Shawn Short - Atlas Intersections - Metro Weekly, Feb. 20, 2020

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FEBRUARY 20, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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February 20, 2020

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CONTENTS

AUTHORING HATE

Christian author says “abominable” Pete Buttigieg is “deserving of death.”

By Rhuaridh Marr

FIGURING IT OUT

Shawn Short, the founder of Dissonance Dance, shares a world of history and hard-won wisdom with his dancers and students.

Interview by André Hereford Photography by Todd Franson

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Volume 26 Issue 40

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BODY CONSCIOUS

Inspired by a true story, Boy takes a serious look at a singular struggle for self-acceptance.

By André Hereford

SPOTLIGHT: MIKE TAVEIRA p.7 OUT ON THE TOWN p.10 GOLDEN GATE: TOM SHEPARD’S UNSETTLED p.12 CLASSICAL DIVERSITY: MELISSA WHITE p.16 THE FEED: UNHEALTHY ENVIRONMENT p.20 COMMUNITY: SEEKING STUDENT-ATHLETES p.21 COMMUNITY CALENDAR p.21 A GUIDE TO THE ATLAS INTERSECTIONS FESTIVAL p.30 FILM: AND THEN WE DANCED p.33 NIGHTLIFE: PEACH PIT AT DC9 p.37 NIGHTLIFE LISTINGS p.38 NIGHTLIFE HIGHLIGHTS p.39 SCENE: CAPITAL PRIDE REVEAL AT CITY WINERY p.44 LAST WORD p.46 Washington, D.C.’s Best LGBTQ Magazine for 25 Years Editorial Editor-in-Chief Randy Shulman Art Director Todd Franson Online Editor at metroweekly.com Rhuaridh Marr Senior Editor John Riley Contributing Editors André Hereford, Doug Rule Senior Photographers Ward Morrison, Julian Vankim Contributing Illustrators David Amoroso, Scott G. Brooks Contributing Writers Sean Maunier, Troy Petenbrink, Kate Wingfield Webmaster David Uy Production Assistant Julian Vankim Sales & Marketing Publisher Randy Shulman National Advertising Representative Rivendell Media Co. 212-242-6863 Distribution Manager Dennis Havrilla Patron Saint Mike Malone Cover Photography Todd Franson Metro Weekly 1775 I St. NW, Suite 1150 Washington, DC 20006 202-638-6830 All material appearing in Metro Weekly is protected by federal copyright law and may not be reproduced in whole or part without the permission of the publishers. Metro Weekly assumes no responsibility for unsolicited materials submitted for publication. All such submissions are subject to editing and will not be returned unless accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Metro Weekly is supported by many fine advertisers, but we cannot accept responsibility for claims made by advertisers, nor can we accept responsibility for materials provided by advertisers or their agents. Publication of the name or photograph of any person or organization in articles or advertising in Metro Weekly is not to be construed as any indication of the sexual orientation of such person or organization.

© 2020 Jansi LLC.

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STEVEN GABRIAL

Spotlight

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Mike Taveira’s ‘Curious’

IKE TAVEIRA’S MUSICAL CAREER STARTED AS the result of a breakup. “I got heartbroken, like really bad,” he says. “It was rough.” To make himself feel better, he began to sing to himself. “Every day, I would just keep singing and singing and singing.” Eventually, the melodies congealed into actual songwriting, and the songwriting into actual singles.

Taveira has had two such singles so far. The first, “Heart,” dropped in October of last year, while the second, “Curious,” produced by Skyler Cocco and written by Taveira with Cocco, Evangelia Psarakis, Zachary Williama Miller, and Stolar, is available as of today on all major streaming services. The song, which features an infectious melodic riff set against neatly minimalist backing, celebrates the idea of romantic and sexual exploration.

Its infinitely watchable companion video features the striking, bearded Taveira in a variety of sensual situations and co-stars several high profile show business friends, including Monét X Change and Sonique from RuPaul’s Drag Race, and George Todd McLachlan, who plays Quincy on Showtime's Shameless. Taveira’s ultimate mission — and yes, he is a musician

with a cause — is to bring to light the idea that some people are more than just one thing.

“I never had a male figure growing up that would vocally express ‘I'm into women, I'm into men, I'm into trans women, I'm into trans men,’” says the 25-year-old. “No one has ever said those words to me. And it's actually the reason why I am doing this. I hope I could be an example for somebody who's younger — a girl, guy, trans woman, trans man, non-binary — who could just watch the video and be like, ‘Hey, that's me.’”

Taveira, who bartends at the popular Manhattan gay nightspots Hardware and Pieces, is disdainful of labels, but when pressed, he’ll gladly accept the mantle of pansexual.

“I like identifying as pansexual because it includes everyone.

Growing up, it was hard because everyone would be like, ‘Oh, you're straight, you're just confused.’ And then, ‘You're gay — you don't know it yet.’ Then I got older and I'm still the same! I still like women, men, trans women, trans men. It doesn't matter to me.

“Maybe the world will be pansexual one day,” he concludes.

“Maybe labels just won't matter at all.” – Randy Shulman

Stream “Curious” now on most major streaming platforms, including Spotify and Apple Music.

Watch the video on Mike Taveira's official YouTube channel or on his Instagram, @miketaveira.

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Spotlight WANDERINGS: RODGERS NAYLOR & MAUD TABER-THOMAS

Visitors to Calloway Fine Art will move all over the world thanks to the perspectives of these two artists. The Colorado-based Rodgers Naylor takes inspiration from everywhere when looking for painting ideas that present an interesting arrangement of color and especially light, and a bit of human interest. Maud Taber-Thomas’s paintings feature scenes and places that hold both literary and personal significance, and she strives to capture in paint the subtleties that a camera can’t record. An opening reception is Saturday, Feb. 22, from 5 to 7:30 p.m. On display through March 21.

1643 Wisconsin Ave. NW. Call 202-965-4601 or visit www.callowayart.com.

SARAH HARMER WITH CHRIS PUREKA

Two decades since her heralded debut You Were Here, Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah Harmer (right) returns with a deeply personal and momentous collection of songs motivated by life, love, and her work in environmental activism.

Are You Gone was written gradually over the last decade as Harmer prioritized local efforts at grassroots organizing to address the climate crisis. She tours with an opening set from a gender-queer singer-songwriter whose fraughtfolk style reflects slightly, subtly, on her background in science: Chris Pureka (left) was a research microbiologist at Smith College before she became a full-time musician more than a decade ago.

Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are $29.50. The Birchmere, 3701 Mount Vernon Avenue in Alexandria. Call 703-549-7500 or visit www.birchmere.com.

STANDING UP, FALLING DOWN

In addition to giving voice to the title character in Sonic The Hedgehog, Ben Schwartz is also currently gracing local theaters as a failing stand-up comedian who finds an unexpected connection with an alcoholic dermatologist played by Billy Crystal. JxJ, the multidisciplinary arts project based in the newly renovated Edlavitch DCJCC, presents a limited run of director Matt Ratner’s feature, an official selection at the Tribeca Film Festival. Through Feb. 27 in the DCJCC’s new, state-of-the-art 140seat Cafritz Hall. Tickets are $9 to $13.

Call 202-777-3210 or visit www.jxjdc.org.

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Out On The Town

MUSIC & MINDFULNESS: APO’S YOGA SERIES

Borne out of personal frustration with the bland, incidental music he often heard while practicing yoga, Luke Frazier came up with the Music & Mindfulness series for the American Pops Orchestra. This weekend ushers in the second of this season’s hour-long sessions, taking place in the airy Molly Smith Study at Arena Stage. The session is led by instructor Dan Carter of Danimal Yoga (following him on Instagram at @danimalyoga) and features music purposefully coordinated for the experience of yoga and meditation, including excerpts of classic Broadway repertoire, brought to life by Frazier on piano, four cellists from the Pops Chamber Ensemble, and a percussionist. It’s open to all, from those participating in yoga for the first time to those simply enjoying the music and meditation without physical engagement. Water, tea, juice, and other snacks are available for purchase, however participants should bring their own mats and towels. Saturday, Feb. 22, at 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. Mead Center for American Theater, 1101 6th St. SW. Tickets are $25 plus fees. Call 202-488-3300 or visit www.arenastage.org.

