Feb
23
Thu
Gardens of Secret Delight: French Gardens Before and After Hausmann’s Paris @ Hillwood
Feb 23 @ 5:30 PM – 8:00 PM

Gardens of Secret Delight: French Gardens Before and After Hausmann’s Paris

Thursday, February 23, 2017, 5:30-8 p.m.

Architecture and design editor and writer Zahid Sardar, will discuss how the melding of classical French symmetry with asymmetrical British landscape notions led to modern Parisian park forms and a new urban infrastructure.

$20, $10 Hillwood member, $7 student

www.HillwoodMuseum.org

4155 Linnean Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20008

Feb
27
Mon
Get In The Way, The Journey of John Lewis @ Edlavitch DCJCC
Feb 27 @ 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM

On Monday, February 27, the Edlavitch DCJCC will screen Get In The Way, The Journey of John Lewis, a biographical film about the revered civil rights leader and U.S. Congressman. The movie focuses on Lewis’ leadership in the peaceful protest movement that sought voting rights for African-Americans in the South.

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton will speak to the audience following the film about civil rights, human rights, and her experiences working with Lewis as the District’s representative for fourteen terms.

 

This screening is the second film in a three-part series called “Race, History and Community: A Series Focusing on Race and Justice in America.”

 

DATE:              Monday, February 27, 2017

TIME:               7 p.m. – 9 p.m.

LOCATION:      Edlavitch DCJCC, 1529 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036

 

WHAT:            Film Screening: Get In The Way, The Journey of John Lewis

Presentation by Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton

 

The Edlavitch DCJCC is presenting this film series in partnership with the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, the American Jewish Committee (AJC), the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the Adas Israel Congregation Racial Justice Working Group, and Sixth & I.

 

Ticket Info:     $13.50

Program and ticket details available here

Mar
19
Sun
20th Anniversary Millennium Stage Kennedy Center @ Kennedy Center Millenium Stage
Mar 19 @ 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announces a free celebration of the 20th anniversary of Millennium Stage to thank the audiences, artists, donors, staff, ushers, fellows, and more who have made this one-of-a-kind venture a continued, resounding success. The March 19event, utilizing both the north and south stages, will feature performances by Celtic rock band Scythian and New Orleans funk band Big Sam’s Funky Nation in a massive party overtaking the Center’s Grand Foyer.

Founded in 1997 by former Kennedy Center Board Chair James A. Johnson, the Millennium Stage remains the only venue in the world to offer a free performance every day of the year that is also streamed live on the web, fulfilling the Center’s mission of making the performing arts available to everyone. It has proven to be a perfect representation of the diverse and multifaceted performing arts offered by the Kennedy Center, with such past performers as Gladys Knight, Christoph Eschenbach, Aaron Goldman, Manzari Brothers, Norah Jones, Aretha Franklin, India.Arie, Circo Para Todos, Phil Wiggins, Smokey Robinson, and Kailash Kher & Kailasa.

In the past two decades, more than three million audience members from the D.C. area, across the U.S., and around the world have attended a Millennium Stage performance, with countless others experiencing these shows via the live stream. This special event is part of JFKC: A Centennial Celebration of John F. Kennedy, the Kennedy Center’s yearlong programming initiative marking the 100th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s birth and legacy, inspired by five ideals frequently attributed to America’s 35th President:Courage, Freedom, Justice, Service, and Gratitude. JFKC programming continues through the end of 2017.

“All of us at the Kennedy Center are incredibly grateful to our audiences for their enthusiastic support of Millennium Stage. In the past two decades more than 7,000 artists from across the globe have been presented, representing a diverse breadth of genres from established artistic traditions to the latest frontiers of performance,” said Deborah F. Rutter, President of the Kennedy Center. “Jim Johnson had a vision for what accessibility to the arts might look like. What resulted in our beloved Millennium Stage 20 years ago was brilliant and ahead of its time.”

The night will kick-off at 5:00 p.m. with a happy hour in the Grand Foyer, featuring half price beer and house wine. The first 1,000 guests at the happy hour will receive a special commemorative Millennium Stage 20th Anniversary t-shirt. Performances begin at 6:00 p.m. with Scythian, a band that plays roots music from Celtic, Eastern European, and Appalachian traditions with a thunderous energy that beckons crowds into a barn-dance, rock concert experience. Immediately following, at 7:00 p.m., the party will continue with Big Sam’s Funky Nation, a group of world-class musicians that are a driving force of urban funk, melding funk, rock & roll, Hip Hop, and jazz, gluing everything together with a brassy influence. For more information, visit tkc.co/mstage.

