Columnist John Katsilometes: A former cucumber farmer whose life has had twists and turns

Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2005 | 8:11 a.m.

Fabulous Las Vegas runs Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday in the Las Vegas Sun. Reach John Katsilometes at kats@lasvegassun.com or at (702) 259-2327 or (702) 812-9812.

The artist known as Amira might be the only Las Vegas entertainer to become wistful when observing a cucumber.

The 31-year-old native of Estonia (a former member of the Soviet Union that sits just below Finland) is billed as a "Former Soviet Cucumber Farmer Belly Dancer," and all of that is true.

Amira (real name: Kersti Dennis) grew up on a cucumber farm that had no indoor plumbing -- still doesn't, in fact. She picked cucumbers, which her father loaded into wooden barrels and submerged into an icy swamp for preservation. He later broke through the ice to retrieve the barrels and sold the cucumbers to shopkeepers in a nearby town.

And today Amira is a Las Vegas belly dancer.

"Everything is going completely great for me," she said last week.

In 1999 Amira connected with the an agency that provides opportunities in America for artistically inclined young people in Europe. After assorted travails in Las Vegas -- including staying in a host home she found less than hospitable -- Amira enrolled in a belly dance class and fell in love with the art form.

She turned out to be a natural, and today Amira conducts belly dance workshops and frequently performs onstage. At 7:30 p.m. Wednesday she will be featured in "Fiesta Flamenca," starring Antonio Vargas, at the Community College of Southern Nevada's Nicolas J. Horn Theatre. From 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday she conducts a workshop at Las Vegas Athletic Club at Eastern Avenue and Interstate 215.

"I have had some rough times, but now I am booked every weekend. I am teaching all over, and I love it," said Amira, who these days is as cool as a ... well, you know.

NoteMart

Investing in Ira: In making his return to local radio, Ira David Sternberg is employing Barry Manilow to open his new show, "Lunchtime With Ira, Live From the Las Vegas Hilton." The program debuts Monday at noon on KDWN 720-AM, and Manilow's song "Here's to Las Vegas" is the opening theme music (Manilow is also the Hilton's resident headliner).

Sternberg's show will originate from the Shimmer Cabaret. Guests include Las Vegas newsmakers, celebrities and media types. Sternberg is also planning to invite members of Southern Nevada nonprofit organizations to speak about their various charitable causes ...

Beth of show: UNLV dance professor and composer Beth Mehocic recently returned from Beijing, where she took part in the World Conference of Poetry. One of just 100 poets from around the world to be invited to the conference, Mehocic performed two pieces and won a gold medal for Innovation in Digital Video Art & Dance ...

MSPINKY lives: Remember MSPINKY? It was the vanity license plate I spotted a couple of weeks ago on South Jones Boulevard. The frame said, "Real Grannies Play Senior Softball," and I asked the driver of the Saturn VUE bearing the plate to call me with her story. Well, Monday I got a call from Loreen Rogers, a secretary at Colo Warehouse (and a good left-fielder) who told me all about her 50-over women's softball team, Class Act.

The team plays six or seven tournaments, mostly in California and Arizona, each year. It is fully self-supporting and is in need of both a sponsor and a coach; second baseman/outfielder/Flamingo Las Vegas pit boss Kathy Kluver has been filling in as interim coach. Each summer the 11-member squad attends the Women's Huntsman Senior Games in St. George, Utah, and last year won its age-division championship.