Compiled by Doug Rule

FILM MAD MAX BEYOND THUNDERDOME

Landmark’s West End Cinema presents a 35th anniversary screening of the third film in George Miller’s post-apocalyptic series that originally starred Mel Gibson as “Mad” Max Rockatansky. In this installment, Max is exiled into the desert by the ruthless ruler of Bartertown, played by Tina Turner, where he encounters an isolated cargo cult centered on a crashed airplane and its deceased captain. Screenings are Wednesday, Feb. 26, at 1:30, 4:30, and 7:30 p.m. 2301 M St. NW. Happy hour from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $12.50. Call 202-534-1907 or visit www.landmarktheatres.com.

THE CALL OF THE WILD

The Jack London classic from 1903 gets the live-action treatment

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directed by Chris Sanders, previously best known for his work in animation (How to Train Your Dragon). Harrison Ford stars as John Thornton, who teams up with a St. Bernard/Scotch Collie dog named Buck for an adventure in Canada’s Yukon territory. Opens Friday, Feb. 21. Area theaters. Visit www.fandango.com.

THE COLOR PURPLE

In honor of Black History Month, Fathom Events and Turner Classic Movies celebrates the 35th anniversary of Steven Spielberg's acclaimed drama that brought both comic Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey to the big screen. Sunday, Feb. 23, at 1 and 5 p.m. Area theaters including Regal venues at Gallery Place (701 7th St. NW), Potomac Yards Stadium (3575 Jefferson Davis Highway), and Majestic Stadium (900 Ellsworth Dr., Silver Spring). Tickets are $15. Visit www. fathomevents.com.

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STAGE A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS

The lives of two Afghan women are inextricably bound together in a play adapted by Ursula Rani Sarma from the best-selling novel

by Khaled Hosseini (Kite Runner).

Carey Perloff directs Hend Ayoub and Mirian Katrib leading a 12-member cast at Arena Stage in a show billed as a “gripping and heart-rending fight for survival [that] will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.” To March 1. Kreeger Theater in the Mead Center for American Theater, 1101 6th St. SW. Call 202-488-3300 or visit www.arenastage.org.

EXQUISITE AGONY

A 2003 Pulitzer Prize-winner for his drama Anna in the Tropics, Nilo Cruz directs GALA Hispanic Theatre’s new production of his magical realist romance Exquisite Agony. The cast includes GALA vet-

eran Luz Nicolas, starring as opera singer Millie Marcel, a widow who fixates on the young transplant recipient now living with her dead husband’s heart. Joel Hernandez Lara plays Amer, the object of Millie’s obsession and desire. In Spanish with English surtitles. To March 1. 3333 14th St. NW. Tickets are $20 to $55. Call 202-234-7174 or visit www.galatheatre.org. (André Hereford)

GUN & POWDER

Solea Pfeiffer and Emmy RaverLampman star as sisters Mary and Martha Clarke in a World Premiere musical inspired by the true story of African-American twins who pass themselves off as white to help settle their mother’s sharecropper debt and seize the funds by any means necessary. Book and lyrics by Angelica Chéri and music by Ross Baum and featuring direction by Robert O’Hara (Broadway’s Slave Play). To Feb. 23. MAX Theatre,

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4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington. Call 703-820-9771 or visit www.sigtheatre.org.

PIPELINE

Studio Theatre presents a searing drama written by Dominique Morisseau, focused on the struggles an African-American single mother faces in pursuit of a good education for her teenage son. Awoye Timpo directs. Extended to Feb. 23. 14th & P Streets NW. Call 202-332-3300 or visit www.studiotheatre.org.

SILENT SKY

GOLDEN GATE

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Unsettled offers four compelling personal stories that shed light on LGBTQ refugees who seek asylum in the U.S.

OM SHEPARD ADMITS HE FELT A BIT OUT OF PLACE MOVING FROM COLORADO Springs to San Francisco for college. “I grew up in a very conservative town, and the rightwing Christian base was headquartered there for many years when I was a kid,” he says. But whatever sense of culture shock he felt venturing from his sheltered childhood in Colorado to life in the coastal queer mecca was nothing compared to the urgency and disorientation experienced by the four LGBTQ refugees profiled in the filmmaker’s informative and absorbing documentary Unsettled: Seeking Refuge in America.

Screening Thursday, Feb. 27 as the monthly selection for Reel Affirmations’ Xtra film series, Unsettled sprang from Shepard’s work volunteering for Jewish Family and Community Services, a refugee resettlement organization in the Bay Area.

“I was very curious about what was going on there, and thought it might be great to start filming,” he says. “They were like, ‘That's really nice, but absolutely not. Most of our clients are trauma survivors, if not torture survivors, and to put cameras in front of them is just way too delicate. But we could use volunteers if you want to come volunteer for us.’ That was how I got pulled in, and then started meeting people on my own.”

Shepard got connected to refugees Subhi, from Syria, and Junior, from the Congo, whose wildly divergent immigrant journeys, covered in the film, share unfortunate similarities. Both lived under the constant threat of violence and harassment in their home countries — which was also the case for the film’s other subjects, lesbian couple Mari and Cheyenne. “It's hard for gay men, but for women in some of these countries, it's impossible to leave,” says Shepard. “And for these women to have created this loving relationship for the time that they did, in Angola, then to have the wherewithal to get out, I was just sort of bowled over.”

Mari and Cheyenne’s inspiring devotion to each other come across powerfully in the film. “They were actually quite successful back in Angola. Cheyenne had a hip-hop group. Mari was on an American Idol-like show, so she was known in her country,” says Shepard.

“It's not that story of, ‘Oh, everything in America is better.’ They actually had really good lives.

Their sexual orientation and their relationship made it impossible for them to continue what was already pretty successful. For me, it was really important to humanize who these people were, not just as people who had experienced persecution or had trauma — that they were musicians, that they were law students, that they were writers. That to me felt like a way for a broad audience to relate to them, not just as refugees, or as migrants, or as immigrants.” —André Hereford Unsettled screens next Thursday, Feb. 27, at 7 p.m., at Landmark’s E Street Cinema.

Tickets are $14. Visit www.thedccenter.org/events/unsettled.

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Lauren Gunderson’s inspiring drama explores the determination, passion, and sacrifice of the women who redefined our understanding of the cosmos — Henrietta Leavitt and the women “computers” in the Harvard Observatory who transformed the science of astronomy, a decade before women gained the right to vote. Directed by Seema Sueko. To Feb. 23. 511 10th St. NW. Tickets are $20 to $52. Call 202347-4833 or visit www.fords.org.

SPRING AWAKENING

The Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Alan Paul makes his directorial debut at Round House Theatre with a production of Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater’s haunting, high-octane, and boundary-pushing rock musical. A Tony-winning adaptation of Frank Wedekind’s prescient 19th-century drama, Spring Awakening focuses on a repressed group of angsty teenagers navigating blindly through their burgeoning sexuality. Evan Daves, Cristina Sastre, Sean Watkinson, Jane Bernhard, and Christian Montgomery lead a youthful cast also featuring Bobby Smith playing all the Adult Men and Tonya Beckman all the Adult Women. To Feb. 23. 4545 East-West Highway, Bethesda. Tickets are $50 to $60.

Call 240-644-1100 or visit www. roundhousetheatre.org.

THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR

Aaron Posner helms a Folger Theatre production of the delightful comedy of love, money, deception, and the power of women, as the ladies of Windsor serve Falstaff his comedic comeuppance. To March 1.

201 East Capitol St. SE. Tickets are $27 to $85. Call 202-544-7077 or visit www.folger.edu.

MUSIC ARLO GUTHRIE

The 70-year-old son of folk’s founding father, Woody Guthrie, returns to the area for two performances on the 20/20 Tour featuring “Alice’s Restaurant” with Folk Uke. Friday, Feb. 28, and Saturday, Feb. 29, at 7:30 p.m. The Birchmere, 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria.

Tickets are $65. Call 703-549-7500 or visit www.birchmere.com.

