By Lookout Staff

July 22, 2011 – Latin culture aficionados and those who just want to learn more can enjoy two special treats this weekend in Santa Monica.

First, “Tango on a Summer's Eve,” – the name alone exudes delightful sensuality.

Saturday night, The Vintage Tango Ensemble will recreate historic concerts, blending tangos, milongas and music with an Hispanic flair.

The setting – the Jose Mojica Hacienda, a Spanish-style home shaded by fine old native trees – is nestled in Santa Monica Canyon at 565 Dryad Road.

The Hacienda houses the La Senora Research Institute, which hosts musical events, films and historical presentations that bring to life the Californiano culture of the land grant families who settled Santa Monica.

The evening includes a reception with hors d'oeuvres and wine, a time to explore the historic
setting, and closes with dessert and coffee.

The music begins at 6:30 p.m. Saturday evening, July 23. To reach the Hacienda from Santa Monica, take 7th Street across San Vicente Boulevard. Start down the hill and, while on the big curve, turn right onto San Lorenzo.

Tickets to Saturday's concert cost $60. For more information, call (310) 454-0706 or go to the La Senora Research Institute website.

Then Sunday afternoon, the Santa Monica Conservancy presents “Preserving Old Havana: Conservation and Tourism in Today's Cuba,” an illustrated lecture by Dr. Ken Breisch.

Breisch's lecture will explore the Old Havana district, now named a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Thanks to Cuba's 1959 revolution, some 4,000 architecturally significant buildings – including art deco and modernist drinking and gambling meccas built by mob money – were frozen in time.

Now, a government-sponsored program is underway to restore them from decay.

"All this forms a very interesting experiment in the employment of cultural tourism to help revitalize the country's economy and urban neighborhoods," says Dr. Breisch, "while at the same time maintaining a vital sense of community within the historic core of Havana."

The lecture will begin at 3 p.m. Sunday, July 24, in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Auditorium at the Santa Monica Main Library, 601 Santa Monica Boulevard. Parking is available for $3 in the library's underground parking structure.

Reservations are recommended. You may register online or by calling 310-496-3146.