It’s January, and we feel like grooving at the L.A. Times. This week, we are focused on dance. I’m staff writer Carolina A. Miranda with this and other essential arts news.

Essential image

A group of Latin American street artists has turned the Fullerton Museum into a riot of color.

Reinventing dance

“Dancers who were once deemed too fringe,” writes The Times’ Makeda Easter, “are breaking into the mainstream.” And that’s because social media platforms can elevate the profiles of those who don’t fit the mold. Easter follows dancers with nontraditional body types, others who fuse Bhangra and funk and one who created a troupe for performers in wheelchairs — performers who have ultimately been catching the attention of Beyoncé and Rihanna.

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“I think it’s incredible that dancers are now being recognized,” said veteran dancer and choreographer Tricia Miranda. “They’re not looked at as props and background. People actually know these dancers by name.”

Be sure to click through. The videos will make you want to … dance.

Since we’re talking dance: BTS just dropped the single “Black Swan,” and the video features a performance by Slovenian dance company MN.

Plus, Merce Cunningham in images.

Classical notes

A recent spate of concerts around L.A. has paired contemporary composers and classical ones, including a show at the Wallis that presented Philip Glass and Beethoven, who turns 250 this year and will therefore be surfacing all over. The Glass was “gripping,” writes Times classical music critic Mark Swed, but “the challenge of Beethoven 250 will be to retain a Beethoven who is among us but refuses to fit in.”

When George Walker died two years ago at the age of 96, the African American composer had a rack of awards, including a Pulitzer. And though he is essential to the American canon, notes Swed, he remains relatively unknown. “About the only month in which I ever encounter a piece by Walker on a concert program is February, because that is Black History Month,” he writes. That, however, may be about to change.

Swed also reviews the Long Beach Opera’s production of Purcell’s “King Arthur” with an updated look and setting and an Arthur who echoes our times — “the comic book delusional fantasy of a pudgy, narcissistic, emigrant-phobic politico requiring psychiatric treatment.”

Zubin Mehta led the L.A. Phil through Webern’s Six Pieces for Orchestra, Opus 6, the work he conducted when he first made his West Coast debut in 1961. Fifty-nine years later at Disney Hall, he was back with the same music, writes Swed, “its tiny wisps of melody, minimal sound effects and harmony more implied than revealed stirred surprisingly large and lasting emotions.”

On the stage

The Times’ Ashley Lee reports that “Rock of Ages,” the immersive stage musical full of ’80s jams that is set inside a Hollywood nightclub, is back in Los Angeles — at a Hollywood nightclub. And it’s designed to make money, stocked with its own bar, called the Bourbon Room, that starts pouring two hours before the show starts and “keeps pouring long after it’s over.”

Lee also has a story on the Sherman Oaks high school debater who appears in Heidi Schreck’s award-winning play “What the Constitution Means to Me,” which opened this week at the Taper. Jocelyn Shek shows up in a key debate scene opposite actress Maria Dizzia. “I like it because it’s helped me learn a lot about my world, and it’s really shaped the way I think about things,” she tells Lee. “And, well, I really like to argue.”

Donja R. Love’s “Fireflies” is on the stage at South Coast Repertory. The play, about a couple that bears much resemblance to Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, writes contributor Margaret Gray, is “choreographed with pitch-perfect verve by director Lou Bellamy.”

Plus, Jessica Gelt has the list of this year’s Ovation Awards winners. The Pasadena Playhouse’s “Ragtime” took the honors for best production and direction of a musical, while the Fountain Theatre’s “Cost of Living” received the award for best play in an intimate theater.

In the galleries

Contributor Leah Ollman reviews a show by Keita Matsunaga at Nonaka-Hill that fuses sculpture and architecture. “His ceramic sculptures engage the same fundamentals as architecture: site, function and the shaping of space,” she writes. “The works in his first U.S. show are enrapturing.”

Also on the docket are Kathleen Henderson’s “blistering” drawings at Track 16, in which “greed, pride and vanity play out in oil stick on paper — raw impulses matched by raw, urgent line.”

Criticism is not dead

This week I’ve been sucked into a wormhole of criticism, and criticism about criticism. (I blame it on the flu I am nursing.) It started with this story by Theodore Gioia about the midlife crisis of the American restaurant review in the L.A. Review of Books.

This led me to the San Francisco Chronicle’s Soleil Ho, who recently published a list of the “most despair-inducing” meals in the Bay Area in 2019. (“It ends up tasting heavy, a culinary boot stomping on your face.”) Which led me to this classic review of Paris’ Le Cinq by Jay Radner. (“The dining room, deep in the hotel, is a broad space of high ceilings and coving, with thick carpets to muffle the screams.”)

This, and the Mucinex-D, took me to Lauren Oyler’s poker-faced slam of Jia Tolentino’s book “Trick Mirror” — with its echoes of Renata Adler/Pauline Kael — and Parul Sehgal’s review of Jeanine Cummins’ new novel “American Dirt.” (“Allow me to take this one for the team.”)

I then circled back to my colleague Lucas Kwan Peterson’s epic review of the Chateau Marmont’s Japanese restaurant, which not only skewered the food (“like licking the inside of a fish tank”) but also showed him wrestling with the task of separating art from artist in the era of #MeToo. A stellar piece of writing that Gioia, regretfully, overlooked.

Ready for the weekend

Matt Cooper has the week ahead in museums, music, theater and dance, and he has the definitive list of the 11 best things to do in L.A. over the holiday weekend, which includes a performance about joy by Contra-Tiempo at the Wallis.

And I round up what’s doing in the white boxes in my weekly Datebook, including a show by Venice painter Charles Arnoldi at the Fisher Museum at USC.

