Local teens and teen dance groups have the chance to shine in a dance competition hosted by MultiCare Center for Healthy Living. The competition is open to teens ages 14 to 18 in groups of three to each people. You don't have to be a pro dancer. The competition is open to all styles and skill levels of dance. Have fun with it. Get crazy. Or show off your serious side. Whatever the spirit moves you to do.

To enter, make a one-minute video of your performance. Post that video to YouTube. Then send the video link to Trixy Dorn at trixy.dorn@multicare.org. You must do this by Friday, Jan. 18.

Groups will be judged by a panel - which includes at least one professional dancer - on their cool use of clothing and accessories, innovation in dance style and overall creativity. The top three will go head to head on Feb. 6 at MultiCare Center's 13th annual "Do Something Healthy" event.

"The best part is a chance to perform in front of our celebrity judge, Derek Hough, from Dancing with the Stars," says Trixy Dorn, community events coordinator for MultiCare Center for Healthy Living.

"Do Something Healthy" is an evening event that includes a health fair, health screenings and a presentation by a special guest speaker. In the past, guests have included Jillian Michaels and Shaun White. This year, Dorn hopes to bring in at least 1,200 community members to the event.

THERE THEY GO A-WASSAILING, OR SOMETHING >>>

Tomorrow, burlesque troupe Gritty City Sirens will shimmy-shake its way through Tacoma bars, singing carols and spreading holiday cheer to those who drink beer.

And wine.

And booze.

The troupe's Caroling Pub Crawl launches at 7 p.m. inside Puget Sound Pizza, then hits The Office Bar & Grill, The Swiss, Jazzbones, Doyle's Public House on the hour, ending the shenanigans at The Mix around Midnight.

This won't be the usual burlesque eye-full (though sure to tantalize) as the Sirens intend to enliven the holiday spirit with some caroling - and all for a good cause. Every dollar donated will go to Pin-Ups Against Cancer Fund. If you purchase a raffle ticket, you'll be entered to win some cool prizes.

Goodie bags will also be given out at each stop.

Between the booze, the boobs and the benefit you're bound to get some of the warm 'n' fuzzies.

CAROLING PUB CRAWL, THURSDAY, DEC. 20, 7 P.M. UNTIL THE MIX KICKS YOU OUT, TACOMA, FACEBOOK EVENT

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 19 2012 >>>

1. The annual holiday party season can be a long and arduous one. It's like holiday parties always go one of two ways: either they are the most epic throwdown of the century, where legendary work-gossip anecdotes are born, or there are painfully awkward. Tonight at 7 p.m. the Mad Hat Tea Company hosts a Pre-Madness-Open-Shop-Party Thingy that could be epic - because it has rules: "You must bring a warm heart and a warm thought for others. You may bring fancy cookies, an hors d'oeuvre, beer, wine and a servant or two to follow you around the party whilst holding your glass, plate and napkin. A resting area for all servants will be provided. You may not bring the past, meatloaf, a blue tooth on your head and tea. Feel free to wear a hat and or pearls."

2. The TEARS Foundation staff and volunteers will hold a candlelight vigil in honor of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting at 6 p.m. at Carson Elementary School, 8615 184th St. E., Puyallup. The vigil will include music, prayer, naming of victims and a moment of silence to honor the families. Candles will be provided along with green and white ribbons representing Sand Hook's school colors.

3. Tis the season for holiday parties! From 7-10 p.m. Fish Tale Brew Pub will host its 13th Annual Holiday Brass Bash. There will be horns-a-hooting, Santa-a-sitting, nibble noshing and all for a good cause. This fundraising party benefits the Thurston County Food Bank. Cash, checks and non-perishable food donations are accepted. Last year Fish Tale raised $800 and collected more than 200 food items. They're hoping to squash that with a new record. Andy Omdahl and his talented group of horn-playing pals will fill the pub with Holiday music and cheer.

4. Bronn and Katherine Journey go off on the harp in their annual Christmas Concert at 7:30 p.m. inside the Olympia High School.

5. R&B songstress Kim Archer performs at 8 p.m. inside The Mix. Now that sounds quite lovely.

LINK: Wednesday, Dec. 19 arts and entertainment events in the South Puget Sound

MONDAY, DEC. 17, 2012 >>>

1. Oh yes, it is winter. Instead of allowing your hostility toward cold and snow and Mother Nature build and build (a destructive practice that may surely only result in tragedy, namely the increased proliferation of strip malls and other nature-defying-structures across our fair South Sound), make your peace. Experience the beauty of nature during the colder months. Join a park ranger to learn the art of snowshoeing and discover how plants, animals, and people adapt to the challenging winter conditions at Mount Rainier. Snowshoe walks daily at 12:30 and 2:30 p.m. Warning: Call 360.569.6575 for more information, because Mother Nature is freaking out today.

