inspired Kickstarter video -- starring FOTR Program Director Britta Erickson as "The Jesus" and local comic Chuck Roy as Walter -- below the jump.

See also:
- Film on the Rocks 2013: Back to the Future opens and The Princess Bride returns
- The Big Lebowski's ten most quotable moments
- 2012 Film on the Rocks schedule includes no Big Lebowski

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Ben Siebrase

YogaDates sunset yoga hike.

When you accidentally sign yourself and your 29-year-old husband up for a YogaDates event for singles in their thirties and forties, you quickly realize it could be bad for the relationship. After our incredible YogaDates sunset yoga hike, I know that if my sweet Ben ever mysteriously "vanishes" (and I'm using air quotes as I type) after forgetting to, say, put the new roll of toilet paper back on the toilet paper thingy, I'm banking on meeting the second love of my life at Amy Baglan's next YogaDates event for singles -- which happens to be on Saturday, June 1.

See also:
- Yoga Rocks the Park starts rocking the park again this weekend
- DateCamp teaches you how to date -- and kiss and dress -- the Denver way
- Friday Night Yoga Club launches at Kindness Yoga

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