In other news

— Gustavo Dudamel has extended his contract with the L.A. Phil through 2025-26.
— The fate of Notre Dame remains uncertain. Critic Philip Kennicott has an extensive, graphics-filled report.
— Contesting the myth of the artistic genius.
— Judy Chicago and Jill Soloway will be headliners at L.A.’s Felix art fair.
— Ed Ruscha‘s latest works evoke the language of his youth in Oklahoma.
— How L.A. artist Carmen Argote raises the issues of economics (her own) in her work.
— On what it means to be a contemporary artist in Afghanistan.
— Uri D. Herscher, founder of the Skirball Cultural Center, is retiring. His successor is civil rights lawyer Jessie Kornberg.
— The New York Times reported on harassment allegations against a Philadelphia museum leader who later went on to direct another museum. After the story ran, he was forced out amid complaints.
— Arms manufacturer Warren Kanders stepped down as trustee at the Whitney Museum after it was uncovered that his tear gas was used at the U.S.-Mexico border. In a new interview, he decries “weak” museum leadership.
— “All we said to America is be true to what you said on paper.” In honor of MLK Day, a fragment of Martin Luther King Jr.’s last speech.

And last but not least …

Somebody please re-stage this incredible performance at Frieze.

New on Blu-ray

“Zombieland: Double Tap” (Sony DVD, $19.96; Blu-ray, $34.99; 4K, $45.99; also available on VOD)

Ten years after the horror-comedy “Zombieland” became a surprise hit with critics and moviegoers, the cast reunites with director Ruben Fleischer and “Deadpool” screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick for this cheeky sequel, which once again combines over-the-top monster-fighting violence with wacky romantic complications. Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson reprise their roles as Columbus and Tallahassee, respectively, who hit the road to help save their friends Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) from a new, more powerful breed of ghoul. As with the first movie, “Double Tap” is filled with winking self-reference and likable characters — including winning turns by series newcomers Rosario Dawson, Zoey Deutch, Luke Wilson and Thomas Middleditch. This picture doesn’t do anything new, but it’s still good, goofy fun.

[Special features: A Fleischer commentary track, deleted scenes and featurettes]

VOD

“The Red Shadows” (available Jan. 23 on Sundance Now)

In the six-part French crime drama, Nadia Farès plays Aurore, a cop who uncovers new evidence in a long-cold kidnapping case. The twist? The missing person is her younger sister, Clara, who disappeared 25 years ago during a ransom exchange that left their mother dead. This slow-burning mystery — with new episodes arriving weekly on Sundance Now — uses its initial hook as a way to pull viewers into a complex tale of dark family secrets.

TV set of the week

“You: The Complete First Season” (Warner Archive DVD, $24.99; also available on VOD)

Click Here: France Rugby Shop

Audiences were slow to catch up to the romantic thriller; the show drew low ratings in its first season on Lifetime before becoming a phenomenon after it arrived on Netflix. (The streaming service has since backed a second season, which recently debuted.) Based on a Caroline Kepnes novel, the series stars Penn Badgley as an especially deft stalker, who in Season 1 meets a struggling young writer (played by Elizabeth Lail). This ruthless psychopath then takes advantage of the copious personal information his prey has posted on the internet so he can present himself to her as the perfect man. At once gripping and disturbing, the series is a well-acted and well-written potboiler, tapping into a uniquely modern kind of paranoia.

[Special features: None]

From the archives

“Gregory’s Girl” (Film Movement Classics Blu-ray, $29.95)

One of the most popular foreign imports of the 1980s, Bill Forsyth’s 1981 romantic comedy is charmingly simple, telling the story of a love-struck high-schooler (played by John Gordon Sinclair) who tries to woo Dorothy (Dee Hepburn), the attractive and athletic bombshell who’s just joined his soccer team. The movie barely has any plot, with most of the action confined to the final third, when Gregory enjoys an unexpectedly eye-opening evening with Dorothy’s friends. Nearly 40 years ago, American art-house patrons were enchanted both by Forsyth’s casual feminism and by his detailed exploration of Scottish teenage lives. The movie holds up well for the way it presents familiar adolescent emotions and situations in a winningly low-key way.

[Special features: A commentary track and interviews]

Three more to see

“Age Out” (Gravitas Ventures Blu-ray, $36.99; also available on VOD); “Anthropocene: The Human Epoch” (Kino Lorber DVD, $29.95; Blu-ray, $34.95; 4K, $34.99); “Sliding Doors” (Shout Select Blu-ray, $27.99)

LONDON — 

Goodbye, your royal highnesses. Hello, life as — almost — ordinary civilians.

Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, are quitting as working royals and will no longer use the titles “royal highness” or receive public funds for their work under a deal announced Saturday by Buckingham Palace.

Releasing details of the dramatic split, triggered by the couple’s unhappiness with life under media scrutiny in the royal fishbowl, the palace said Harry and Meghan will cease to be working members of the royal family when the new arrangements take effect within months, in the “spring of 2020.”

The couple will no longer use the titles His Royal Highness and Her Royal Highness, but they are not being stripped of them.

They will be known as Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. Harry will remain a prince and sixth in line to the British throne.

The agreement also calls for Meghan and Harry to repay 2.4 million pounds ($3.1 million) in taxpayers’ money that was spent renovating Frogmore Cottage, their home near Windsor Castle.

The couple’s departure is a wrench for the royal family, but Queen Elizabeth II had warm words for them in a statement Saturday.

The queen said she was pleased that “together we have found a constructive and supportive way forward for my grandson and his family. Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved members of my family.

“I recognize the challenges they have experienced as a result of intense scrutiny over the last two years and support their wish for a more independent life,” Elizabeth said.

“It is my whole family’s hope that today’s agreement allows them to start building a happy and peaceful new life,” she added.