2. Only eight more shopping days left ... so begins the jolliest (and undeniably the most stressful) time of the year. Especially these days, with the economy wallowing in the shitter. Santa has local gift ideas for your mom/aunt/significant other/sibling/bus driver/favorite local vagrant/bossman/whomever over on his Santa Says Blog.

3. Tired of boring old posters on your living space walls? The folks at State of the Arts Gallery in Olympia, which specializes in selling art created by Northwest and regional artists, has some interesting alternatives as part of its 21st Annual Deck The Walls & More show, which is open today from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. - normally closed on Mondays.

4. You're sick and tired of driving through the neighborhood looking at the homes of people who think they deserve an award for their light displays. You deserve to take a night to go see ZooLights at Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium. Billed as the region's biggest walk-through light show, ZooLights includes animated light sculptures, live entertainment, snacks, animal encounters and the Paul Titus Carousel. While enjoying your stroll, be thankful you're not in charge of this holiday light display. The lights flip on at 5 p.m.

5. MLKBallet presents Mistletoes - a holiday fundraiser extravaganza featuring a cupcake and wine walk, raffles, holiday crafts, classic holiday movies and performances from MLKBallet students from 6-8 p.m. at urban Grace, 902 Market St. All proceeds from the $10 suggested donation benefit MLKBallet's tuition free dance training program.

LINK: Monday, Dec. 17 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

FRIDAY, DEC. 14 2012 >>>

1. After 17 years of Stardust holiday schmaltz-fests, Harlequin director Linda Whitney outsourced her holiday revue-writing to James Hindman and Ray Roderick of Miracle or 2 Productions, authors of 2003's A Christmas Survival Guide. From a critical standpoint, it's a welcome change, especially since this anthology's aimed squarely at cynical adults weary of the hustle, bustle, and rabid commercialism of 21st-century holidays. It plays to the Whitneys' principal strengths: live pop music, technical design and intelligence (in no particular order). It also introduces diminutive spitfire Amy Shephard, newly returned from grad school at Exeter, to the Harlequin stage, where she joins revue regulars Antonía Darlene and Christian Doyle at 8 p.m. Read Christian Carvajal's full review of A Christmas Survival Guide in the Weekly Volcano's Arts section.

2. Tonight at 7 p.m. the Happy Sock Club will collect Happy Socks (colorful wool or cotton socks) and donations for The Toy Rescue Mission at Cork! Wine Bar. TRM serves Tacoma and Pierce County infants, children and teens during the holiday season every year. Everyone is welcome to attend, especially if you bring Happy Socks.

3. The Weekly Volcano is not here to make this stuff up. Truth happens. Reality pinches, rides up, makes you start and shiver in utter amazement. The Tacoma Noise Rodeo returns to treat the denizens of Sixth Avenue to experimental electronic music. No, not guitar feedback synced with loud Ultimate Fighting DVDs the neighbor kids cranks in his basement Friday nights. Rather, glorious modular synthesizers, patch cables and Commodore 64 machines producing extremely loudly, wicked alchemical magic, meaty pulsing rhythms, monster drone and giant washes of sound, all making you want to run a marathon while eating raw meat, naked. Epect Obscure Robot vs. Infrared, Black, Kord and a 45 minute free-form collective jam at 8 p.m. inside at Metronome Coffee.

4. Justin Stang, usually of Sideways Reign, and Jim Elenteny, ordinarily of Seattle band Nefarious Jones, unite to form the side project Science! We know three things about Stang and Elenteny: they were voted Best New Band in our 2012 Olympia poll, they're holding a CD release party at Southbay Dickerson's BBQ at 8 p.m., and their project is called Science! so they're approved, we suspect, by Thomas Dolby.

5. Downtown Olympia was rocked Dec. 3 by the senseless murder of one of its own, Casey Heath. Tonight at 9 p.m. inside the Urban Onion Restaurant & Lounge, Heath's longtime friends are throwing a benefit to help with the funeral costs, but more importantly, bring together the Downtown Olympia Community to remember a dear friend. Fitz of Depression, The Dirty Birds and C Average will join for an incredible night of music. There will be a suggested donation of $5.

LINK: Friday, Dec. 14 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

THURSDAY, DEC.12 2012 >>>

1. Legend has it that sake, the Japanese wine made from fermented rice, was originally called kuchikami no sake, which means "chewing in the mouth sake." An entire village would gather to chew up nuts, rice and other tasty grains and then spit the result into a tub, where the enzymes in the saliva would ferment the liquid for several days - or so the story goes. Fortunately, today's sake is made with more sanitary procedures. Sake doesn't get any tastier than what's on the shelves at TWOKOI Japanese Restaurant. And our mouths are full of saliva when we think about drinking a different sake a day for 12 days in a row, which we will do at TWOKOI through Christmas Eve. During its "12 Days of Sake," you will receive 30 percent off the bottle.

