KEVIN B. KLAUS/ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT Dance senior Anton Smith practices his dance routine last night at Dance West at 733 E. Rosewood St. Smith, along with three others, will be performing on Saturday at the Border Festival at Centennial Hall from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m.

A brilliant mix of art and cultures will meet and mingle at UAPresents' B0order Festival on Saturday. The free event will include cultural activities and performances for all to enjoy both in and around Centennial Hall from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Formerly known as the African Arts Festival, this year's Border Festival will include cultural and artistic contributions from Native American and Mexican American performers.

"Last year we had a really strong season of African dance and drumming," said Anthea Scouffas, UAPresents program coordinator. "This year I felt it would be better to expand it by exploring our other communities."

In addition to local acts, UA students will perform at the Border Festival, including dance senior Anton Smith, founder of the dance group Human Project.

Smith said Scouffas invited the Human Project to perform at the African Arts Festival last year because she wanted to make sure "American culture was represented in addition to African culture."

As the creator of "tri/R/archy," a Human Project presentation, Smith said he and his three-piece dance troupe will perform a combination of hip-hop, African and modern dance at this year's Border Festival.

"We started about three years ago and we just decided that there was a void in hip-hop dance where we felt like a lot of it was really kind of lacking the artistic steps that other dances had, like modern dance, African dance and even some ballet companies," Smith said. "And we kinda felt like we could bring the same excitement to the stage that hip-hop has, but [in] a totally different artistic vision that it hasn't done before."

The hip-hop piece will incorporate modern music spun by a DJ, but a more traditional African piece will include a live drummer.

Other dance performances will be even more traditional, including that of the Barbea Williams Performance Company. It is Arizona's first African dance company, according to founder Barbea Williams, who has taught dance at UA for two years.

For thirty years, Williams' company has offered classes in African dance, theater, and other art forms. With a nine-piece dance troupe and three percussionists, Williams will be performing a medley of West African and Caribbean dance for the Border Festival.

Before performing in the main hall with her dance company, Williams said she will teach audience members to perform African Haitian as part of the bicentennial celebration of Haiti's independence from France.

With her son, Beyah Williams Rasool playing percussion, Williams will also perform Sonia Sanchez's "How the Rain was Made," a folktale Williams said is about "a torrid love affair between the sun and the sea."

"I chose this mostly because of the theme," Williams said. "I think it transcends borders."

Though the dance is a solo performance, Williams said audience involvement will be a part of it.

The many Border Festival performances will include other African dance companies including the Dambe Project and the West African Drum and Dance Group Tradition in Motion.

Other dance groups include the Zuzi Dance Company and Ballet Folklorico San Juan.

Los Chanquitos Feos (The Ugly Little Monkeys), a Mariachi band that was started in Tucson 40 years ago, will perform on stage.

The Panther Creek Singers, an intertribal Native American group, will also perform two sets on the main stage.

Outside Centennial Hall will feature activities including storytelling, face painting, village drumming circles from the AZ Rhythm Company, and free classes in African dance, Ballet Folklorico and Pow Wow etiquette.

There will be ticket giveaways at the Border Festival and hourly tours of Centennial Hall.