The announcement came after days of talks among royal courtiers sparked by Meghan and Harry’s announcement last week that they wanted to step back as senior royals and live part-time in Canada

The details of the deal solidify the couple’s dramatic break from life as working royals. Army veteran Harry will have to give up the military appointments he has as a senior royal.

While he and Meghan will no longer represent the queen, the palace said they would “continue to uphold the values of Her Majesty” while carrying out their private charitable work.

Buckingham Palace did not disclose who will pay for the couple’s security going forward. It currently is taxpayer-funded.

“There are well established independent processes to determine the need for publicly funded security,” it said.

Meghan, a native of Los Angeles, and Harry spent a six-week Christmas break on Vancouver Island.

Markle recently returned to Canada for a few days with the couple’s young son, Archie, as the royal family grappled with the fallout from the revelation that the Sussexes’ would step back from their royal duties while splitting their time between the United Kingdom and North America.

The former actress, who recently visited Vancouver’s Downtown Women’s Center, lived in Toronto for years while working on the TV series “Suits.”

In a bid to “reshape and broaden” access to their work, Meghan and Harry recently said on their website they would engage with specialist media and “young, up-and-coming journalists” and drop out of the Royal Rota system, a 40-year-old channel for exclusive access to British print and media outlets.

The couple have been vocal about the pain the intense media scrutiny has caused them, with certain media that have “vilified her almost daily,” Prince Harry said last year.

Times staff writers Nardine Saad and Anousha Sakoui contributed to this report

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Beverly Hills-based Paradigm Talent Agency on Friday laid off 30 people, including agents in its music division, the latest sign of mounting financial pressures on Hollywood’s representation industry.

The layoffs were part of the company’s effort to reduce redundancies caused by the agency’s acquisitions in the music space, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly on the situation.

The job reductions at the company’s offices in the U.S. and Canada affected people mostly in its music division and included both agents and administrative staff, the person said.

An agency spokesman declined to comment.

Before Friday’s layoffs, Paradigm had recently parted ways with roughly half a dozen people as part of a typical attrition process, according to a person close to the company who was not authorized to comment.

Paradigm, which also has offices in New York, Nashville, Chicago, Toronto and other cities, employs more than 700 people.

Deadline was first to report on the Friday layoffs.

Paradigm, like other large talent agencies, has been expanding its scale in recent years through acquisitions. Last year, the company became the full owner of London music agency CODA Agency.

The company was itself an acquisition target. UTA also pursued the Paradigm Talent Agency last year, but was rebuffed.

Talent agencies have been facing growing pressure to adapt to a changing media industry. The rise of streaming and the expected decline of TV packaging, combined with the effects of the long-standing dispute with the Writers Guild of America, have squeezed talent agencies.

Last month, ICM Partners laid off about a half dozen agents across multiple departments, a small fraction of the company’s roughly 600 employees.

The job cuts were mostly due to normal attrition but also reflected a realignment of the company’s business as it evaluates how many writers it might represent in the future and where its future growth lies, said a person familiar with the agency’s thinking who was not authorized to comment.

LOWER ZAMBEZI NATIONAL PARK, Zambia — 

My husband and I were hours into a morning trek in one of Zambia’s wildlife-rich national parks, and we had already seen some marquee safari sights — elephants, baboons, impalas. Then one of our guides stopped short. He pointed ahead to a thrilling discovery.

It was an animal that I’d been told would be hard to spot because it was the dry season. But there it was, peering from beneath a bush: a leopard tortoise, a beautiful reptile with a spotted shell.
OK, so it wasn’t one of the Big Five animals safari-goers get excited about as they whiz through the African bush by Land Rover. It was instead some of the smaller things — the “Little Five” birds, bugs and reptiles — that we wanted to see by going on foot. They all have names that echo their big-time counterparts: ant lion, rhinoceros beetle, buffalo weaver and elephant shrew, as well as the leopard tortoise.

We decided to come to Zambia, one of the less-traveled destinations in Africa, because it is the home of the walking safari. The landlocked former British colony in southern Africa specializes in this way of wandering through wildlife habitat.

We saw all kinds of things we would have missed from a vehicle: Fluorescent red insects. Extravagantly crested birds. A zebra leg, a remnant of a run-in with a lion. A hippo skull, allowing a look at the lethal jaw within that ugly-cute animal. Paw prints that told stories about the size and habits of animals.

A walking safari appealed to me because I am so restless; I could not imagine spending 10 days in a Land Rover. A traditional driving safari seemed more like wildlife voyeurism than immersion in nature. With the slower pace and detail-oriented focus of a walking safari, I hoped to understand animals, not just see them.

We traveled in early November at the end of the dry season, a great wildlife-viewing time because animals flock to rivers when water is sparse. We benefited from lower prices, which drop about Nov. 1 in most places. That’s considered the beginning of the rainy season, but it rained only twice, toward the end of our two weeks.

To see a range of environments, we visited three national parks — South Luangwa, Lower Zambezi and Kafue — and stayed in bush camps from rustic to deluxe. One place, Musekese Camp in Kafue, had bucket showers; another, Sausage Tree Camp in Lower Zambezi, had a masseuse. All provided all-inclusive services in spectacular settings.

The outsiders

We came to see that we were encroaching on the animals’ turf. A warthog grazed near our cabin in one place. We would have to detour for meals if elephants were wandering around. Once, upon returning from a morning walk, we couldn’t reach our cabin because a male lion had settled nearby for his afternoon siesta.
On a typical day, we rose at 5 a.m. to start walking while it was not too hot. We would return to camp for lunch and rest in the midday heat, then head out again in late afternoon for a drive. I much preferred the walks, but the different modes of travel were complementary: You can’t see the big animals up close unless you are in a vehicle, and you can’t fully appreciate them until you get close to their habitat.

