World Cultures Day: A Celebration of Diversity will give Mt. Lebanon High School students a peek at and a taste of other countries Saturday.

Students will learn about other cultures by watching seven performances, and by sampling wares at 13 booths in the school's courtyard.

Maura D'Alo, who teaches world cultures, arranged the event for the second year. "All 10th graders take world cultures, but the day is open to all students," she said.

Tables will be set up with information about Poland, Korea, Saudi Arabia and Ireland. Indian henna tattooing and a Japanese tea ceremony will be demonstrated. There will be ethnic food to sample.

Different nationalities will perform, mostly in music and dance, D'Alo said. "There will be bagpipes, African drummers, Latin American music, a Caribbean steel drum band, belly dancers, demonstrations of karate and tai chi."

This is where David Clippinger, of Mt. Lebanon, steps in with The Role of Tai Chi and Buddhism in China: A Lecture and Demonstration. He will cover the history of Buddhism and its relationship to tai chi, which he will demonstrate.

Tai chi is a Chinese system of physical exercises designed especially for meditation and for the development of self-discipline and a sense of well-being.

"The idea is to give the students an authentic taste of moving meditation, how that is used in spiritual practices," he said.

"Tai chi is a form of moving meditation, drawing on the same focus of deep breathing and body awareness as seated meditation in order to cultivate a deeper awareness of the self."

Clippinger will take his skills and those of about 30 of his students from Still Mountain School in Mt. Lebanon to another free public event from 1 to 3 p.m. April 30, in Bird Park, near the fire pit.

World Tai Chi Day will be observed with practitioners, called "players," practicing their art.

"My approach is to seek to cultivate the entire person and not just strengthen the body through martial practice," he said. "Tai chi, in its purest form, embodies martial, health and spiritual training."

Clippinger has years of experience in martial arts and extensive training in tai chi, Taoism and Buddhism. He will receive final ordination as a Buddhist monk June 29.

Before starting his own business designing educational programs and promoting lifetime learning for the Pennsylvania Humanities Council, he taught at Penn State University. A lecturer on arts topics, he is a poet and writer of scholarly books.

The council recently gave a grant to the Dormont Public Library for a literary discussion group in fiction, which Clippinger leads.

He also provides free instruction on how to meditate, as well as an overview of Buddhist principles, at a 7 p.m. meeting every Wednesday in the Unitarian Universalist Church of the South Hills. A special Introduction to Zen session will be held May 21 and it is open to anyone.

For more information, call Clippinger at 412-480-9177.