2. After work and dinner, and while your better half gets the kids to bed, why not get some holiday shopping out of the way at Tacoma's Antique Row? Thursdays, now through Christmas, the 70 merchants that make up Antique Row offer free parking after 6 p.m. and have extended hours until 8 p.m. So pick up the perfect book for your niece, grab an original framed local art piece for your mom, or find that great shabby chic nightstand for yourself.

3. Tacoma's Blue Mouse Theatre kicks the holiday season off in style at 6 p.m. a visit from Sanata followed by the classic, It's a Wonderful Life. Patrons are asked to donate food and/or cash to FISH Food Bank of Pierce County. If the sight of friends bringing money to bankrupt George Bailey doesn't move you to give, you're worse than crusty old Mr. Potter.

4. For years, trumpeter Rich Wetzel and his big band has been popping up in local bars and restaurants, introducing folks to jazz of years gone by, as well as a few current numbers. The one constant is his big blowout holiday shows where he expands his band to 30 musicians and plays music from A Stan Kenton Christmas. This year expect more mellophones at the 7:30 p.m. show at Tacoma Community College. Tickets are $10-$15.

5. Ladies and gents, tonight at The Royal Lounge, before your very eyes, is a lineup of epic proportions.  Free Whiskey, Smoke, Subversive Minds, Kyle Miller, Puget and "maybe" a guest performance by "somebody else" will hit the stage at 9 p.m. That "somebody else" may or may not have just gotten home from touring with Mackelmore and Ryan Lewis. That "somebody else" may or may not be Olympia-based bad ass, Xperience (XP).

LINK: Thursday, Dec. 13 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

SPIRIT OF THE SEASON >>>

The Weekly Volcano has said it many times. The Joshua Cain Band delivers swampy, gospel-inspired roots rock at its best.

The band also delivers toys.

It's true, but not in a delivery truck or Santa situation. They deliver the goods in a more rock star fashion.

"We have released a Christmas song and are donating the proceeds to a charity called Toys For Kids," says singer and bassist Josh Ott.

The band wanted to help kids have a better Christmas, and Toys For Kids is a local charity, which is important to The Joshua Cain Band. The band has a love affair with Tacoma.

"We originally recorded this song for a licensing deal but decided why not use it for good in the city we love," says Ott.

The song is "O Holy Night," which is one of Ott's favorite Christmas songs. He's always wanted to record it.

"I think the message in the song would represent charity well in that it talks about love for our brother, which is what Christmas should embody," he explains.

Arranged, recorded, mixed and mastered in an impressive three-day span by Jason Ott at Grit City Studios, the song is vocal forward with strong harmonies.

The song is also public domain, which means no lawyers around the Christmas table.

Make your way over the river and through the woods to The Joshua Cain Bandcamp page, purchase the song for $1 and help a child have a merry Christmas.

WE SCENE IT >>>

There are many upsetting things about the Christmas and New Year's season -increased credit card debt, unresolved decades-long family pain, the spiritual vacuum at the core of our culture, trying to get into the spirit of things and on and on.

Thankfully, the South Sound music scene is still raging during the holiday season to keep us sane.

The Weekly Volcano dropped in on a few shows this past weekend, including two benefits.

First, Tacomans Najamonique Todd and Del Brown hosted their second Sound Icons show, this time focusing on the music of Jeff Buckley. Friday night at The New Frontier Lounge, Alex Tapia, Kurt Lindsay, Todd and Brown's band Wait In The Fire and Not From Brooklyn did Buckley right. Check out more photos and video from the show here.

Early Saturday evening, Kim Archer took to the Weekly Volcano's Electric Salchow Stage, performing for the ice skaters at the Franciscan Polar Plaza. See the photos and watch the videos of her performance here.

Later Saturday night, the Weekly Volcano dropped in on the Casey Heath benefit at McCoy's Tavern in downtown Tacoma. Click here for a brief backstory on Heath's tragic death. We snapped a few photos at the benefit as you can see above.

Last, we dropped in on the Euphoria Marie Sorensen Sunday night at The New Frontier Lounge. Bands played, henna ink got squeezed, fortunes were told and swag was auctioned off to benefit Sorensen, who was struck by a truck while crossing the street in October. To see more photos from the benefit, and to learn how to contribute, click here.

Hope everyone had an awesome weekend.

LINK: Live music headed our way this week

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SATURDAY, DEC. 8 2012 >>>

1. Imagine soulful music of yesterday being forcibly pumped out of Janis Joplin's larynx and then lathered with the silkiest velvet, and you've a pretty good idea of the kind of groove Kim Archer can make. Archer has a strong, emotional voice, a robust musical sense and a willingness to work outside the tightly proscribed boundaries of the genre. Tonight, from 7-9 p.m. you may ice skate to Archer's heavy soul and groove when she performs at the Weekly Volcano's electric Salchow Stage inside the ice rink at the Franciscan Polar Plaza. They'll be dancing on the ice tonight.