It was easy to spot the Big Five (except for the endangered rhinoceros) while driving because they are unafraid of people in vehicles. Within our first hours on the ground, while being driven to our first camp in South Luangwa, we spotted hippos, baboons, zebras, elephants, buffaloes, giraffes and all manner of antelopes. It was almost too easy, like taking a zoo tour.

It was a different story the next day on a four-hour walk that began at 6 a.m. We spotted elephants, warthogs and hippos, but they kept their distance: Animals are more fearful of people approaching on foot than in cars. That helped allay my initial fears that going on foot was recklessly risky. (This was the first time I’ve bought additional health insurance for an international trip.)

Another security blanket: We always hiked with a rifle-toting scout. He walked out front, scanning the horizon, going up hills before us to be sure we didn’t surprise a herd of elephants or buffalo. But the risk was low: One Zambian told us he had been scouting for 16 years and never had to use his gun.

It wasn’t long before we began spotting the “Little Five.” An elephant shrew — a tiny mammal with a trunk-shaped nose — dashed across the path and into the brush. The lairs of the ant lion — an insect that builds a tiny, conical sand pit, lurks at the bottom and waits for an ant to tumble down and into its clutches — were everywhere.

Termites as helpers?

Our well-trained Zambian guides unlocked mysteries of the landscape.

What are those towering earthen mounds we see all over the place? They were built by termites, which have a bad rep in civilized society as a foundation-eating pest. But in nature, they play an invaluable role decomposing dung and wood, and the result is mounds that serve as rich planting soil. We saw one mound with 15 species of trees growing.

Who knew what hippos did at night? We saw them wallowing in the river during the day, but they graze on land at night. We learned that as we walked along their well-trod paths — hippo highways.

How do hippos mark territory? Our guide showed us hippo dung hanging on a bush. They leave their mark by flicking their tails to spread their dung. Suddenly it made sense when we saw that odd behavior when males faced off in the river.

We also saw the spectacular changes that occur when the dry season gives way to the rainy one. The first rain in Kafue National Park came near the end of our visit. Torrential rain and wind battered the canvas walls of the camp, sending the staff scampering to batten things down.

We found the landscape was transformed when we walked the next morning. New waterways flowed. Bright red bugs — velvet mites — came out and speckled the ground as they do only after it rains. Termites flew out of their mounds, crawled on the ground and were gobbled up by hungry animals. Ants scrambled all over the place, including up my leg when I made the mistake of crossing their paths.

That was an uncomfortable reminder that small things in the bush are not only beautiful but also potentially risky. The last night we dined at Musekese Camp with co-owner Tyrone McKeith; he abruptly rose from the table and told me not to move. He reached over and swatted something from my stomach. Only then did he tell me it was a scorpion.

This journey took us to some of the most remote places I’ve ever visited, so sometimes it felt as if we were in a Joseph Conrad novel. To get to Musekese Camp, we flew in a four-seat prop plane to a dusty airstrip (the pilot had to fly once over the strip to be sure no animals were in the way). We were picked up in a Land Rover, then transferred for a boat ride, then onto another Land Rover for a final stretch. At the end was a surprise, but it was hardly a “Heart of Darkness” experience. There were only two other guests at the camp when we arrived. One of them was a subscriber to the Los Angeles Times.

If you go

THE BEST WAY TO ZAMBIA
From LAX, Turkish Air, KLM, Emirates and Delta offer connecting service (change of planes) to Zambia’s capital, Lusaka. Restricted round-trip fares from $1,990, including taxes and fees.
Flights from Lusaka to small airports near Zambia’s national parks are available from Proflight Airlines (proflight-zambia.com). Charter flights are available from Sky Trails (skytrailszambia.com). Some camps offer ground transportation from Lusaka or nearby airports.

TELEPHONES
From the U.S., dial 011 (the international dialing code) and 260 (the country code for Zambia). Some camps below are managed from South Africa, where 27 is the country code.

WHERE TO STAY

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Time + Tide Kakuli, South Luangwa National Park; 27-60-642-4004, bit.ly/kakulicamp. One of 10 camps operated in Zambia by Time + Tide. All-inclusive fee (lodging, all meals and drinks, laundry, activities) from $730 per person per night.

Sausage Tree Camp andPotato Bush Camp, Lower Zambezi National Park; 27-76-586-1927, sausagetreecamp.com, potatobushcamp.com. Sausage Tree offers luxury accommodations in a spectacular setting; Potato Bush, a sister camp, accommodates families. All-inclusive fee (lodging, all meals and drinks, private guide, laundry, activities) from $990 per person per night (Sausage) and $650 per person per night (Potato).

Musekese Camp, Kafue National Park; 26-09-741-73403 or 26-09-7621-5426, jefferymckeith.com/musekese. One of the last owner-run safari camps in Zambia. All-inclusive fee (lodging, all meals and drinks, laundry, activities) from $560 per person per night, low season.

TO LEARN MORE

Zambia Tourism, bit.ly/zambiaparks

Group trips and tailor-made excursions to Zambia are offered by:

Audley Travel, 77 N. Washington St., Boston; (855) 838-8300, audleytravel.com/us/zambia

Natural World Safaris, 130A Western Road, 2nd Floor, Brighton, England; (866)357-6569, bit.ly/zambiaholidays

The real estate hits — and misses — just keep on coming in 2020. This week sees a major television and film actor taking a loss on the sale of a Mediterranean-style villa and a pro hockey player scoring a spot in Beverly Hills.

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Our Home of the Week in Beverly Hills retains architect Wallace Neff’s attention to detail with spectacular hand-stenciled ceilings and ornate woodwork. The Spanish Colonial Revival-style residence, built in 1929 and since modernized, is priced at $15.75 million.

Once you’re done reading about these deals, visit and like our Facebook page, where you can find Hot Property stories and updates throughout the week.