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of rage, and expressions of joy and sorrow. Gianandrea Noseda conducts. Thursday, Feb. 20, at 7 p.m., and Friday, Feb. 21, and Saturday, Feb. 22, at 8 p.m. Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Tickets are $15 to $104. Call 202-467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org.

JAKE CHARROW

THE IN SERIES: LE CABARET DE CARMEN

THE LEGWARMERS

It’s been over 18 years since Gordon Gartrell and Cru Jones started what has long been heralded as D.C.’s foremost ’80s tribute band, performing the guilty pleasure hits of the decade. The group, whose members also include Chet Reno, Lavaar Huxtable, Roxanne Rio, Capt. Morgan Pondo, and Clarence McFly, has performed at concert halls throughout the region and beyond.

Its home base, however, is Virginia’s State Theatre. The band returns once a month, and at every show audience members dress the part — think shellacked big hair, lacy ankle socks, stirrup and parachute pants. Saturday, Feb. 29. Doors at 7:30 p.m., with happy hour specials until 8:30 p.m., and showtime at 9:30 p.m. The State Theatre is at 220 North Washington St., Falls Church. Tickets are $20. Call 703-237-0300 or visit thestatetheatre.com.

BEAU SOIR ENSEMBLE

With a goal of making classical music accessible and enjoyable, the local female trio, founded in 2007, plays all over the region and all types and eras of classical music.

In a performance at the Athenaeum in Old Town, the chamber ensemble will celebrate what would have been the 250th birthday of Ludwig Beethoven by performing a transcription of his trio Serenade that swaps out the violin for the Beau Soir signature the harp, played by the ensemble’s founder Michelle Lundy, who will be accompanied by Ruth Wicker Schaaf on the viola and Carol Bean on the flute. J.S. Bach’s Trio Sonate will also be rendered in a flute/viola/harp transcription made for Beau Soir by Alex Jacobsen of the National Symphony Orchestra. A local premiere from Miguel del Aguila will round out the main concert program, and the concert will conclude with a little Irish music as an early toast to St. Patrick’s Day. Friday, Feb. 28, at 7 p.m. 201 Prince St., Alexandria.

Tickets are $15. Call 703-548-0035 or visit www.nvfaa.org.

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BUDAPEST FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA: MAHLER & DVOŘÁK

Former National Symphony Orchestra conductor Iván Fischer leads the Budapest Festival Orchestra, which over the past three decades has established itself as one of the world’s leading ensembles. Washington Performing Arts presents a concert at Strathmore pairing works by two late-Romantic composers. German contralto Gerhild Romberger will join to sing Kindertotenlieder by Mahler, who is also represented in the program with Blumine. Meanwhile, Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8 in G Major will be performed along with the “Misto klekani (Evening blessing)” from his Four Choruses. Friday, Feb. 21, at 8 p.m. 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. Tickets are $35 to $105. Call 301-581-5100 or visit www.strathmore.org.

DIRTY DOZEN BRASS BAND

Established more than 40 years ago in New Orleans and taking its name from a popular social club for African-American musicians, this seven-member ensemble has helped revitalize the brass tradition in New Orleans as well as export it around the world. A music machine that has

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guested on albums for David Bowie, Elvis Costello, Modest Mouse and the Dave Matthews Band, the Dirty Dozen offers genre-bending romps and high-octane performances. For an early Mardi Gras party at the Hamilton, the Dirty Dozen will be joined by Louisiana’s Zydeco ChaChas, made up of brothers Nathan, Dennis Paul, and Sid ‘El Sid O’ Williams. Saturday, Feb. 22. Doors at 6:30 p.m. The Hamilton, 600 14th St. NW. Tickets are $25 to $30. Call 202-787-1000 or visit www.live.thehamiltondc.com.

NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: MAHLER & SCHUBERT

Franz Schubert packs a lifetime of hope, suffering, and joy into the two movements that comprise his Symphony No. 8. The work is commonly referred to as “Unfinished,” although that’s not exactly true: The composer lived for another six years after the work’s debut. The NSO will perform the masterpiece as part of a program that ends with a very contrasting work, Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 5. This powerful showpiece is long and wide-ranging, lasting over an hour in length and covering great emotional range, juggling tender passages with bouts

Bizet’s famed opera Carmen comes to life in a unique and intimate tango-cabaret experience led by the In Series’ young and innovative new director Timothy Nelson. Cara Gonzalez performs as the intoxicating and immortal titular chanteuse accompanied by the More Tango Quartet and with musical direction from Emily Baltzer. The cast, performing in French with English supertitles, also features Brian Arreola as Don Jose, Kelly Curtin as Micaela, Alex Albequerque as Escamillo, Kyle Dunn as Host, and Lydia Gladstone as Madame Pastia. The concert comes with a warning, “Parental Advisory: Explicit Content.” After a largely sold-out run at the Source in D.C., the company reprises the work in Baltimore, kicking off with a Pride Night Performance on Friday, Feb. 21, at 8 p.m., including a post-show exclusive champagne toast with the artists. After the performance the next night, Saturday, Feb. 22, at 8 p.m. comes a post-show all-levels tango lesson with Baltimore’s own Roger Peterson. And prior to the last performance, Sunday, Feb. 23, at 3 p.m., comes a special Carmen Look IN discussion. Baltimore Theatre Project, 45 West Preston St. Baltimore. Tickets are $20 to $30. Call 202-204-7763 or visit www.theatreproject.org. www. inseries.org.

THE VICTORIAN LYRIC OPERA COMPANY: THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE

Maryland’s Victorian Lyric Opera Company presents a new take on the beloved Gilbert & Sullivan operetta. Director Amy Sullivan helms a Classic Hollywood-inspired production, fully staged with a 1940s-esque set intended to evoke the glitz and glamour of movie musicals of the era — though the action still takes place over Leap Day in the Victorian Era. Expect to hear the classic songs “I Am the Very Model of a Modern MajorGeneral" and "Poor Wand’ring One." Performances are Friday, Feb. 21, and Saturday, Feb. 22, at 8 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 23, at 2 p.m., Friday, Feb. 28, and Saturday, Feb. 29, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, March 1, at 2 p.m. F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre at the Rockville Civic Center, 603 Edmonston Dr. Rockville. Tickets are $20 to $24. Call 240-314-8690 or visit www.vloc.org.

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I couldn't put it down.”

Three decades later, the noted violinist uses her instrument as a source of inspiration for others. Take, for instance, her work with the Harlem Quartet, a group she co-founded in 2006 that performs chamber music to diverse audiences worldwide with a focus on “underserved schools where children don't have access to music and art.” The quartet weaves in more contemporary works by Duke Ellington and Wynton Marsalis along with centuries-old standards by Ludwig van Beethoven and Joseph Haydn.

White is also helping to diversify the classical repertoire through her work as a soloist performing with orchestras nationwide, including this weekend with the National Philharmonic for its concert, “Black Classical Music Pioneers.” White will perform Florence Price’s Violin Concerto No. 1, part of a program that also includes William Grant Still’s Afro-American Symphony No. 1, Marsalis’ Wild Strumming of Fiddle, and the late Washington-based composer George Walker’s Lyric for Strings, modeled on Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings.

“Classical music, as a genre, basically relies on music written in history...by white men,” says Piotr Gajewski, the Philharmonic’s music director and conductor. “Only recently, within the last century or so, has that begun to change. The concert world has been maybe a little bit slow to adapt. [The National Philharmonic is] looking to change all that.... We'll be mainstreaming works of women, African-Americans, Latino-Americans. We're looking forward to really just kind of becoming more of a mirror of our community in that way.”

After what Gajewski calls “a little bit of a bump in the road last summer,” the organization is once again on solid footing following a major managerial overhaul.

“We have a new CEO, Jim Kelly, who is doing wonderful things,” he says. “We brought on some new board members, and we're actually in a really great place where we're doing some innovative programming and planning already. We're looking ahead to some great guest artists and some great new repertoire, and bringing more diversity to what we do.” —Doug Rule

CLASSICAL DIVERSITY

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Violinist Melissa White joins the National Philharmonic for a concert of all-African-American compositions.

