WHAT: “We Choose to Go to the Moon” performance
WHEN: Wednesday, Saturday, Tuesday, Dec. 12, 15, 18
6:30–7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery
Eighth and G streets N.W.
WHO: Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dance Company
The National Portrait Gallery will present “We Choose to Go to the Moon,” a performance by the museum’s resident Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dance Company. Inspired by the Portrait Gallery’s “One Year: 1968, An American Odyssey” exhibition, which notably displays a portrait of the Apollo 8 astronauts, the performance reflects on America’s idealism around the space race, the mystery of the cosmos and the fragility of life.
“We Choose to Go to the Moon” was created in collaboration with NASA and includes sound bites from leading scientists and astronauts in addition to selections of pop culture music including “Stairway to Heaven” and “Fly Me to the Moon.” The title of the dance refers to a line from the 1962 speech by President John F. Kennedy about the national effort to land a man on the moon. This work was recently performed at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
The hotel will host a special Cookies with Santa event on its tented Rooftop from 11am to 3pm on Saturday, December 22. Families are invited to enjoy festive decorations, cookie and ornament decorating, and photos with Santa himself, all free of charge.
Step Afrika! launches its 25th anniversary at the Music Center at Strathmore with a retrospective of the Company’s best-loved works on Sunday, January 20, 2019 at 5 p.m. The performance continues Strathmore’s rich collaboration with Step Afrika!, started in 2014, to celebrate step by showcasing some of the art form’s best 
performers annually on its hallmark Music Center stage. The performance includes selected works from Step Afrika!’s history, including Wade,Passing 25, and Nxt/Stp: Hip Hop. The wide range of work demonstrates the versatility of step, connecting it to hip hop, African American spirituals, and South African traditional and contemporary dance forms. Dem Raider Boyz Step Squad of Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Prince George’s County will open the show; the troupe achieved national notoriety on NBC’s reality-competition show World of Dance in 2018. For more information call (301) 581-5100 or visitwww.strathmore.org.
Step Afrika! was founded in 1994 as the first professional company dedicated to the tradition of stepping. It now ranks as one of the top African American dance companies in the United States. The Company blends percussive dance styles practiced by historically African American fraternities and sororities, African traditional dance, and influences from a variety of other dance and art forms. Performances traditionally integrate song, storytelling, humor, and audience participation.
In 2019, Step Afrika! will launch its first tour in Ukraine and will return to South Africa in conjunction with the 25th anniversary of the historic election of President Nelson Mandela. Step Afrika! has performed at the White House for President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, headlining their Presidential Black History Month Reception, and is also featured prominently at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in the world’s first stepping interactive—a video installation where patrons can learn the basics of step straight from Step Afrika! instructors. They also brought a step showcase to New York’s famed theater district for the first time, with a three-week, sold-out engagement at the New Victory Theater.
The American Pops Orchestra will present An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly, a madcap retelling of the classic children’s story. Acclaimed singer, actress and comedian Hilary Morrow is sure to dazzle as the Old Lady whose appetite for strange objects transforms her quiet afternoon into a wildly spectacular tale! Don’t miss this classic story with a new interpretation written by APO’s most beloved and charming playwright, Broadway’s Claybourne Elder (currently starring in Torch Song on Broadway).
Tickets start at $17 and are available at http://bit.ly/OldLadyAPO.
WHEN: Saturday, Jan. 26, 2019
11:00 a.m.— Noon
WHERE: Arena Stage
Molly Smith Study
1101 6th St., SW
Washington, D.C.
APO, led by Maestro Luke Frazier, disrupts the status quo of traditional pops programming by bringing original, cutting edge productions focused on quality, fun and community engagement for the entire family
She A Gem
In this play by Josh Wilder, Krystin, Jaleesa, and Amber form a double-dutch team to compete in the neighborhood pageant. If they win, they will receive a special prize: their futures told by the local psychic. Will they become a “gem,” a special leader who cares for the neighborhood?
Tickets: $20
The University of Virginia Club of Washington DC will hold its Final Four Watch party at Mission Navy Yard on Saturday.
Starting at 11 am, the two-level enormous bar and restaurant located across from Nats Stadium will have beverage and food specials for the Virginia Cavaliers/Virginia Hoos fans.
$5.50 16 oz. Bud Light
$25 for a bucket (5) Bud Lights
$5 El Jimador shots
$6 Jack Daniels and Jack Honey
$3 Chorizo Sliders
Mission Navy Yard
1221 Van Street SE (across from the center field entrance to Nats Stadium)
Learn how the next generation of Baltimore’s artists and leaders are harnessing the power of creativity to tell their stories. As part of the day’s activities, attendees can create their own museum memes, buttons, and custom banners, learn how to screen print with Jubilee Arts: Youth in Business, and make a personalized zine with Baltimore Youth Arts. Special guests include the Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore Ceasefire, and Open Works. Performances include screenings with Wide Angle Youth Media, musical ensembles with two Arts Every Day schools, and the Lethal Ladies of Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women step team.
The day’s festivities include Behind the Façade, a program of original monologues by Baltimore School for the Arts theater students. Performed in 1 West Mount Vernon Place, this performance brings to life the range of people, enslaved and free, who made Mount Vernon their home in the years before and after the Civil War.
Presented in collaboration with Arts Every Day. Special thanks to MECU of Baltimore and the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts.
WHERE:
Walters Art Museum
600 North Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
WHEN:
Saturday, April 27, 2019
11 a.m.–4 p.m.
Melrose Georgetown Hotel’s Annual Derby Day Viewing Party. Guests are invited to experience the “Greatest Two Minutes in Sports” in Jardenea Lounge on Saturday, May 4, from 3-7 p.m., offering partygoers and racing enthusiasts an authentic Derby Day program including classic Derby cocktails and dining options.
Immerse yourself in all things Derby with a classic Mint Julep or indulgent Bacon Bourbon cocktail. A variety of themed light-bites will be offered during the viewing ranging from Country Ham & Biscuits, Bourbon Pecan Pie and a play on the traditional Kentucky Hot Brown with crisp tater-tots.
Friday, May 10, 2019, 5:30-8 p.m.
Embark on a magical adventure as you enjoy a selection of award-winning, family-friendly short films featuring all sorts of fun and fanciful stories.