Mar
23
Thu
Library of Congress Disco Symposium @ Library of Congress
Mar 23 @ 1:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Library of Congress logo

NEWS from the LIBRARY of CONGRESS
March 23, 2017

Press contact:  Bryonna Head, Office of Communications (202) 707-3073, bhea@loc.gov
Public contact: Concert Line (202) 707-5502
Website: Registration for downloadable images in online press kit
Request ADA accommodations five business days in advance at (202) 707-6362 or ada@loc.gov.   

 

Library to Host Series of Disco Events

Line-up includes Gloria Gaynor, Tim Gunn

The Library of Congress is presenting a series of disco-themed events to celebrate and memorialize the era of the mid-1970s and early 1980s that changed American art, fashion, language and sound. “Bibliodiscotheque” will include two months of programs such as film screenings, lectures and a symposium followed by a disco party featuring Gloria Gaynor.

“The disco era has left a lasting mark on our culture,” said Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. “The music, the clothes, those fantastic disco balls – they are a part of Americana that new generations are still discovering and embracing. I am so thrilled to announce these events and the incredible line-up of guests we will have at the Library in the coming months as we celebrate the era of disco and share related items from the Library’s collections.”

Nearly 40 years have passed since the heyday of platform shoes and dazzling disco balls, but disco is recognized as a phenomenon that redefined cultural norms across the United States. “Lest anyone think that disco was an aberrant moment in the ’70’s. Disco culture is inextricable from the history of 20th century fashion,” said Emmy award-winning fashion icon, Tim Gunn. “Its representation in the Library of Congress not only legitimizes the genre, but fully validates it.”

 The Library of Congress holds significant collection materials in various formats that showcase the American disco experience. These items will be on display for the duration of this series. Programming includes screenings of disco-influenced films as well as lectures and panel discussions presented by cultural experts, such as author, producer and fashion icon Tim Gunn, who will present a lecture on the influence of disco fashion followed by a book signing.  The series will conclude with a symposium featuring the disco singing sensation Gloria Gaynor, followed by an evening extravaganza with a live performance.

Gaynor will discuss and sign her new book, “We Will Survive: True Stories of Encouragement, Inspiration, and the Power of Song.” The book’s title harkens back to her 1978 classic “I Will Survive” which was selected for preservation in 2016 for the National Recording Registry. In “We Will Survive,” Gaynor shares 40 inspirational, true stories about survivors of all kinds — individuals who have found comfort, hope, and courage through the power of that song.

“I am thrilled that the Library of Congress has found my role in American music worthy to be commemorated by the inclusion of my recording of “I Will Survive” in the National Recording Registry,” said Gaynor. “I look forward with great anticipation to my concert at the Library of Congress “Bibliodiscotheque.”

Events are free and open to the public. Free tickets are required for admission to all activities. Tickets will be available beginning at 10:00 a.m. on March 30at this website. A limited number of press credentials will also be available for reservation. The deadline to reserve credentials for lectures, the symposium, and the dance party is Friday, April 28. Some of the events will be live-streamed on the Library’s Facebook page at facebook.com/libraryofcongress and its YouTube channel at youtube.com/LibraryOfCongress. All programs will take place at the Library’s Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First St. S.E., or at its James Madison Memorial Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., both in Washington, D.C.

The excitement can be followed on Twitter at @librarycongress and #LCDisco.

 

The Library’s programming will include: 

Symposium*

 

Saturday, May 6
1 p.m. (Coolidge Auditorium)
Library of Congress “Bibliodiscotheque” Symposium
Explore the history of disco music, dance and culture in this afternoon symposium that features appearances by Gloria Gaynor, Good Morning America host Robin Roberts, distinguished music scholars Martin Scherzinger and Alice Echols, photographer Bill Bernstein, and Yolanda Baker, the only disco ball maker in the United States. A book-signing will follow.

Presented in association with the Library of Congress Music and Prints & Photographs Divisions, and Veterans History Project, with additional support from The Recording Academy.

 

1 p.m. “The Craft of Making Disco Balls”
Yolanda Baker, Disco Ball Maker, Omega National Products
Toni Lehring, Omega National Products

 

1:30 p.m. “Two Perspectives on Beyoncé’s African Dance References”
Martin Scherzinger, Associate Professor of Media, Culture, and Communication, New York University

 

2 p.m. “Disco: The Bill Bernstein Photographs”
Bill Bernstein, Photographer

 

2:30 p.m. “Hot Stuff: Disco and the Remaking of American Culture”
Alice Echols, Barbra Streisand Professor of Contemporary Gender Studies and Professor of History and Gender Studies, University of Southern California

 

3 p.m. Panel Discussion
Bill Bernstein, Alice Echols, Martin Scherzinger

 

4 p.m. “Gloria Gaynor on “I Will Survive”
Gloria Gaynor, Vocalist
Robin Roberts, Good Morning America, Interviewer
Keynote interview with Gloria Gaynor, member of The Recording Academy New York Chapter Board of Governors and author of “We Will Survive,” a book of 40 individual “true stories of encouragement, inspiration, and the power of song.”