— Neal Leitereg, Jack Flemming and Lauren Beale

‘Major League’ star takes a loss

Charlie Sheen of “Two and a Half Men” fame has sold his home in the 90210 ZIP Code for $6.6 million. Sheen bought the place through a trust in 2006 for $7.2 million, records show.

The Mediterranean villa, built in 1992, has been updated throughout its roughly 9,000-square-foot floor plan. Fireplaces with massive stone mantles, beamed ceilings, a game room, seven bedrooms and a dining room with seating for 10 are among the features.

The property delivers a basketball hoop, a pitcher’s mound and two swimming pools. A covered pavilion is outfitted with an outdoor kitchen and an 80-inch flat-screen television.

Sheen, 54, has a long list of film credits that include “Red Dawn,” “Wall Street,” “Major League” and “The Three Musketeers.” His sitcom work includes “Anger Management” and “Two and a Half Men.” He won a Golden Globe for his role on “Spin City.”

Back at the Reynolds’ ranch

The longtime family ranch of late singer-actress Debbie Reynolds has come back up for sale in Creston, a community in San Luis Obispo County, at slightly more than $3.9 million.

Owned by Reynolds for more than two decades, the 44-acre property features two houses, a caretaker’s cottage, an art studio and a 6,000-square-foot production studio. Another support building with metal, wood and automotive workshops contains 10,000 square feet of space. There’s also an eight-stall barn.

Six bedrooms, five bathrooms and a country-inspired kitchen populate the main house. A custom theater room has seating for 20 people. Other amenities include a library and a gym.

Reynolds, who died in 2016 at 84, was known for her film and musical roles that include “Singin’ in the Rain” (1952), “The Affairs of Dobie Gillis” (1953) and “The Rat Race” (1960). She received an Oscar nomination for the title role in “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” (1964).

Fit for a former King

Former Los Angeles Kings left wing Ilya Kovalchuk has bought a home in the Trousdale section of Beverly Hills for $11.2 million.

The single-story house, built in 2018, has clean lines, slabs of ribboned marble and glass doors that take in city and ocean views. Some 6,200 square feet of interiors contain a kitchen with an island, a formal dining room, an office, five bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms.

The grounds of more than half an acre center on a swimming pool with a raised spa. A dining pavilion and built-in barbecue sit across from the pool.

Kovalchuk, 36, signed a three-year, $18.75-million contract with the Kings last summer, but lasted less than halfway through the deal before being waived by the team in December. The two-time all-star and Olympic gold medalist has since signed a one-year deal with the Montreal Canadiens.

Rapper giftwraps a deal

Rapper Swae Lee bought himself a Christmas present last month, paying $3.5 million for the Woodland Hills home of actors Jonathan Frakes and Genie Francis. The sale closed on Christmas Eve.

Lee, of the hip-hop duo Rae Sremmurd, used a trust to purchase the nine-bedroom, six-bathroom residence, which features 9,000 square feet of white-walled living space, oak floors and a two-story entry topped by a giant chandelier. The step-down living room has coffered ceilings and a fireplace. There’s also a library.

The landscaped grounds include a tiled patio with a swimming pool, a spa and a fire pit.

Lee, 26, formed Rae Sremmurd in 2013 with his brother, Slim Jxmmi. Their hits include “No Type,” “No Flex Zone” and “Black Beatles.”

Frakes, 67, is known for playing Cmdr. William T. Riker in the “Star Trek” franchise.

Francis, 57, is known for her long-running role as Laura Spencer on the soap opera “General Hospital.”

Celebrity roots in Hidden Hills

Four years after buying Selena Gomez’s Mediterranean mansion in Hidden Hills for $3.3 million, mixtape artist French Montana is hoping to double his money with a listing price of $6.599 million.

The rapper painted over Gomez’s bold tones of purple and turquoise during his ownership and added a $400,000 recording studio in the guesthouse.

The three-acre compound centers on a custom home of 7,800 square feet. Living spaces include a two-story great room, a formal dining room, a gym, a movie theater and a wine cellar.

Patios and lawn surround a swimming pool and spa in the backyard.

Montana, 35, released his most recent album, “Montana,” last year. His hits include “Pop That,” “Unforgettable” and “No Stylist.”

Her favorite room

Actress Erinn Hayes’ favorite spot at her 2,800-square-foot Highland Park residence isn’t in the house at all. It’s the space in what once was a carriage house. Entered through industrial-looking French doors, the comfortable, contemporary room is a mix of “traditional and modern and everything between,” said the “Medical Police” star.

From the archives

Ten years ago, some buyers found their McDream house thanks to “Grey’s Anatomy” star Patrick Dempsey. The actor, whose looks earned him the nickname Dr. McDreamy on the medical show, sold his Bel-Air home for $2.571 million.

Twenty years ago, “The Price Is Right” host Bob Barker had his Hollywood home designated a historic-cultural monument by the city of Los Angeles. Built in 1929, the 5,000-square-foot house was described as “an excellent, unaltered example” of the Spanish Colonial Revival style.

What we’re reading

One of Alamo Square’s famed painted ladies is for sale, reports Curbed San Francisco. The two-unit Victorian, priced at $2.75 million, was used in the opening credits of the TV show “Full House.”

Apartment Therapy brings us eight things from your grandparents’ living room that are cool again. We agree on the quilts and that recliner, but the fake plants and velvet pintuck pillows? No thanks.

Dwell scoped out a travel-trailer that triples in size in one minute with the push of a button. The accordion-like camper measures 43 square feet and slides to expand to a 129-square-foot living space.