OME KIDS BEG FOR A DOG, I BEGGED FOR A VIOLIN,” says Melissa White, who first encountered the instrument while watching Sesame Street at age four. “And when I got it,

COMEDY

ART & EXHIBITS

STAND-UP SILVER SPRING

A RIGHT TO THE CITY

A showcase of talent from right in our own backyard, the latest show from Maryland-based promoter Improbable Comedy features Wendy Wroblewski, Dominic Rivera, Liz Barlow and Allan Sidley.

Saturday, Feb. 22, at 7 and 9 p.m.

Cissel-Saxon American Legion Post 41, 8110 Fenton St., Silver Spring.

Tickets are $10 to $25. Call 301-5888937 or visit wwww.improbablecomedy.com.

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More than five decades of neighborhood change in the nation’s capital, as well as the rich history of organizing and civic engagement that accompanied it, is explored in this temporary exhibition at the Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum. A story of how ordinary Washingtonians have helped shape and reshape their neighborhoods in extraordinary ways, A Right to the City, developed in partnership with American University, Metropolitan Center, and the D.C. Public Library, specifically highlights developments in six city neighborhoods or

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Melissa White joins the National Philharmonic on Saturday, Feb. 22, at 8 p.m., in Strathmore’s Music Center, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. Tickets are $29 to $89. Call 301-581-5100 or visit www.strathmore.org.

regions: Adams Morgan, Anacostia, Brookland, Chinatown, Shaw, and Southwest. To April 20. 1901 Fort Place, SE. Call 202-633-4820 or visit www.anacostia.si.edu.

HOME: STRATHMORE JURIED EXHIBITION

For Strathmore’s 29th annual juried exhibition, jurors Terence Nicholson of the Hirshhorn Museum as well as the American University Museum and Erwin Timmers of the Washington Glass Studio and School called on artists to submit works offering interpretations of the structural, communal, and emotional aspects of the

spaces we inhabit. In paint, collage, graphite, and ink, artists examine the pleasures, disparity, symbolism, and meaning in the perception or place we call a home. Represented among the nearly 90 artists in the display are Cathy Abramson, MK Bailey, Jennifer Barlow, Michaela Borghese, Kimberley Bursic, Lulu Delacre, Songmi Heart, Saralee Howard, Wayson Jones, Chau Nguyen, Robert Sullivan, and Andrew Wodzianski. Through Feb. 23. First Floor Galleries in the Mansion, 10701 Rockville Pike, North Bethesda. Call 301-581-5100 or visit www.strathmore.org.

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Beshty, Boris Torres, Dan Graham, Molly Gochman, POPE.L, Lisa Tan, and Xaviera Simmons. Sales of the donated artworks will benefit the Safe Passage Project, Terra Firma, Innovation Law Lab, and Team Brownsville. To March 29. 1701 14th St. NW. Call 202-745-7000 or visit www.whitman-walker.org.

WOMEN: A CENTURY OF CHANGE

The National Geographic Museum currently has on display a timely, temporary collection of powerful images from famed National Geographic photographers. Taken together, the photographs offer a glimpse of both what it means to be a woman in the world today and how that’s changed in the 100 years since American women gained the right to vote. The exhibition also includes stories and commentary from female luminaries, among them Melinda Gates, Gloria Allred, Jane Goodall, and Christiane Amanpour. Through Spring. 1145 17th St. NW. Tickets are $15. Call 202-8577700 or visit www.ngmuseum.org.

ABOVE & BEYOND NICCOLO SELIGMANN

An early folk instrumentalist and composer, Seligmann kicks off a series of concerts featuring the 2020 class of Artists in Residence at Strathmore. Seligmann, who identifies as gay, brings together old instruments and new practices and performs on over 20 historical and traditional instruments from around the world, including the viola da gamba and medieval fiddle. He tours in advance of his upcoming album Kinship, featuring solo acoustic viola da gamba improvisation that weaves together Central Asian overtone fiddle traditions, music from the Renaissance, black metal and noise music — and all of it without electronic sound processing or amplification. Wednesday, Feb. 26, at 7:30 p.m. The Mansion, 10701 Rockville Pike, North Bethesda. Tickets are $19. Call 301-581-5100 or visit www.strathmore.org.

LAYA MONAREZ

With several murals in the D.C. area, many of which were commissioned by the Latin American Youth Center, you’ve likely seen the work of Laya Monarez. The bisexual transgender Latinx artist, who works by day at HRC, gets the spotlight at the art gallery in the DC Center for the LGBT Community through a display of her mixed-media work revealing the influence of famous surrealists ranging from Salvador Dali to Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. Through February.

Center Arts Gallery, 2000 14th St. NW. Call 202-682-2245 or visit www.thedccenter.org.

PAT STEIR: COLOR WHEEL

The entire perimeter of the Hirshhorn’s second-floor inner-circle galleries has been transformed into a vibrant spectrum of color. A commission of a 79-year-old New York-based painter and printmaker, this nearly 400-linear-foot-long, site-specific exhibition features 30 large-scale abstract canvases creating an immense color wheel shifting hues with each painting. To Sept. 7, 2020. Hirshhorn National Museum of Modern Art, Independence

18

Avenue and Seventh Street SW. Call 202-633-1000 or visit www. hirshhorn.si.edu.

REPLAY AND RESHUFFLE: PAINTINGS BY KYUJIN LEE

Virginia’s McLean Project for the Arts presents an exhibition by a Korean-born, D.C.-based artist who draws on the world of fairy tales to compose paintings exploring dreams, identity, and personal transformation. Through a cast of characters including mermaids, Pinocchio, and a figurative alter-ego, Lee’s surrealist-inspired illustrations mine symbolic connotations to create narrative works full of tension, adventure, and wisdom. Through Feb. 29. Atrium Gallery in the McLean Community Center, 1234 Ingleside Ave., Virginia.

Call 703-790-1953 or visit www. mpaart.org.

SHALL NOT BE DENIED: WOMEN FIGHT FOR THE VOTE

The Library of Congress tells the story of the largest reform movement in American history, the 72-year campaign for women’s suffrage that culminated in the passage and ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution

FEBRUARY 20, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

exactly one century ago. To Sept.

Southwest Gallery in the Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First St. SE. Call 202-707-8000 or visit www. loc.gov/exhibits.

WHEN WE FIRST ARRIVED

Before officially launching The Corner, Whitman-Walker will open the doors of its new cultural center for an art exhibition intended to increase community awareness about the nearly 7,000 asylum-seeking children who have been separated from their families and are being detained in holding pens by the U.S. government. More specifically, the exhibition features donated works of art by leading visual artists created in response to interviews with some of the detained children sharing their experiences. The exhibition has been curated by the Corner’s new executive director Ruth Noack and organized in close collaboration with DYKWTCA — an art initiative, led by artists Mary Ellen Carroll and Lucas Michael, whose name is an acronym for Do You Know Where The Children Are? More than 100 artists are represented, among them Jesse Presley Jones, Kay Rosen, Amy Sillman, Walead

CAPITAL REMODEL + GARDEN SHOW

George Oliphant of NBC’s George to the Rescue, the home renovation series featuring interior designers and contractors teaming up to help familes and communities with much-needed home repairs, headlines this show at the Dulles Expo Center. Presented by Marketplace Events, the focus of the February show is on gardening and landscaping. In addition to Oliphant, who appears on the Main Home Stage on Friday, Feb. 21, and Saturday, Feb. 22, attendees to this year’s show will be able to hear and even solicit advice, gather information and purchase services from experts in the home remodeling, renovation, home décor, landscape and garden design fields.

All told, more than 300 exhibitors are set to attend. A central feature is on the nearly 3,000 square feet of garden space overseen by three large local garden and landscape companies — Blue Sky Landscaping, Meadows Farms, and Premium Lawn & Landscape — showcasing new looks, techniques, and technology to inspire attendees to start their spring projects in everything from gardening and landscaping, to patios and outdoor furniture, to water features.

