Best of the weekend

Best mind-opener

From pilates to feng shui and beyond, this event looks at ways to achieve health for the individual and the planet. The Visionary Living Show offers demonstrations, lectures, workshops and stalls filled with information on products and services. Speakers include British celebrity psychic Derek Acorah, holistic architect Reinhard Kanuka-Fuchs, and sustainable business expert Dr Elisabeth Sahtouris. The 100 seminars and demonstrations range from ghost-hunting to Japanese swordsmanship.

The Visionary Living Show - Auckland Showgrounds, continues today and tomorrow, tickets $15 adults, $10 under 12, under 5 free, open 10am-6pm.

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Best dance-off

It's 13 years since the first Salsa Latin Dance competition in Auckland and it's still going strong. The Auckland Town Hall turns Latin tonight as dancers battle it out for supremacy in a range of categories. Entrants will be judged on timing, presentation, style, choreography and, of course, audience reaction - so you best get along to cheer for your favourites. Following the competition there will be performances by the legendary salsa band Kantuta, along with the Latin Fever Dance Company, and the Youth Salsa Team. This one is bound to get the pulse racing.

Annual Salsa Latin Dance Competition 2005 - Auckland Town Hall, starts 8pm, tickets from Ticketek.

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Best visiting folks

Californian singer/harpist Joanna Newsom, a leader of folk revival, is bringing her unconventional sound to Auckland and Wellington. When her debut album, Milk-Eyed Mender, was released last year a Melbourne critic said her songs were "gifts from God". See what all the fuss is about tomorrow night at Auckland's Maidment. She's joined by underground idol Bill Callahan, aka Smog, who has 13 albums to his credit and promises to have the women dancing or crying by the end of the show.

Joanna Newsom and SMOG - Maidment Theatre, Auckland University tonight; Indigo Bar, Wellington, tomorrow; tickets through Ticketek.

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Best singalong

If you're always getting told to be quiet during movies, we have the event for you. Not only can you make noise, you're encouraged to sing along to a subtitled The Sound Of Music tonight at the Civic Theatre. Go on, admit it, you know the words to Do-Re-Mi - at least the first bit anyway. Get some friends together, dress up and celebrate the musical's 40th year. A host will guide you through the evening and awardi a prize for best-dressed. Get ready for nuns, the occasional baroness, and maybe a lonely goatherd.

Sing-a-long-a-Sound-of-Music - Civic Theatre, Auckland, tonight, 7pm, tickets through Ticketek.