Through March 29
Incredible Journey: Bugs is a new daily exhibit at the South Coast Botanic Garden designed to educate visitors about the butterflies, spiders, ants and bees that can be found in our SoCal gardens and to encourage exploration of the new areas in the 87-acre garden at 26300 Crenshaw Blvd. in Rolling Hills Estates. Free with $9 admission to the garden ($6 seniors and students, $4 children ages 5-12) Members and children under 5 enter free. southcoastbotanicgarden.org

Jan. 18
“Lasagna Mulching” workshop at L.A. County Arboretum’s Crescent Farm.
Learn how to recycle cardboard and improve your garden soil in one fell swoop. 10 a.m. Free with $9 admission to the arboretum, $6 seniors/students, $4 ages 5-12. Members and children under 5 enter free. arboretum.org

“Vegetable & Herb Gardens — Compendium of 60 Vegetables & Herbs” is a free class presented by master gardener Yvonne Savio, creator of the comprehensive Gardening in L.A. blog, as part of the Cal State Northridge Gardening Series. 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Advance registration required; email your name and the number of seats requested to [email protected]. csun.edu/botanicgarden/

Floral Jewelry class at Sherman Library & Gardens Certified floral designer Dawn Mones demonstrates how to make floral brass cuff bracelets and floral combs using rare and unusual blooms. Preregistration required. $60 members, $70 non-members. 9 to 11 a.m. at 2647 East Coast Highway in Corona del Mar. thesherman.org

Jan. 18-19
Baiko–En Bonsai Kenkyukai Society presents “Winter Silhouettes Bonsai,” the nation’s only show of deciduous, miniaturized trees, at the L.A. Arboretum, 301 N. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each day. Free with $9 admission to the arboretum ($6 for seniors 62 and older/students with ID, $4 ages 5-12, free admission to arboretum members and children under 5). arboretum.org

Jan. 19
Descanso Gardens receives “Peace Tree” from the Rotary Club of Little Toyko’s Heiwa: Hiroshima Survivor Tree group, in the Japanese Garden 10 a.m. The two trees being presented to the garden are persimmon trees that grew from the seed of a plant that survived the first atomic bomb in Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945. Free with $9 admission to the garden ($6 seniors and students, $4 ages 4-12), at 1418 Descanso Drive, La Cañada Flintridge. descansogardens.org

Jan. 24 & Jan. 26
Hands-on, free Hügelkultur workshops at the Sheldon Reservoir. Learn how to create water-saving Hügel berms while helping Pasadena Water and Power transform the landscape of the Sheldon Reservoir at 1800 N. Arroyo Blvd. in Pasadena. 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. both days. Water, coffee and lunch will be provided. Wear comfortable clothing and closed-toe shoes that can get dirty and bring sunscreen, a hat and a reusable water and coffee bottle. Advance registration requested. ww5.cityofpasadena.net

Jan. 25
Learn about the trees of Southern California during the first of three tours of the L.A. County Arboretum, which boasts one of the most diverse urban forests in the United States. The hourlong lectures, also scheduled on Feb. 22 and March 21, will cover 20 tree species, followed by a walk in the arboretum to see the trees up close. $30 per class (includes arboretum admission), or $20 for Arboretum members, 10 a.m.to noon at the arboretum, 301 N. Baldwin Ave. in Arcadia. arboretum.org

Jan. 25-26
Rose-pruning workshops at Dominguez Rancho Adobe Museum’s rose garden, 18127 S. Alameda St. in Rancho Dominguez. Learn the basics of winter rose care while helping the museum prune its historic roses. Bring your own bypass pruning shears and leather gloves. Light refreshments, snacks and a light lunch will be provided. The workshops are free, but require reservations; call educational coordinator Mercedes Hernandez at 310-603-0088 or email [email protected]. dominguezrancho.org

Southern California Camellia Show includes hundreds of blooms representing all the varieties you see around Southern California this time of year, at the L.A. Arboretum, 301 N. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia, 1 to 4:30 p.m. on Jan. 25 and 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Jan 26. Free with $9 admission to the arboretum ($6 for seniors 62 and older/students with ID, $4 children 5-12, free admission to arboretum members and children under 5). socalcamelliasociety.org

Jan. 30-April 9
Docent training classes for San Diego Botanic Garden begin on Jan. 30 and continue weekly through April 9 from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the garden’s Larabee House, 230 Quail Gardens Drive in Encinitas. Docents must complete several prerequisites, such as serving at least 10 volunteer hours, be a member of the garden and pay $60 for the nine classes, to enroll in the docent training. sdbgarden.org

Feb. 1
Fruit-tree grafting demonstrations and scion exchange sponsored by the California Rare Fruit Growers, Foothill chapter. Have a fruit tree with limited and/or tasteless fruit? Learn how to graft more interesting varieties onto your tree and then join in the exchange of fruit-tree cuttings, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. in the Palm Room at the L.A. County Arboretum, 301 N. Baldwin Ave. in Arcadia. Free with $9 admission to the arboretum ($6 seniors and students). Do not bring fruit or cuttings (scions) from any citrus or citrus relatives such as finger limes, Buddha’s hand, curry leaf or sapote to avoid transmission of huanglongbing (citrus greening disease) spread by the Asian citrus psyllid. Also, be sure the cuttings you share are from dormant wood, not newly sprouted, and not from varieties still under patent protection (with tags that say “propagation prohibited” or PPAF). foothillcrfg.org

If you have a plant-related class, garden tour or other event you’d like us to mention, email [email protected] — at least three weeks in advance — and we may include it. Send a high-resolution horizontal photo, if possible, and tell us what we’re seeing and whom to credit.

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Hidden in Mid-Wilshire is an enchanting eight-street enclave called Brookside. True to its name, the tree-lined community is set apart by the flowing water feature that runs from the Hollywood Hills through the neighborhood and out to Ballona Creek. While most of the classical homes in this neighborhood celebrate the creek with garden features and backyard bridges, architect Dan Brunn chose to do something radically different.