2. Christmas shopping can be fun — especially when you dress up the shopping environment like a Victorian English town, make it feel authentic with roving, costumed entertainers, town criers and carolers, and fill it with beautiful handmade gift items and scrumptious food. You’ll get all that at the Dickens Festival at Stadium, a period-piece shopping experience in Tacoma’s Stadium District from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dickens Festival at Stadium concludes with the Dickens Ball inside the Titus Will Showroom. From 6-9:30 p.m. The Fat Tones will fill the dealership with rockin' blues.

3. To inject a little spirit and a lot of youth in our veins, the Weekly Volcano is headed to the Freighthouse Square Saturday for its annual Family Holiday Event featuring $5 Santa photos, holiday craft bazaar, Lego display, carolers, DIY craft tables, Winter Wonderland Model Train exhibit and more for noon to 4 p.m.

4. This holiday season, step away from the shopping madness at the malls and try something different - a shopping tour brought to you by Tacoma ART BUS and Go Local Tacoma. Today's bus tour is hosted by Tacoma City Councilmember and president of the Tacoma Urban League Victoria Woodards. The tour boards at Tacoma Art Museum between 3:30 and 3:55 p.m. and leaves at 4. Tickets are $10 via Brown Paper Tickets, or $20 if you want a swag bag. Again, you'll get the passport and must shop at five participating businesses to enter the raffle. Since you'll have wheels for this tour, businesses are as far-flung as Sixth Avenue, the Dome District and South Tacoma Way.

5. Downtown Olympia was rocked Monday night by the senseless murder of one of its own, Casey Heath. Tonight at 9 p.m. inside McCoy's Tavern, Heath's longtime friends are throwing a benefit to help with the funeral costs, but more importantly, bring together the Downtown Olympia Community to remember a dear friend. The Resident Kings, Little Red Car Wreck and The Have At Its join McCoy's staples AKA & The Heart Hurt Goods and DJ Slimrock for an incredible night of music. There will be a suggested donation of $5 (but any amount, more or less, is welcome) and no one will be turned away at the door.

PLUS: The Hilltop Artists Holiday Glass Sale and Duck The Malls in our Weekend Hustle

LINK: Saturday, Dec. 8 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area

FRIDAY, DEC. 7 2012 >>>

1. BARE Tacoma - Holiday, an a cappella performance Friday night at the Immanuel Presbyterian Church, presents 12 performers ranging from Tacoma School of Arts students to Northwest indie favorites such as Shenandoah Davis, Noah Gunderson, Sean Nelson (of Harvey Danger), Luke Stevens, Goldfinch, Colin Reynolds, Elk & Boar, Hannalee, Eternal Fair and others busting out a holiday song or two, as well as share their own songs and covers.

2. Bates Technical College's Fire Service program, and Santa Silvia, are hosting toy drives today. This morning, in the cold, the Bates crew and volunteers are canvasing Yakima Avenue from 11^th to Earnest S. Brazill streets from 6:30-10 a.m. collecting cash to buy food and toys for the needs. Fire Service students will continue the annual tradition of performing push-ups for donations, which is nice. From noon to 7 p.m. at the Varsity Grill in downtown Tacoma Silvia Cordova-Tapia will collect toys for the sick kids at Mary Bridge Children's Hospital. For 12 years Santa Silvia, as she is known throughout the halls of Mary Bridge, has collected toys for the kids.

3. You want some damn Christmas magic and you'll get it from Miracle on 34th Street, Tacoma Little Theatre's big-hearted paean to the man with the bag, which hits the stage at 7:30 p.m. Read Christian Carvajal's full review of Tacoma Little Theatre's Miracle on 34^th Street in the Weekly Volcano's Arts section.

4. The Jeff Buckley tribute show at 9 p.m. inside The New Frontier Lounge features Kurt Lindsay, RowHouse and Not From Brooklyn. It's the premiere Jeff Buckley event of the moment,and it's going to be awesome.

5. The Bucharest Drinking Team, a band that borrows stylistically from great Balkan brass bands like Fanfare Ciocarlia and Boban Markovic, mixes in a liberal shot of Romanian folk music and a penchant for '80s disco from behind the Iron Curtain to bring you a high-proof Eastern Bloc Party, complete with dancing, drinking, and music. Klezmer orchestra Erev Rav delivers a kaleidoscope of original compositions and traditional melodies infused with funk, reggae, bee bop, rock and Latin rhythms. Tonight at 9 p.m. inside the Olympia Ballroom, the two bands face off with you as the winner.

LINK: Friday, Dec. 7 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area