Also, Merrifield Garden Center will present a Flower Market filled with fresh flowers and plants and related goods for purchase. Friday, Feb. 21, and Saturday, Feb. 22, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday, Feb. 24, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 4320 Chantilly Shopping Center, Virginia. Tickets are $12 at the box office or $9 online, or free for military and first responders on Friday, Feb. 21 and federal employees with government ID on Sunday, Feb. 23. Call 800-274-6948 or visit www.capitalremodelandgarden.com. l

theFeed

AUTHORING HATE

T

Farias

Christian author says “abominable” Pete Buttigieg is “deserving of death.” By Rhuaridh Marr

HE RECENT ONSLAUGHT OF ATTACKS AGAINST former Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s sexuality continues, after a Christian columnist said the Democratic presidential candidate is “deserving of death” for being gay.

Far-right website Charisma News has published a column by Christian author Bert Farias titled “Gay Activism: The Death Rattle of a Nation,” in which Farias rails against Buttigieg for being in a stable, loving marriage.

Farias decried Buttigieg for having “a husband whom he publicly introduces and even kisses without shame, while millions of Americans applaud and approve.”

“And perhaps worse yet is that the shock effect has been so reduced that the rest of us are numb and desensitized to this most shameful and abominable behavior,” he continued.

“And that’s all it is: behavior.”

He argued that the Bible references “no gender called ‘homosexual’ or ‘transgender,'” so LGBTQ people should just stop their “behavior.” Farias claimed that LGBTQ people want to “elevate their behavior to gender status,” and that “Christians have subtly allowed homosexual behavior to be elevated to the status of gender in their minds.”

“Churches and clergy who have swallowed the lie of homosexual behavior being elevated to gender status are trophies of hell and Satan’s prized possession,” he ranted.

Even worse, Buttigieg being gay, married, and a candidate for president is apparently the “death rattle of a nation.”

But Donald Trump’s multiple marriages, alleged infidelities, and accusations of sexual assault?

“When the never-Trump-ers and Trump-haters counteract with judgment and accusations of adultery against our own president, in response to Buttigieg’s abominable lifestyle, they are grasping for straws in a last gasp of air of

a drowning argument,” Farias said, continuing a common theme of right-wing Christians ignoring the president’s unchristian behavior.

In addition to having a “debased mind” because of his sexuality, Farias said that Buttigieg has a “satanic philosophy.”

He argued that, while Buttigieg says his marriage to husband Chasten has moved him closer to God, “the god he claims to be closer to is Satan.”

Attacks by right-wing figures on his sexuality are nothing new for Buttigieg, particularly as his campaign for president has pushed him to the top tier of candidates.

In particular, much has been made lately of Buttigieg’s “masculinity” compared with Donald Trump.mRight-wing radio host and renowned racist, sexist and homophobe Rush Limbaugh recently opined that Americans wouldn’t vote for Buttigieg because he “loves kissing his husband” and it would look bad next to “Mr. Man Donald Trump.”

And CNN last week shut down the suggestion that Buttigieg was less “masculine” than Trump, after a conservative contributor invoked Buttigieg’s sexuality and asked how anybody would “look masculine next to Donald Trump.”

Hosts Jim Sciutto and Poppy Harlow countered that line of thought, with Sciutto asking, “What’s more manly?

Volunteering for military service, as Pete Buttigieg did, or avoiding it?”

Buttigieg responded to Limbaugh on Sunday, saying he wouldn’t be taking “lectures on family values” from the antiLGBTQ conservative.

“I love my husband. I’m faithful to my husband,” he told CNN’s Dana Bash. “On stage we usually just go for a hug.

But I love him very much, and I’m not going take lectures on family values from the likes of Rush Limbaugh.” l FEBRUARY 20, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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theFeed

UNHEALTHY ENVIRONMENT

Former gay surgical resident claims he was harassed by supervisors at Brooklyn Hospital Center. By John Riley

A

GAY SURGICAL RESIDENT AT THE BROOKLYN vulgar comments and spread false rumors in the presence Hospital Center is suing the hospital, claiming that of others that Jensen and a fellow resident, who is straight, he was harassed and discriminated against by his were having a sexual relationship. supervisors. Dr. Chad Jensen claims that one superAnother resident allegedly threatened to physicalvisor referred to him as a member of the ATM or ly harm Jensen and screamed at him in front of “ass to mouth crew,” and others made vulgar other doctors. That resident then sent Jensen jokes at his expense once they found out he text messages demonstrating anti-gay bias, was gay. telling Jensen to “act like a man” and claimJensen claims in his lawsuit that Dr. ing that Asarian “stands for the same prinArmand Asarian, the surgical residency ciples I do.” Jensen then received copies program director, and Dr. Sandeep Sirsi, of text messages in which the resident told the associate director, “regularly made other doctors, “The ass-to-mouth crew will hateful, anti-gay comments about their gay pay eventually. Death before dishonor.” patients and unscientific judgments that these Despite filing complaints about his supepatients’ own ‘lifestyle’ caused their illnesses.” riors with management, The Brooklyn Hospital Jensen, 32, who is from California, claims he did Center only launched an investigation after Jensen not expect to find that kind of discrimination prevalent in left, later determining that Jensen “had been harassed New York, where he moved in June 2017 for a one-year res- because of his sexual orientation,” according to the lawsuit. idency. During that same time, Jensen also came out as gay.

The lawsuit also claims Sirsi was forced to resign from “It just reinforced all of those fears, essentially putting his position and Asarian was removed as the director of the me back into those 29 years that surgical residency program.

I was living in fear, feeling like I Jensen is seeking unspecicouldn’t be myself,” Jensen told fied damages for the harassThe New York Post. ment he faced, claiming that He left the residency prothe treatment he was subjectgram before his year was up. ed to violates both New York He is currently in the midst of City and New York State’s nona four-year residency at NYC discrimination laws. He is also Health + Hospitals/Lincoln in demanding that The Brooklyn the Bronx.

Hospital Center be required to Jensen’s lawsuit alleges that provide anti-bias training to all the anti-gay attitudes at the its employees. hospital went far beyond Sirsi The Brooklyn Hospital and Asarian, with several of the Center, which is part of the other supervisors also taking Mount Sinai hospital network, part in the harassment. told the Post in a statement that For starters, while Jensen it is “committed to a healthy and tried to keep his sexual orientainclusive work environment,” tion private, Sirsi and other resadding that it intends to “vigidents eventually found out and orously” defend itself from the — Dr. Chad Jensen began demeaning him because accusations levied against it. he was gay. Jensen claims Sirsi Lawyers for the defendants, stopped scheduling Jensen in including the hospital, have filed his clinics, avoided interacting with him, and refused to responses with the court contesting all of the allegations set make eye contact when they did interact. forth in Jensen’s lawsuit.

According to the lawsuit, at one point Jensen was putting Jensen told the Post that he filed the lawsuit because he a central line in the jugular vein of a patient in the ICU who felt like he had no voice, and wanted to expose the toxic had HIV when a chief resident interrupted to say, “Make culture of homophobia that he experienced at the hospital. sure you don’t prick yourself! Actually it doesn’t matter, you “It made me think of all the other people in this country share the same illness,” implying Jensen — and all gay men, that are also gay and feel like they have nowhere to go and by extension — have HIV or AIDS. it leads them down dark paths,” he said. “So me coming forJensen’s supervisors and colleagues also allegedly made ward, I wanted to let people know that they’re not alone.” l

“It just reinforced all of those fears, essentially putting me back into those 29 years that I was living in fear, feeling like I couldn’t be myself.”

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FEBRUARY 20, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

Community FRIDAY, Feb. 21

Shenandoah National Park.

Experienced hikers only. Bring sturdy waterproof boots, beverages, lunch, and about $20 for fees, plus money for dinner on the way home. Carpool at 8:30 a.m. from the East Falls Church Metro Kiss & Ride lot. Return after dark. For more information, contact Jeff, 301-775-9660, or visit www.adventuring.org.

The DC Center hosts a TRANS play board and card games and socialize with others in the community. All welcome. 7-9 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. Visit www.thedccenter.org.

Weekly Events ANDROMEDA TRANSCULTURAL HEALTH

offers free HIV testing and HIV services (by appointment). 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Decatur Center, 1400 Decatur St. NW. To arrange an appointment, call 202-291-4707, or visit www.andromedatransculturalhealth.org.

BET MISHPACHAH, founded

by members of the LGBT community, holds Friday evening Shabbat services in the DC Jewish Community Center’s Community Room. 8 p.m. 1529 16th St. NW. For more information, visit www.betmish.org.