He built his home over the brook.

Brunn was inspired by the long motor court at Breakers, the Vanderbilt family’s waterfront home in Newport, R.I., which the 41-year-old saw while on a trip.

A few days after returning to Los Angeles, he dreamed up his radical plan: an impossibly and beautifully elongated home that would bridge the two sides of the deep property divided by a brook. It was a daring move and one that Brunn didn’t set out to do. He originally set out to remodel the existing home after purchasing it, but his discovery that the foundation wasn’t as good as he thought opened the opportunity to think differently. In keeping with his principles, Brunn was determined to build to zero net energy standards.

He would honor nature by building a home that made full use of the water, the sun and the land.

This eco-consciousness was something Brunn grew up with. As a child in Tel Aviv, his showers were fueled by a passive-energy water heater. “All it was was a tank on the roof painted black and a pipe that wove back and forth toward the house like pasta, so [the water] would be exposed to a lot of sun,” he explained. Although there was always plenty of water on tap, he said that growing up in Israel, where water continues to be a major political issue, made him aware of how precious natural resources are, and he carries that awareness with him today.

Brunn’s home is long but narrow — like a fallen tree that forms a natural bridge over water.

It is spacious, at 4,500 square feet, but a mere 20 feet wide throughout, with a third of the living space suspended directly over the brook. From an architectural standpoint, that is a large gap to surmount. Brunn credits two heavy steel beams and Bone Structure, a lightweight modular steel structural system from Canada, for helping him achieve his plan while still being environmentally friendly. (Bone Structure is made of 89% recycled material and produces minimal waste on a building site.)

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Inside, the home is arranged in an elegant manner, with one space flowing into the next in a linear fashion: The living room flows into the kitchen, then the dining area and then an outdoor terrace, all connected by a northern corridor. From there, a southern corridor forms the spine for more private areas, including a den, three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The hallways ends in the master suite, which has its own, private garden. An exit on the southern hallway leads to an outdoor, solar-heated infinity pool and a lower-floor pool house outfitted with a kitchen, outdoor shower, outdoor grill and a music room.

Not only did the structural system help Brunn realize the four-bedroom, 4½-bathroom home but, because of the precision of its construction, it also produced a highly insulated interior space, which keeps temperatures relatively stable year-round, requiring less energy to warm the home during winter and cool it during summer.

Brunn incorporated as many environmentally conscious touches as possible into the design. His most significant efforts are the ones that are largely invisible.

“One of the things I’ve learned about zero net energy [construction] is that the biggest issue is actually user error. As an architect, you can design the best place possible, but if the homeowner uses it incorrectly, it’s gone,” Brunn said. “Here, inherently, you don’t have to do anything. Because of the passive qualities, it just works.”

Brunn arranged the home with the sun and land in mind. His care is seen throughout the home, in the solar panel system on the roof but also in the windows and their placement. All windows use Western Window Systems’ thermally broken aluminum and dual-pane low-E glass.The home’s major windows face north, which allow less heat gain while letting in a generous amount of light, decreasing energy consumption for artificial cooling and lighting.
Skylights and clerestory windows pierce the home’s double-height living room, showcasing an 11-by-14-foot living wall designed by Habitat Horticulture. Philodendron cordatum “Neon,” Phlebodium aureum (blue star fern) and Aeschynanthus radicans (lipstick plant) create the wall’s color and texture, while Nematanthus wettsteinii (goldfish plant) adds playful pops of bright orange. The plants were planted using Habitat Horticulture’s Growtex growing medium, made from 100% recycled plastic bottles, and they’re fed by an automated irrigation system that introduces the right amount of water and nutrients to the whole wall. Apart from creating a focal point, the green wall improves air quality in the home.

Further on, a floor-to-ceiling window by the kitchen and dining areas affords views of the land descending toward the brook.

The only exception to the architect’s rule is a large south-facing window that sits outside the master suite’s doorway. It’s there so that in the morning, as Brunn gets out of bed, he is greeted by a naturally warmed floor beneath his feet.

Other windows throughout the home create what Brunn calls his “free art”: a layered landscape of wilderness outside. Unlike many prim and proper gardens, Brunn’s is made to feel as if it naturally belongs there. He recruited his graduate school colleague Julia Segal Shuart of Segal Shuart Landscape Architects to bring in lush greenery that would blend into the existing landscape.

Segal Shuart added native and adapted shrubs and trees such as Epilobium californicum (California fuschia), Eschscholzia californica (California poppy), Muhlenbergia rigens (deer grass), Ceanothus (California lilac), Platanus racemosa (Western sycamore) and Cercis occidentalis (Western redbud) to the landscape. The drought-tolerant plant palette she used needs only drip irrigation (a system invented in Israel, Brunn pointed out) to become established. Existing bamboo and mature trees were kept on the property, while new ones were added to frame views and add more privacy. Decomposed granite, rocks and gabions were added in larger areas to create open spaces and to reduce water needs on the site.
Brunn paid attention not only to the sun and the land but the water as well. “As a kid, to me, water always meant conserve, conserve, conserve,” he said.

He installed a Pentair reverse osmosis water system in the home, which filters out chlorine, lead and volatile organic chemicals in his drinking water, so he and his guests can drink water straight from the tap. The home’s Quatreau smart faucet also can produce chilled, sparkling or hot water out of the tap. No plastic water bottles are ever needed, said the architect, who knows that water bottle waste has huge consequences for the environment.

Brunn also installed a Pentair whole-house filtration system through the home’s main water line. The system filters out minerals, reducing hardness, iron staining and buildup. “I used to have to squeegee after I take a shower [in my previous home], but now nothing,” Brunn raved. “No water spots.”

