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
Yoga enthusiasts are getting ready to stretch as they listen to The American Pops Orchestra perform selections of early American folk music. Instructor Michael Peterson will guide attendees on a 70-minute journey through yoga and meditation on Saturday, April 13, beginning at 6 p.m. at the Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater-Molly Smith Study, 1101 Sixth St., SW, Washington, D.C.
Tickets are available at http://bit.ly/APOyoga
VIDA Fitness is teaming up with DC Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) to clean up the District while breaking a sweat for Earth Day. D.C residents are invited to join in the second annual Plogging event, picking up trash while jogging, as they run a preset two mile course beginning at Raymond Recreation Center.
Ploggers will be provided with trash bags and gloves to use as they run and pick up litter. VIDA Fitness and DPR will ensure appropriate disposal of all trash collected during the plogging event. This event is free and open to the public.
After plogging VIDA Fitness will provide snacks and drinks for all participants. Sign up is requested to ensure enough supplies are on hand for all ploggers.
WHEN: Saturday, April 20, 2019 at 10 a.m.
WHERE: Starting at Raymond Recreation Center VIDA Fitness and DPR will lead joggers on a designated two mile route through Northwest DC.
WHY: To clean up the trash and litter in the District in honor of Earth Day
HOW: Sign up at https://vidafitness.com/
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.
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.