 

5 p.m. (Whittall Pavilion)
Book-Signing: Gloria Gaynor, Robin Roberts, Bill Bernstein and Alice Echols
Books will be available for purchase at the Library of Congress Gift Shop (Ground Floor, Thomas Jefferson Building) beginning at 9 a.m. on Saturday, May 6.

Free, tickets available, visit www.loc.gov/concerts/disco for more information.
*This event will be live streamed.

Mar
25
Sat
History Happy Hour: Cocktails in Cuba @ National Archives Foundation
Mar 25 @ 2:45 PM – 4:45 PM

As part of its partnership with award-winning bartender and Chief Spirits Advisor Derek Brown, the National Archives Foundation today announced a new 2017 event series focused on the role of alcohol in America’s history.

The series will kick off with Cocktails in Cuba on March 25, 2017. The United States may have invented the cocktail, but it wasn’t long before it became entwined with the island nation of Cuba, especially through the invention of two of the world’s most recognized libations—the Daiquiri and Rum & Coke. Military intervention, organized crime and literary giants, all in the shadow of revolution, mark the fascinating history of these drinks. Experts, along with one of Cuba’s most renowned bartenders, Julio Cabrera, will discuss cocktails, Cuba and the United States, past and present. This event, which will include a reception before the seminar, will be moderated by Brown, and sponsored by the 86 Spirits Company. Registration is open now and filling up fast, more information is available online here.

“We’re excited to continue our partnership with Chief Spirits Advisor Derek Brown with this new series,” said Patrick M. Madden, executive director of the Foundation. “Derek’s passion for history pairs perfectly with our mission to connect people to America’s story in exciting and unexpected ways.”

“From landing on Plymouth Rock in search of beer to creating the cocktail, the story of America could be easily told through the drinks it has both consumed and condemned. The chance to tell that story – not just with documents but through experts in the field – is unprecedented. I’m grateful to be a part of it,” said Brown.

The event series will also include Global Spirits: American Cocktails, on June 29, 2017. Hosted by the National Archives Foundation and The Tasting Panel MagazineGlobal Spirits: American Cocktails, will kick off several days of festivities celebrating July 4, 2017. Top mixologists will be tasked with the creation of an original cocktail inspired by classic American cocktails. As the bartenders blend their concoction for judges to taste, they will describe how they were inspired to create a modern take on an American classic. Guests will have the opportunity to taste exclusive cocktails created by eight of the top bartenders from around the country. A final event, Culinary Cocktails, will be held in September 2017 (details to follow).

In 2015, the National Archives Foundation and Brown partnered on a series of events in conjunction with the then-National Archives exhibit, Spirited Republic. Brown also curated a ten-part History of the Cocktail Series to discuss the role of spirits in U.S. history. Spirited Republic explored the federal government’s efforts, successes, and failures to change our drinking habits, from whiskey rations to the Continental Army to the Whiskey Rebellion to Prohibition and beyond. The exhibit used nearly 100 National Archives records and artifacts to show the evolution of the government’s alcohol policy over time, and to illustrate the wide variety of views about alcohol held by Americans.

Mar
30
Thu
An Evening with Friends and Fashion @ Hillwood
Mar 30 @ 5:30 PM – 8:30 PM

 

Thursday, March 30, 2017, 5:30-8:30 p.m.

This illustrated lecture will explore the historical and political context of American-Russian relations during Henry Middleton’s post as American Minister to Russia in the 1820s and 30s.

$30, $20 Hillwood member, $20 student

www.HillwoodMuseum.org

4155 Linnean Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20008

Apr
1
Sat
Rosé Romp @ Willard Intercontinental Hotel
Apr 1 @ 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM

The Willard InterContinental Washington, DC in partnership with Château d’Esclans, a prestigious estate and winery in Provence, France, will host its inaugural Rosé Romp on Saturday, April 1 from 1pm to 5pm. An official event of theNational Cherry Blossom Festival, the Rosé Romp honors Japan’s gifting of the cherry blossom trees to the city, while also celebrating the winery’s most iconic rosé wines. This elegant premier event will take place on the hotel’s outside terrace, replete with real cherry blossom trees, and feature all you can eat and drink, an exclusive ‘Art Walk’ with cherry blossom inspired artwork by local DC artists, and live music.

Guests are invited to dress in their most festive rosé attire as they sip delicious wines including Château d’Esclans wildly popular Whispering Angel Rosé, seasonal local beers, and other selections. “The idea to collaborate with the National Cherry Blossom Festival has been on my mind for many years, but as the rosé market continues to grow and Whispering Angel celebrates its 10th vintage, it is time to turn the vision into reality,” said winemaker Paul Chevalier.