DC AQUATICS CLUB holds a

practice session at Barry Farms Aquatic Center. 6:30-8 p.m. 1230 Sumner Rd. SE. For more information, visit www.swimdcac.org.

HIV TESTING at Whitman-

Walker Health. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. at 1525 14th St. NW. For an appointment, call 202-7457000 or visit www.whitman-walker.org.

KARING WITH INDIVIDUALITY (K.I.) SERVICES, 20 S. Quaker Lane, Suite 210, Alexandria, Va., offers $30 “rapid” HIV testing and counseling by appointment only. 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Must schedule special appointment if seeking testing after 2 p.m. Call 703823-4401. www.kiservices.org.

METROHEALTH CENTER

offers free, rapid HIV testing.

Appointment needed. 1012 14th St. NW, Suite 700. To arrange an appointment, call 202-8498029. www.metrohealthdc.org.

PROJECT STRIPES hosts

LGBT-affirming social group for ages 11-24. 4-6 p.m. 1419 Columbia Road NW. Contact Tamara, 202-319-0422, www. layc-dc.org.

SATURDAY, Feb. 22 ADVENTURING outdoors

group takes a strenuous 10.4mile hike with 2100 feet of elevation gain and five stream crossings in a scenic and historic section of northern

WARD MORRISON

AND GENDERQUEER GAME NIGHT where participants can

CHRYSALIS arts & culture

Recipients at the 2019 Night of Champions

SEEKING STUDENT-ATHLETES Team DC is currently taking applications for its annual LGBTQ+ student-athlete scholarship program.

O

UR TEAM DC SCHOLARSHIP IS INTENDED TO SUPport LGBTQ+ student-athletes as they embark on their post-secondary endeavors,” says Rene Tiongquico, co-chair of the Team DC Scholarship Committee. “It’s for rising college freshmen, to help them financially and in going to the next chapter of their academic endeavors. And it’s to provide them financial scholarships to honor what these student-athletes have done, both as an LGBTQ-identified student, and their athletic accomplishments.”

The scholarships range between $2,000 and $2,500, and are awarded to students from the D.C. Metro area who have received good grades and made outstanding athletic achievements during the course of their high school career. Applicants must also submit an essay that explores how their LGBTQ identity has influenced their past successes, ability to persevere in the face of obstacles, or their future goals and endeavors.

“We really want to emphasize that student-athletes provide some background about themselves, how they’ve stood out and made some achievements throughout their high school careers. It’s really to honor their achievements,” Tiongquico says. “I certainly didn’t have the courage [to be out] at that age, and some of these students are incredibly accomplished.”

Applications are due by Friday, Feb. 28. The scholarships will be presented during the organization’s “Night of Champions” awards dinner, Saturday, April 18 at the Hilton National Mall Hotel. Team DC will also be handing out “Horizon Awards,” honoring teachers, coaches, and mentors in the community who have made a positive impact on LGBTQ+ student-athletes.

“We’ve been doing such a good job with giving awards to college seniors, but some of the unsung heroes in this whole process are these educators and teachers who have supported those student-athletes,” says Tiongquico. “So we thought it was a really appropriate time to honor those individuals, too.” —John Riley Applications for Team DC’s Scholarship are due by Saturday, Feb. 28. Applicants must submit their contact information through the Team DC website. They must submit transcripts, essays, and two letters of recommendation by emailing Scholarship@teamdc.org or mailing documents to Team DC, Attn: Team DC Scholarship Committee, 2910 Sycamore St., Alexandria, Va., 22305. For more information, visit www.teamdc.org/scholarships.

group takes a private, guided tour of the National Gallery of Art focusing on works by openly gay artists. Free. All welcome. Meet at 11 a.m. inside the East Building of the NGA at 4th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. Lunch in the NGA cafe follows tour. For more info, contact Craig, 202-462-0535 or criaghowell1@verizon.net.

Join The DC Center as it volunteers for FOOD & FRIENDS, packing meals and groceries for people living with serious ailments. 10 a.m.-noon. 219 Riggs Rd. NE. Near the Fort Totten Metro. For a ride from the Metro, call the Food & Friends shuttle at 202-669-6437. For more information, visit www. thedccenter.org or www. foodandfriends.org.

Weekly Events DC AQUATICS CLUB holds a

practice session at Deanwood Aquatic Center. 9:15-10:45 a.m.

1350 49th St. NE. For more information, visit www.swimdcac.org.

DC FRONT RUNNERS running/ walking/social club welcomes runners of all ability levels for exercise in a fun and supportive environment, with socializing afterwards. Route distance will be 3-6 miles. Walkers meet at 9:30 a.m. and runners at 10 a.m. at 23rd & P Streets NW. For more information, visit www. dcfrontrunners.org.

SUNDAY, Feb. 23 ADVENTURING outdoors

group takes an easy 7-mile hike downhill from Bethesda to Georgetown via the paved Capital Crescent Trail.

Refreshments in Georgetown follow. Bring comfortable walking shoes, beverages, lunch, the $2 trip fee and money for transportation home afterwards.

Meet at 11 a.m. at the top of the escalators of the Bethesda Metro Station, at Wisconsin and Old Georgetown Road.

For more information, contact Craig, 202-462-0535, or visit www.adventuring.org.

FEBRUARY 20, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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GoGayDC hosts a SPEED FRIENDING event for those trying to meet other LGBTQ people outside of the bar scene. Based on the popular speed dating format, attendees are paired up with strangers for multiple rounds of platonic conversation. There will be 8-10 structured rounds. Using conversation starters, both participants will engage in friendly discussion about a wide range of topics. When the bell rings, one side of the table will rotate to the next table in line. Attendance is free. Station Kitchen and Cocktails Lounge at the Embassy Row Hotel, 2015 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Please register in advance. Visit www.gogaydc.com.

Weekly Events BETHEL CHURCH-DC progressive and radically inclusive church holds services at 11:30 a.m. 2217 Minnesota Ave. SE. 202-248-1895, www.betheldc.org.

FAIRLINGTON UNITED METHODIST CHURCH is an open, inclusive church. All welcome, including the LGBTQ community. Member of the Reconciling Ministries Network. Services at 9:30 and 11:00 a.m. 3900 King Street, Alexandria, Va. 703-6718557. For more info, visit www. fairlingtonumc.org.

FRIENDS MEETING OF WASHINGTON meets for worship, 10:30 a.m., 2111 Florida Ave. NW, Quaker House Living Room (next to Meeting House on Decatur Place), 2nd floor. Special welcome to lesbians and gays. Handicapped accessible from Phelps Place gate.

Hearing assistance. Visit www. quakersdc.org.

INSTITUTE FOR SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT, God-centered

new age church & learning center.

Sunday Services and Workshops event. 5419 Sherier Place NW. Visit www.isd-dc.org.

LUTHERAN CHURCH OF REFORMATION invites all to

Sunday worship at 8:30 or 11 a.m.

Childcare is available at both services. Welcoming LGBT people for 25 years. 212 East Capitol St. NE. Visit www.reformationdc.org.

METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY CHURCH OF WASHINGTON, D.C.

services at 9 a.m. (ASL interpreted) and 11 a.m. Children's Sunday School at 11 a.m. 474 Ridge St. NW. For more info, call 202-638-7373 or visit www.mccdc.com.

RIVERSIDE BAPTIST CHURCH,

a Christ-centered, interracial, welcoming-and-affirming church, offers service at 10 a.m. 680 I St. SW. For more info, call 202-5544330 or visit www.riversidedc.org.

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FEBRUARY 20, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

UNITARIAN CHURCH OF ARLINGTON, an LGBTQ welcom-

ing-and-affirming congregation, offers services at 10 a.m. Virginia Rainbow UU Ministry. 4444 Arlington Blvd. For more info, visit www.uucava.org.

UNIVERSALIST NATIONAL MEMORIAL CHURCH, a welcom-

ing and inclusive church. GLBT Interweave social/service group meets monthly. Services at 11 a.m., Romanesque sanctuary. 1810 16th St. NW. For more info, call 202-3873411 or visit www.universalist.org.