Outside, custom-made permeable pavers from Concrete Collaborative on the property’s long driveway filter water through the soil, helping to naturally clean rainwater before it reaches the water table. The home’s rainwater harvester also adds to the home’s water supply.
Taken in concert, Brunn’s efforts to work with nature’s elements not only birthed an arresting piece of architecture but also challenge those who visit to think about what the home of the future could be — one that doesn’t shout futuristic but is thoughtfully responsive to its environment.

It wasn’t easy, Brunn admitted. Working with a new structural system entailed training his crew from MODAA Construction to execute it.

“It turns out that building a bridge isn’t a small feat,” Brunn said. The home has five types of foundations, which all needed to be aligned. The architect doesn’t yet know if he’s succeeded. Because of certification requirements, it will take about 10 months of monitoring before Brunn knows if he indeed was able to build a zero net energy home, but at least he knows he’s taken as many steps as possible toward that goal.

“I think as an architect you owe it to the planet to build conscientiously,” Brunn said. “It’s like an oath. If a doctor has the Hippocratic oath, architects have to have that oath too.”

EL TERRÓN, Panama — 

Bibles rest on a wooden altar next to percussion instruments — a guiro and a drum — in the room where a religious sect allegedly forced a pregnant woman and five of her children to walk through fire in this remote hamlet.

The makeshift sanctuary littered with muddy boots and scorched clothing belonged to a cult whose indigenous members professed to be “anointed by God” to sacrifice non-believers, even if the heretics were members of their own families, people in El Terrón say.

Seven villagers were slain by the cult last Monday, while 14 more were rescued the next day by police who found them bound and beaten in the temple, authorities have said. Several more villagers escaped with burns.

Nine villagers have been arrested and charged with murder, reportedly including a grandfather and two uncles of the five children who died alongside their pregnant mother and a neighbor.

“Nobody expected this,” said a distraught tribal leader, Evangelisto Santo.

El Terrón is nestled in the jungle of the indigenous Ngabé Buglé enclave on Panama’s Caribbean coast — and it is largely cut off from the modern world. Residents must walk hours along steep and muddy narrow roads to hail boats that can transport them along a river to other villages that have electricity, telephones, health clinics and a police presence.

Many in the community, which gets by growing yucca and rice, are Roman Catholics. The tiny mountain hamlet is home to about 300 people who live in palm-thatched huts. Many are related to one another.

Residents say they had largely ignored the religious group. The sect arose after a villager returned to the community several months ago following a stint abroad, bringing back unusual religious beliefs with him.

“People were dancing and singing and nobody paid attention because we knew that they were in the presence of God,” Santo said.

Nobody paid attention, that is, until one of the cult members announced that he had had a vision: Everyone in the hamlet had to repent their sins, or die.

Last weekend, members of “The New Light of God” sect began to drag victims to an improvised church, where they beat them into submission with sticks. Cult members stood ready with machetes to take down those who failed to repent to their satisfaction.

Farmer Josué González rescued two of his children — a 5-year-old girl and a 7-year-old boy — from the embers Monday, while a 15-year-old son managed to escape on his own.

Outnumbered, González sought help for his pregnant wife and five of their other children. By the time authorities arrived via helicopter Tuesday, González’s wife, the five children and a neighbor had been decapitated and buried.

The cult members charged in the case reportedly include González’s own father, and villagers say two of González’s brothers had declared themselves prophets of the cult. Authorities have not confirmed that González’s father and two brothers have been arrested.

“Within the logic of religious sacrifices in some extremist cults, there’s no greater proof of faith than to turn over the life of a loved one or family member,” said Andrew Chesnut, a professor of religious studies specializing in Latin America at Virginia Commonwealth University.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — 

People in a southern Puerto Rico city discovered a warehouse filled with water, cots and other unused emergency supplies, then set off a social media uproar Saturday when they broke in to retrieve goods as the area struggles to recover from a strong earthquake.

With anger spreading in the U.S. territory after video of the event in Ponce appeared on Facebook, Gov. Wanda Vázquez quickly fired the director of the island’s emergency management agency.

The governor said she had ordered an investigation after learning the emergency supplies had been piled in the warehouse since Hurricane Maria battered Puerto Rico in September 2017.

Vázquez said inaction by the fired official, Carlos Acevedo, was unacceptable.

“There are thousands of people who have made sacrifices to help those in the south, and it is unforgivable that resources were kept in the warehouse,” the governor said.

Puerto Rico’s secretary of state, Elmer Román, told reporters that Acevedo had not told him about the contents of the warehouse.

News of the warehouse spread after online blogger Lorenzo Delgado relayed live video on Facebook of people breaking into the building. The scene became chaotic at times as people pushed their way in and began distributing water, baby food and other goods to those affected by the earthquake.

Delgado later told reporters that he had received a tip about the warehouse, but did not say when.

The mayor of Ponce, María Meléndez, said she had not known about the warehouse and its contents.

“This is outrageous,” she said. “Everyone knows what us mayors went through after Hurricane Maria to try and get help to our cities and how we’ve worked these weeks to provide basic supplies to people affected by earthquakes. Those involved owe us an explanation.”

Inés Rivera, spokeswoman for the city of Ponce, told the Associated Press that the warehouse is owned by Puerto Rico’s Trade and Export Company. Officials with the company could not be reached for comment.

The information upset many in Puerto Rico already angry over the government’s botched response to Hurricane Maria, with similar incidents of supplies going unused and being uncovered months later.

Ponce is one of several cities in the island’s southern region hit by the recent 6.4 magnitude earthquake that killed one person and caused damage estimated to be more than $200 million. More than 7,000 people remain in shelters since the quake.

The governor said she has sent the Puerto Rican Senate her nomination of José Reyes, who oversees the National Guard in Puerto Rico, to be the new commissioner for the State Bureau for Emergency Management and Disaster Management.