Enjoy upcoming events

Arts League open house

Leave it to the venerable University City Arts League to reinvent the open house. Rather than just offer demonstration classes, the talented artist/instructors have created interdisciplinary dance, visual and performance art around the theme of "walls."

It's a great way to see what goes inside the walls of this 41-year-old arts hub. If you can't make it to the building, you can watch the action on their Web site. And two of the center's dance teachers, Lesley Mitchell and Kelly Ray, are offering free drop-in tango, salsa and swing dance lessons.

University City Arts League, 4226 Spruce St., open house 2-4 p.m. today, free. Dance lessons: salsa, noon, swing, 1 p.m., 215-382-7811, www.ucartsleague.org.

Party in the barrio

Taller Puertorriqueno brings music, dance and art to the streets during its 24th Annual Feria de Barrio. Local and guest artists will perform along North 5th Street, with special guest Michael Stuart, who divides his time between his recording career and stage shows in Puerto Rico. His ninth album is the salsa recording, "Sentimiento De Un Rumbero," released by Machete Records this year.

El Centro de Oro Business and Cultural Arts District, 5th Street between Lehigh

and Somerset, 12:30-6 p.m. tomorrow, free.

Kimmel welcomes kinders

After a childhood in Princeton, N.J., Laurie Berkner played in an all-female cover band called Lois Lane, then started writing music for a group called Red Onion, with little success.

Not until she started writing songs for kids did her muse kick in, and did it ever. She's recorded four albums, made two videos, started her own record label, Two Tomatoes Records, and published a children's book.

The Laurie Berkner Band (Berkner, keyboardist Susie Lampert and bassist Adam Bernstein) brings its human-tempo music to the Kimmel Center tomorrow in a concert for pre-schoolers and their parents.

Verizon Hall, Broad and Spruce streets, 11 a.m. today, $35, 215-893-1999.

From Russia with love

Philadelphia's vibrant Russian-speaking community celebrates its rich traditions during the "Russian Mosaic" Festival at Penn's Landing.

"The festival is named Russian Mosaic because so many different people and businesses from various walks of life come together on this day," said Marina Kats, president of the Russian Americans Chamber of Commerce. "Each represents a different piece of the Russian mosaic."

The concert program includes folk, classical and ballroom dancing performers. Incredible ethnic cuisine - Russian, Jewish, Moldavian, Georgian and Middle Asian - will be available, and artisans will show off their crafts.

Great Plaza at Penn's Landing, Columbus Boulevard at Chestnut Street, noon-7 p.m. tomorrow, free, www.rachamber.com.

A romantic romp

Vivica A. Fox stars in "Whatever She Wants," a play by Je'Caryous Johnson about a private club for women where men have to qualify to get in. (Baby daddies need not apply.) The all-star cast includes Boris Kodjoe ("The Gospel"), Malik Yoba ("New York Undercover") and the legendary Billy Dee Williams.

Merriam Theater, 250 S. Broad St., 8 p.m. Tuesday through Sept. 15, 2 p.m. Sept. 15, 3 and 7:30 p.m. Sept. 16, $32.50-$35, www.ticketmaster.com.

Plain people photos

Fifty of Larry Towell's evocative photos of Mennonites are on display at the Arthur Ross Gallery on the Penn campus through Sept. 23. The artist, who spent 11 years documenting this isolated cultural group in insular Mexican colonies where photography is generally forbidden, and following their migrant workers to Ontario, visits the gallery for a "Meet the Artist" reception Tuesday.

Arthur Ross Gallery, 220 S. 34th St., reception 5-8 p.m. Tuesday. Gallery hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, free, 215-898-2083.

First fire

If all the controversy surrounding filmmaker Ken Burns' PBS documentary "The War" has piqued your curiosity, you can see a preview of it this week, followed by a discussion and Q&A with history professors at Immaculata University. The World War II documentary, which airs over seven days beginning Sept. 16, features eyewitness accounts from soldiers on the front lines. After Hispanic groups complained about their under-representation in it, Burns added a half-hour to the series to include them.

Loyola Hall, Room 18, Immaculata University, Routes 30 and 352, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, free, 610-647-4400, ext. 3143.