MONDAY, Feb. 24 AGLA hosts a monthly board meeting open to the larger community.

Come and meet the board as it discusses upcoming events and plans for LGBTQ activism. 7-8:30 p.m.

Federico’s Ristorante Italiano, 519 23rd St. S., Arlington, Va. For more information, visit www.agla.org.

MONDAY NIGHT SKATING

brings together members of the LGBTQIA+ community and allies for roller skating on the last Monday of every month. This month’s theme is a “Mardi Gras Masquerade.” Come in a ball gown and mask, or more minimalist attire if you dare. Event will feature: Couples/trios/group Skate, Ghostbusters Mayhem, Limbo, Conga lines, Corners Game, 50/50 Raffle, and Door Prizes.

7:30-10:30 p.m. The Laurel Roller Skating Center, 9890 Brewers Ct., Laurel, Md. For more info and to RSVP, visit www.meetup.com/ MondayNightSkating or email MondayNightSkating@gmail.com.

Weekly Events DC’S DIFFERENT DRUMMERS

welcomes musicians of all abilities to join its Monday night rehearsals. The group hosts marching/color guard, concert, and jazz ensembles, with performances year round. Please contact Membership@DCDD.org to inquire about joining one of the ensembles or visit www.DCDD.org.

The DC Center hosts COFFEE

DROP-IN FOR THE SENIOR LGBT COMMUNITY. 10 a.m.-noon. 2000

14th St. NW. For more information, call 202-682-2245 or visit www. thedccenter.org.

US HELPING US hosts a black

gay men’s evening affinity group for GBT black men. Light refreshments provided. 7-9 p.m. 3636 Georgia Ave. NW. 202-446-1100.

Visit www.ushelpingus.org.

WASHINGTON WETSKINS WATER POLO TEAM practices 7-9

p.m. Newcomers with at least basic swimming ability always welcome.

Takoma Aquatic Center, 300 Van

Buren St. NW. For more information, contact Tom, 703-299-0504 or secretary@wetskins.org, or visit www.wetskins.org.

TUESDAY, Feb. 25 GENDERQUEER DC, a support and

discussion group for people who identify outside the gender binary, meets at The DC Center on the fourth Tuesday of every month.

7-8:30 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit www.thedccenter.org.

Weekly Events THE GAY MEN'S HEALTH COLLABORATIVE offers free

HIV testing and STI screening and treatment every Tuesday.

5-6:30 p.m. Rainbow Tuesday LGBT Clinic, Alexandria Health Department, 4480 King St. 703746-4986 or text 571-214-9617. www.inova.org/gmhc

OVEREATERS ANONYMOUS

holds an LGBT-focused meeting every Tuesday, 7 p.m. at St. George’s Episcopal Church, 915 Oakland Ave., Arlington, just steps from Virginia Square Metro. Handicapped accessible.

Newcomers welcome. For more info, call Dick, 703-521-1999 or email liveandletliveoa@gmail.com.

Support group for LGBTQ youth ages 13-24 meets at SMYAL. 4-7 p.m. 410 7th St. SE. For more information, contact Dana White, 202567-3156, or visit www.smyal.org.

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 26

JOB CLUB, a weekly support program for job entrants and seekers, meets at The DC Center. 6-7:30 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105.

For more info, email centercareers@thedccenter.org or visit www.thedccenter.org/careers.

WASHINGTON WETSKINS WATER POLO TEAM practices 7-9

p.m. Newcomers with at least basic swimming ability always welcome.

Takoma Aquatic Center, 300 Van Buren St. NW. For more information, contact Tom, 703-299-0504 or secretary@wetskins.org, or visit www.wetskins.org.

THURSDAY, Feb. 27 Join people from all over the D.C. metro area for an LGBTQ SOCIAL IN THE CITY at the Moxy Hotel.

Free to attend, but registration is required. The first 100 people to RSVP for free on Eventbrite.com guaranteed entry. There will be a free door prize raffle. All welcome.

7-9 p.m. 1101 K St. NW. Visit www. meetup.com/GoGayDC. The DC ANTI-VIOLENCE PROJECT, a group dedicated to combating anti-LGBT hate crimes, holds an open meeting at The DC Center. The meeting is open to all and the public is encouraged to attend and give feedback on future initiatives. 7-8:30 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit www.thedccenter.org.

Weekly Events DC LAMBDA SQUARES, D.C.’s

The HEALTH WORKING GROUP of The DC Center holds a monthly meeting focusing on LGBTQ health issues, including drug use, safe sex, and HIV prevention and treatment.

6:30-8 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit www.thedccenter.org.

LGBTQ square-dancing group, features an opportunity to learn about and practice various forms of modern square dancing. No partner required. Please dress casually. 7:30-9:30 p.m. National City Christian Church, 5 Thomas Circle NW. For more info, call 202930-1058 or visit www.dclambdasquares.org.

LAMBDA BRIDGE CLUB meets at

DC SCANDALS RUGBY holds prac-

The Dignity Center for Duplicate Bridge. No reservations needed.

Newcomers welcome. 7:30 p.m. 721 8th St. SE (across from the Marine Barracks). Call 202-841-0279 if you need a partner.

tice. The team is always looking for new members. All welcome.

7-9 p.m. Harry Thomas Recreation Center, 1743 Lincoln Rd. NE. For more information, visit www.scandalsrfc.org.

Weekly Events

THE DULLES TRIANGLES

AD LIB, a group for freestyle con-

versation, meets about 6-6:30 p.m., Steam, 17th and R NW. All welcome. For more information, call Fausto Fernandez, 703-732-5174.

FREEDOM FROM SMOKING, a

group for LGBT people looking to quit cigarettes and tobacco use, holds a weekly support meeting at The DC Center. 7-8 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit www.thedccenter.org.

Northern Virginia social group meets for happy hour at the Cosmopolitan Lounge inside the Sheraton Hotel in Reston. All welcome. 7-9 p.m. 11810 Sunrise Valley Drive, Second Floor. For more info, visit www.dullestriangles.com. l For more events, visit www. metroweekly.com/community/ calendar.

FEBRUARY 20, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

23

Figuring

it

OUT Shawn Shor t, the founder of Dissonance Dance, shares a world of histor y and hard-won wisdom with his dancers and students.

C

Inter view by André Hereford Photography by Todd Franson

AUGHT BY HIS MOTHER CRUISING A GAY internet chatroom, a closeted 20-year old Shawn Short had little choice but to come clean.

“Your son likes boys,” he told her.

Those four little words ignited a firestorm in the family’s conservative household. Short, then living at home in Prince George’s County with his mother and stepfather after a dissatisfying year away at college, was soon being shown the door. “Well, they didn't ask me to go,” Short says. “But when my stepfather said, ‘Your mother thought she had a son.’ And then my mother had said, ‘You got me crying at work,’ and then said nothing. I just said, ‘Your silence is enough for me to move on.’ And I did.”

Still searching for a path to pursue a career in dance, Short suddenly had to find shelter. Thankfully, like countless parents before them who learned to embrace their LGBTQ children, his mother and stepfather eventually made their way back to their son. But in that precarious moment, as countless LGTBQ people have had to do before him, Short found his chosen family among friends and within D.C.’s queer ballroom culture. “You know when they say you can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family?” he says. “My friends became my family.”

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FEBRUARY 20, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

A statuesque head-turner on the dance floor, Short quickly became a force in ballroom and house culture, and a leader in the new House of Essence, walking categories like European Model Effect. He was couch-surfing, staying with friends, working retail jobs, and spending far too much of his modest income on outfits and materials for the balls. An accountant friend he was staying with made him take a hard look at his finances and his priorities, encouraging Short to define a direction for his life. “So I moved out of that spot with the accountant, moved into this rooming house on Rhode Island Avenue,” he recalls. “Then that was the way that I was able to start going back to school. I ended up going to Howard at that point.”

Graduating with a BFA in Musical Theatre, Short largely credits his Howard education, experiences, and exposure to mentors like late, great alum Ossie Davis with focusing his intentions for a future in dance. “I don't know what it's like now, but at that time, we were groomed in a way to just go out and get it.

