WAMU: Art Beat

"Art Beat" with Stephanie Kaye - Weekend Events, March 19-21, 2010

artbeat@wamu.org — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 00:06:00 -0400

(March 19) LUNA NEGRA Cuban dance, culture, and composition coalesce in Danzon at the Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda tonight at 8. The alchemy of Cuban composer Paquito D'Rivera, the Turtle Island Quartet and the Luna Negra Dance Theatre bring their innovative jazz moves and sounds to this multi-sensory experience.

(March 20-June 13) THE ISLAMIC MANUSCRIPT PROJECT The Walters Art Museum opens its exhibit of Islamic manuscripts this weekend through June in Baltimore. Poetry and Prayer showcases masterpieces produced from the ninth to the nineteenth century, covering a range of subjects from the devotional to the scientific, historic and poetic.

(March 21) CAPITAL CITY SYMPHONY Classical and jazz music combine this weekend at the Atlas Performing Arts Center in northeast DC for Symphony Lounge Sunday evening at 5. The Capital City Symphony presents Charlie Barnett and his band Chaise Lounge in a special collaboration of beguiling orchestral arrangements of high-brow and low-down tunes.

"Art Beat" With Stephanie Kaye - Thursday, March 18, 2010

artbeat@wamu.org — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:06:00 -0400

(March 18) CIRCUS MAXIMUS It's a circus around town tonight, as the antics of the Ringling Brothers take over the Verizon Center in downtown D.C. while Circus Maximus hits The Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda tonight at 8 p.m. The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra enlists its three-ring friends to bring audiences a musical portrayal of ancient Rome's outsized circus. If you miss tonight's presentation, the big top pitches its tent Friday through Sunday at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore.

(March 19) JULIE HALL If you're looking to jazz-up your weekend, Julie Hall sings a few standards at the Montpelier Arts Center in Laurel, Maryland. The Charm City chanteuse promises to enchant tomorrow night at 8 p.m.

(March 20-April 3) WE LOVE YOU, PORGY And the Washington National Opera welcomes spring with Porgy and Bess. The Washington Opera's acclaimed production comes home for a two-week stint at the Kennedy Center starting Saturday night at 7 p.m., regaling audiences with this 1935 Gershwin classic about life on Catfish Row.

"Art Beat" With Stephanie Kaye - Wednesday, March 17, 2010

artbeat@wamu.org — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:06:00 -0400

There are plenty of ways you can display the green this Saint Patrick's Day...

(March 17) BATT AND MAURA BURNS Husband and wife team Batt and Maura Burns. The duo has crossed the pond for a night of witty jokes, storytelling and jolly jams in the Irish tradition at 6 p.m. at the Kennedy Center. The show combines the ancient art of the storyteller with the poetry and prose of some of Ireland's most illustrious authors.

(March 17) CELTIC WOMAN If the typical rowdy rancor of March 17th isn't your speed, you can take in a few traditional Songs from the Heart, courtesy of some of Ireland's finest femmes at the Patriot Center in Fairfax tonight at 8 p.m. The all-female Irish ensemble Celtic Woman presents a fluid performance by vocalists and fiddlers.

(March 20) ZAN AND FRIENDS And if you don't want to shed your greens just yet, prolong St. Paddy's through Saturday night when Zan & Friends take the stage at the Chesapeake Arts Center in Brooklyn Park, Maryland at 8 p.m. Baltimore's award-winning Irish musicians folk-about on the bouzouki, accordion and flute.

"Art Beat" With Stephanie Kaye - Tuesday, March 16, 2010

artbeat@wamu.org — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:06:00 -0400

(March 17-May 29) AMERICAN BEAUTY American identity goes on display tomorrow through May 29th at The Ralls Collection in Northwest D.C. with American Beauty, a collection of works from New Orleans painter Nicole Charbonnet. She plays with quintessential American images and icons, from Western cowboys to Wonder Woman - using a washed-out technique that makes her paintings feel as faded and comfortable as a pair of blue jeans.

(March 16-21) ANDY WARHOL: GOOD FOR THE JEWS? One artist best known for turning American images into pop-art is Andy Warhol. The bohemian master gets a treatment of his own during Theater J's one-man show Andy Warhol: Good for the Jews?, in Northwest D.C. through March 21st. Josh Kornbluth uncovers Warhol's religious identity and the spiritual dimensions behind his art, peeling away the paint layer by layer.

(March 16) CULKIN SCHOOL OF TRADITIONAL IRISH DANCE On the eve of St. Patrick's Day visitors can get their jig on at the Kennedy Center with the Culkin School of Traditional Irish Dance tonight at 6 p.m. The young stars of Irish step take the stage in a celebration of all things Celtic.