Under Sacha Lichine’s leadership, Château d’Esclans now leads the luxury rosé category with Whispering Angel, Rock Angel, Les Clans and Garrus wines, the most exclusive rosé wines in the world. From the onset of his acquisition of Château d’Esclans in 2006, Lichine immediately set out to change the global perception of blush wines as unsophisticated and overly sweet, often closely associated with American white Zinfandel throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Born into winemaking as the son of acclaimed Bordeaux winemaker and writer Alexis Lichine, Sacha applied the wisdom and skills honed during his experience by investing in vinification technology and recruiting expert oenologist Patrick Léon. Whispering Angel – a benchmark for the delicate, fresh style of rosé that Sacha made famous – has grown into one of the most widely enjoyed rosés in the world, and shows no signs of slowing down.

Rosé Romp attendees will also be able to enjoy a variety of springtime inspired food stations by Executive Chef Peter Laufer and his team, including seared scallops on minted saffron couscous, salmon and pesto pinwheel on orzo pasta, and seared beef tenderloin on brioche toast with sauce béarnaise; as well as a seafood ice bar and a decadent dessert display sure to please one’s sweet tooth.

Entertainment will include an interactive ‘Art Walk’, featuring an exclusive presentation of cherry blossom inspired artwork from established and emerging artists from around DC, and live music by the Bachelor Boys, a premium five piece band.

All-inclusive tickets are $89.00 per person through March 1, when ticket prices will increase to $99.00. To purchase a ticket, please visithttps://roseromp.eventbrite.com call 202-628-9100 for more information.

 

Apr
12
Wed
’54’ Screening at Library of Congress @ Library of Congress
Apr 12 @ 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM

Wednesday, April 12 (7 p.m.)
“54 (Miramax, 1998, R-rated*)
An American drama film written and directed by Mark Christopher about Studio 54, a world-famous New York City disco club.

Events are free and open to the public. Free tickets are required for admission to all activities. Tickets will be available beginning at 10:00 a.m. on March 30at this website. A limited number of press credentials will also be available for reservation. The deadline to reserve credentials for lectures, the symposium, and the dance party is Friday, April 28. Some of the events will be live-streamed on the Library’s Facebook page at facebook.com/libraryofcongress and its YouTube channel at youtube.com/LibraryOfCongress. All programs will take place at the Library’s Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First St. S.E., or at its James Madison Memorial Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., both in Washington, D.C.

The excitement can be followed on Twitter at @librarycongress and #LCDisco.

 

 

 

May
6
Sat
Disco Dance Party @ Library of Congress
May 6 @ 7:00 PM – May 7 @ 12:30 AM

Disco Dance Party

7 p.m. -12:30 a.m. (Great Hall)
Gloria Gaynor Live: Disco Dance Party
The Library of Congress opens the doors of the Thomas Jefferson Building for LOC Disco Night, a celebration of the Library’s collections and the music of Gloria Gaynor, with an once-in-a-lifetime disco dance party in the historic Great Hall. Guests will have the opportunity to explore the Main Reading Room, meet curators, view special treasure displays, explore the Library’s exhibitions, and dance the night away. Gloria Gaynor and her band will kick off the evening with a live performance. Appearances by DJ Mike Simonetti and DJ Adrian Loving.

Free, tickets available, visit www.loc.gov/concerts/disco for more information.

May
21
Sun
Charlotte Hollister Annual Gala @ Arlington Arts Center
May 21 @ 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Charlotte Hollister Annual Gala

What: Charlotte Hollister Annual Gala at the Arlington Arts Center

Featuring: Jane Franklin Dance
When: Sunday, May 21, 2016 at 6:00 – 8:00 pm
Where: Arlington Arts Center, 3550 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, VA 22201

Directions to the Arlington Arts Center at DIRECTIONS

Details: About Charlotte Hollister Annual Gala
Join your creative peers for a classy, arts-filled evening at Arlington Arts Center in support of Jane Franklin Dance, a local nonprofit whose 2017-18 Season includes both cutting-edge collaborations and wide-ranging community outreach. Your discounted tickets earn you access to the event’s outdoor performance with live music by Mark Sylvester and vocal performance by Ashley Benes, wine tasting, light supper, interactive arts activities, and silent auction with items from dozens of local restaurants and retailers: Port City Brewing Company, Signature Theatre, Arena Stage, Potomac Riverboat Company, and many others. The Charlotte Hollister Annual Gala, which honors the memory of JFD’s former Board president, will take place Sunday, May 21 from 6 to 8 p.m.

Tickets: ONLINE – http://www.janefranklin.com,
at the door, or by phone 703-933-1111
Includes Admission, performance, light supper, silent auction, and wine tasting.

 $100 (VIP: online access to silent auction)
 $80 (at door)
 $60 (until May 1st)
 $40 (group and student discount)PLEASE PHONE 703.933.1111 TO PURCHASE