Getting Out! by the Standard-Examiner – GO! is a weekly publication serving the Top of Utah.

Cultural dance and music passed down from generation to generation is on display this weekend on the 2012 Living Traditions Festival's stages.

Showing off the diversity of the Beehive State, regional troupes with influences from the four corners of the globe perform throughout the three-day festival.

A dynamic group of headliners is also playing. On May 18, Ana Tijoux, the woman who is considered by many to be the best Spanish-language rapper, takes the stage. Born in France to a Chilean father, she returned to Chile as a teenager, learning to rap first in French and later in Spanish. She became a household name in Chile with her first band, Makiza. She also voiced the main character in a popular Chilean children's show, "Los Pulentos."

Tijoux has since gone solo, with a laid-back style and flow that echoes old-school hip-hop.

Following Tijoux is Mexican Institute of Sound, led by Mexico City deejay/producer Camilo Lara. The group combines sharp and witty lyrics with a music style that joins the beats of cumbia and other traditional Mexican music with electronica and hip-hop. On stage, the musicians combine their electronic experiments with a live drummer, deejay and bassist.

Special guest on May 19 is Michigan native and soul/blues legend Bettye LaVette. She has been a recording artist since the early '60s when, at 16, she recorded her first hit, "My Man -- He's a Lovin' Man," which was picked up by the powerhouse label Atlantic Records.

LaVette sang for a time with the James Brown Revue. She's appeared on Broadway in "Bubbling Brown Sugar." Though LaVette never went away, she made something of a stellar comback with 2005's Anti release, "I've Got My Own Hell to Pay."

The festival closes with a stone-blues set by Mississippi-born, Chicago-shaped harmonica maestro Charlie Musselwhite. Over his 40-plus year career, he has released more than 30 albums, and guested on recordings for artists like Eddie Vedder, INXS, Cyndi Lauper and John Lee Hooker.

May 18

North Stage

• 5 p.m. -- Harry James (Navajo music)
• 5:45 p.m. -- Chaskis (Andean music and dance)
• 7 p.m. -- Ana Tijoux (rap/hip-hop)
• 8:30 p.m. -- Mexican Institute of Sound (Mexican electronica meets traditional)

South Stage

• 5 p.m. -- KlezBros (Jewish and Gypsy music)
• 6 p.m. -- Pajaros Pintados (Uruguayan dance)
• 6:45 p.m. -- Celtic Country Dancers (Scottish dance)
• 7:30 p.m. -- Bazeen (North African music)
• 8:15 p.m. -- Utah Hispanic Dance Alliance (Latin music/dance)
• 9:15 p.m. -- Rumba Libre (Latin American music)

May 19

North Stage

• Noon -- Vientos del Sur (South American dance)
• 1 p.m. -- Swiss Chorus Edelweiss (Swiss music)
• 2 p.m. -- Fraternidad Salvadorena (Salvadoran dance)
• 2:25 p.m. -- Grupo Folklorico Ecuatoriano Desde la Mitad del Mundo (Ecuadoran dance)
• 3 p.m. -- Kausachun Peru (Peruvian dance)
• 4 p.m. -- Rinceoiri Don Spraoi (Irish dance)
• 4:45 p.m. -- New Zealand-American Society (Maori music)
• 5:45 p.m. -- Best of Africa (Rwanda and Burundi dance)
• 6:30 p.m. -- Tongan Free Wesleyan Church of America Brass Band (Tongan music/dance)
• 7:15 p.m. -- Salt Lake Scots (Scottish music)
• 8:30 p.m. -- Bettye LaVette (blues/soul headliner)

South Stage

• 12:45 p.m. -- PAAU (Filipino dance)
• 1:30 p.m. -- Nepalese Association of Utah (Nepalese dance)
• 1:55 p.m. -- Khemera Cambodian Dancers (Cambodian dance)
• 2:30 p.m. -- German Chorus Harmonie (German music)
• 3:15 p.m. -- Come Together (Brazilian music)
• 4:15 p.m. -- Lac Viet Band (Vietnamese music)
• 5 p.m. -- Latin Dance Heritage (Latin American dance)
• 6 p.m. -- Island Traditions (Polynesian dance)
• 6:45 p.m. -- Okinawa Kenjinkai (Okinawan dance)
• 7:30 p.m. -- Tibetan Association of Utah (Tibetan music/dance)
• 8:15 p.m. -- Dionysios Greek dancers (Greek dance)
• 9 p.m. -- Ballet Folklorico Citlali and Mariachi de Mi Tierra (Mexican music/dance)

May 20

North Stage

• Noon -- LIKHA (Filipino dance)
• 12:45 p.m. -- Kolo Bosnian Dancers (Bosnian music/dance)
• 1:45 p.m. -- Wat Dhammagunaran Dancers (Thai dance)
• 2:30 p.m. -- Kenshin Taiko Group (Japanese drumming)
• 3:30 p.m. -- Desert Wind (Jewish music)
• 4:30 p.m. -- Utah 'Ko Triskalariak (Basque music/dance)
• 5:30 p.m. -- Charlie Musselwhite (blues headliner)

South Stage

• Noon -- DiDinga Hills of Sudan (Sudanese, Watoto Wa Africa and Congolese dance)
• 1:15 p.m. -- Chris Dokos Band (Greek dance/music)
• 2:15 p.m. -- Rastko Serbian Dancers (Serbian dance)
• 3 p.m. -- Intertribal Pow-Wow Demonstration (American Indian music/dance)
• 5:30 p.m. -- Anton Family Band (Lebanese music)
• 6:15 p.m. -- Praise United Gospel Group (gospel music)