Two-Step: With competitions and workshops, the All...

Two-Step: With competitions and workshops, the All Valley Country Dance Festival this weekend at Cal State Northridge offers something for veterans and greenhorns alike (F1A). Mike Bendavid, a dance teacher, recalls that he converted to the two-step because “you could hang onto a girl.”

Tell All: Paula Cole sees her songs as “snapshots of my life.” Of her new album, “This Fire,” she says: “I’m a little nervous about putting it out there--but it’s honest.” To gather insight into her thoughts, she will sing Friday at the Starlight Bowl in Burbank. (F1B).

Broadway Gone: The Broadway at Northridge Fashion Center was rebuilt after the 1994 quake, but could not survive another shock: last year’s buyout by Federated Department Stores. The store quietly closed its doors Sunday. No word yet from the mall’s owner, which is negotiating to buy the site and build a movie theater megaplex.

Flip-Flop: The manager of Li-Ning’s International Gymnastics Academy expected the Chinese gymnastics team to pay a post-Olympic visit to his Chatsworth facility. Now, John Kong says the team canceled for security reasons. Owner Li-Ning, a three-time gold medalist who defected to the U.S, is an Olympic judge.