"Art Beat" With Stephanie Kaye - Monday, March 15, 2010

artbeat@wamu.org — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:06:00 -0400

(March 12-May 22) LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS With spring on the way, a carnivorous creeper can be found in full bloom at Ford's Theatre in downtown D.C. The popular rock musical Little Shop of Horrors puts its roots down through May 22nd, telling the story of a well-intentioned flower shop clerk and his wisecracking carnivorous plant.

(March 15-April 11) CLYBOURNE PARK Wooly Mammoth Theatre Company opens the play Clybourne Park tonight through April 11th in Northwest D.C. The thrills and ills of urban living are presented in this hilarious yet horrifying look at race and gentrification, focusing in on the Chicago of the 1950s and present day.

(March 16-28) Environmental Film Festival You can celebrate spring by going green at the D.C. Environmental Film Festival, kicking off tomorrow in the District. The ecologically sensitive celluloid is presented in 155 films at 56 venues throughout D.C., exploring the wonders of the natural world while illuminating the growing challenges to life on earth.

"Art Beat" With Stephanie Kaye - Weekend Events, March 12-14, 2010

artbeat@wamu.org — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:06:00 -0500

(March 12) ETHEL ENNIS The Montpelier Arts Center brings Baltimore-based balladeer Ethel Ennis to the stage tonight at 8 p.m. in Laurel, Maryland.

(March 14) FROG & TOAD Frog and Toad take the stage at The Music Center at Strathmore Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. This musical version explores a year on the road with two of literature's most enduring amphibians.

(March 13) FSO / BSO / ASO And symphonies come in threes this weekend as the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and Alexandria Symphony Orchestra sound out their latest performances. Tomorrow night at 8 p.m. at George Mason University's Center for the Arts, the FSO transports audiences through music to the steppes of Central Asia and the legends of the Kalevala. Meanwhile, it's a real circus at the Myerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore tonight and Sunday as the BSO presents Cirque de la Symphonie with acrobats and instrumentalists. And if you want to go Gustav(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_Mahler), head out to Alexandria Saturday night at 8 p.m. or Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m., as the ASO and friends sing selections from Mahler.

"Art Beat" With Stephanie Kaye - Thursday, March 11, 2010

artbeat@wamu.org — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:06:00 -0500

(March 13 & 14) ON THE EDGE EDGEWORKS Dance Theater is D.C.'s all-male African American contemporary dance company. They bring out their work Saturday and Sunday at Dance Place in northeast D.C. with Snapshots and a sneak peek at their newest work, Trigger, using movement to question choice, class and economic conditions.

(March 11-15) IRISH WRITERS ARE SMILING All eyes will be smiling as the D.C. Irish Writers Festival kicks off tonight at the Goethe Institute in D.C.'s Chinatown tonight at 8 p.m., and at various venues over the following four nights. You can get a taste of Green Isle culture through its writers and artists prior to St. Patrick's Day during these free conversations and readings.

(March 13) PARIS IN THE 20s Audiences adore Isadora during Dumbarton Concerts show Les Enfants Terribles: Paris in the 20s this Saturday at 8 p.m. at the historic Dumbarton Church in Georgetown. Musicians and dancers summon the spirits of the "lost generation-" Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Picasso and Duncan-and the young artists who flocked to Paris in the 20s.

"Art Beat" With Stephanie Kaye - Wednesday, March 10, 2010

artbeat@wamu.org — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:06:00 -0500

(March 12 & 26) TALES FOR TOTS The Smithsonian American Art Museum presents Tales for Tots tomorrow and every second and fourth Friday of the month, taking up just half an hour of tiny attention spans starting at 11 a.m. at the Luce Foundation Center in downtown DC. This is story time Smithsonian-style, situated in the galleries and surrounded by of some of the finest art in the world, all aimed at audiences under the age of five. You can email AmericanArtPrograms@si.edu or call 202-633-8490 for information and registration.

(March 11) FOODIES AND FRIENDS Food & Friends hosts Dining Out for Life, the group's 14th annual fundraiser at area restaurants, as diners who eat out tomorrow fill their stomachs while feeding their souls. Service-minded chefs from 140 restaurants are donating the proceeds from a day's worth of orders, ranging from 25 to 100 percent of each meal purchased.

(March 6-April 3) MONDO ANDRONICUS And for the most legal, visceral fun you can have in Washington, Molotov Theatre debases Shakespeare in the play Mondo Andronicus, showing to strong-hearted audiences at 1409 Playbill Cafe in Northwest DC. The French-style horror company takes on the Bard's tragedy of Roman generals and vengeful queens, throwing in an expletive-laden, three-page version of Hamlet for good measure. This show is meant for those with strong constitutions and a sizeable sense of humor.