And so there were times I remember we would talk about the day we were going to build companies. And some of us would do that, because this started back in school.”

Short, who also completed a MFA in Dance at the University of Wisconsin, brought that dream to life in 2007, when he

T FEBRUARY 20, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

25

founded D.C.-based professional dance company Dissonance Dance Theatre.

Now in its 13th season, and the region’s only AfricanAmerican-managed contemporary ballet company, DDT has grown into what Dance Spirit Magazine called “one of the 11 small-but-mighty emerging dance companies outside NYC and L.A.” And, Short, building on his years of performing nationally and internationally — and studying with faculty from the Alvin Ailey Dance Center, the Washington Ballet, and Dance Theatre of Harlem, among others — has grown into a generous and committed choreographer, company director, and educator, launching the Ngoma School, the official training school of DDT. No arts organization has an easy road these days trying to maintain space and funding, and DDT has taken its share of blows — most notably, seeing their former home at CulturalDC’s Flashpoint Gallery sold out from under them with no notice.

“When I talked to the Executive Director,” Short says, “it was like, ‘You didn't even tell us, and we've been in your doggone space for nine years.’ She was like, ‘I'm sorry, it's real estate. We needed the money.’ I said, ‘I understand that, but you could have told us.’ She just looked, she said, ‘Baby, I know you're smart.

You'll figure it out.’ And that type of communication has been literally since day one. It's like, ‘Oh, well, you'll figure it out.’

“That's why I have to keep telling myself, the days that it gets hard, no boyfriend, whatever, if it gets hard and your funding is not where it needs to be, or when you just feel like you're down and out, you have to say, ‘Is it worth it?’ And if it is, Shawn, you still have breath in your body to make it happen. Figure it out.”

Through the challenges and triumphs, like DDT’s acclaimed performances year after year at Atlas Performing Arts’ Intersections Festival, Short has figured out how to keep building, recently adding a business management degree to his portfolio.

He also has continued to pay forward kindness that was shown to him when he needed a helping hand. In DDT, he’s created a home for young dancers who, like him, might need more than merely a professional platform. He and his dancers are like family, he says, though he scoffs at the cliché. And he acknowledges that feeling so fiercely supportive of them can have unexpected drawbacks, “because you already know when it starts that there's an exit,” he says. “For every dancer that shows up, remember you're on a timeline. They could be with you for one show and all of a sudden gone. They could be with you for five years. I've even had one that was with me for eight, and you get so comfortable with them being in the space, so [it’s] like, you don't feel alone.”

Alongside his fellow artists and educators, Short has forged a community that extends beyond DDT, its dancers and staff, to include the Ngoma School, and a just-published hardcover book of Short’s photography, Timeless Dance Remixed: Images of the Award-Winning Dissonance Dance Theatre of Washington, D.C. The company will extend its reach even further with a new streaming docu-series, His Eyes Saw Dance, that follows the day-to-day work and artistry of Short and the DDT dancers, and highlights the history of black dancers and companies in D.C. As DDT gets set to perform in their tenth consecutive Intersections Festival, debuting Short’s latest full-length work Diaspora, he has his mind on keeping up the pace, and cementing his place within D.C.’s storied legacy of dance.

METRO WEEKLY: How did His Eyes Saw Dance come together?

SHAWN SHORT: Donovan Johnson, a student of mine, was also a

film student at Howard. He showed up when we had a program called Dawn, a black male dancer program that we started when 26

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we were at Flashpoint, where if you just were interested in dance, trying to get into concert dance, and you didn't have the funds or means, that we would train you for free. Jeremiah was in that program, but I was telling him, "You're just too much of a film person. I feel like dance is not your forte. You like it, but it's not your thing.” So he went on, he's over in L.A. working as a production assistant for a Netflix show right now. And he brought it to me one day, we were talking on the phone, and he said, “You know what, Shawn, it would be cool, as much as you've done, it would be really cool if there was like some type of episodic something that we can watch. So that if you die today or tomorrow, everybody knew what the hell you did.” And I was like, “Yeah, whatever.” I just dismissed it.

And then he brought it up a second time. And I said, “You know what...” Because I was looking at Wistia. They're a platform, like Vimeo, but you can use them to get your video content up to create brand affinity. They were saying that the new marketing thing now is really about brand affinity and getting people to understand your brand as a cause. I said, “You know what? I think we would have better ticket sales, better enrollment in the school, because it's about engagement not disruptive marketing.” It's not about just buy now, buy now, but look at this story and see where do you fit in this?

After talking to Donovan, it was like, “Okay, how are we going to do this?” Because that's a big idea. Like the episode, it was a lot of work. Like the book, it's a lot of work. And a lot of people talk the talk but don't really walk the walk, you know?

MW: As a choreographer, what sort of dance are you trying to put into the world?

SHORT: I guess, a refined choreographer who has mastered the lexicon of classical ballet, who is black. I think that is the big issue right now. And I hear it every time I go into a room and it's black ballet folks, and then everybody else in the room. The first thing they always cry about is how come when larger white institutions bring in black choreographers, it's for the contemporary, but you never value them enough to bring them in as a ballet choreographer? You always bring them in as the alternate to what you consider the great masters. People are looking

“You can change anything you want in your life. You don't like your hair color, change it. You don't like your weight, change it. YOU DON'T LIKE YOUR MAN, CHANGE IT. YOU DON'T LIKE YOUR FAMILY, CHANGE THAT, TOO.”

at David Dawson, they're looking at Christopher Wheeldon, they're looking at Liam Scarlett, they're looking at, William Forsythe. I haven't got to a black name yet. And honestly, I don't think we ever will.

Am I mad about that? No, because I had to make a path. So when Dance Magazine gave me the award for contemporary ballet for the month, I was like, "Oh wow, okay.” And then I got a Princess Grace Award in Choreography nomination from Missouri Ballet Theater. But then it was funny, I applied to Joffrey Ballet, [which] has this choreographer of color competition and I did that. Haven't gotten it. Stopped after like the fourth year. But I said, "Do you know what's interesting?

Everyone else is saying that I am valued enough to do this and see my voice in this, but they're not going to let me play in their space.” Now I can look at this two ways. I can get mad about it and bitch and be like, "Why?" But then I say, “Stop, Shawn, that's like you building a house, sitting in the house, and then someone on the outside of the house is telling you that you're wrong because I won't let them live there." That's how I look at it with this whole diversity piece sometimes. Sometimes it's like, "Well they created this house. It’s like if it was a country club." They say, "Well, they won't let black people in." Well, if it says on the door that is for members only, then it's members only.

Now, if it's a public thing and they won't let you in, okay that's a problem. But if it's a private business, a private entity, and they have a certain criteria and that's what it is, I can't get mad at that. If it was a public pool, yes I can. It's public. So I think that is the thing that keeps me going, as far as a choreographer, is your voice has to stay valid because there's not that many spaces.

MW: One space that you’ve found, it seems, is the Intersections Festival.

SHORT: This is our tenth year participating. Intersections, and

the D.C. theater scene embraced Dissonance first. The dance scene did not.

MW: Do you ever miss performing?

SHORT: No. I can tell you that right now. I don't. I don’t, because they say, "Do it until you're tired of it and then you won't miss it."

So the last time I was onstage, I was like, "Thank you, this is it."

And I just smiled and they were like, "He's smiling." My friend said, "You were smiling so big." I was like, "Yes." MW: You knew going in that it was your final performance?

SHORT: Yeah. I knew it was. After that last one, I was like, "I'm good." And that's when I had taken a break, went back, got that tour, went on that tour. I came back and the last show, I was so excited to get back on that damn plane. And when I got off that plane, I remember just taking off. Everybody went this way and then I was gone, because my stepfather was right there at the gate. I walked through, I said, "Hey," I grabbed my bag that was going through the thing, and they were saying, "Shawn, where are you going? You didn't even say goodbye." Done.

I was so excited to be back and eating. I said, "I don't have to worry about it anymore." I don't have to worry about being in class like that. I don't have to worry about having to be called to be a demonstrator and have to be perfect. There's so much pressure. I enjoyed it. I'm still somewhat animated, so I mean, that's fine, that is who you are. But that desire to be onstage and the center of attention, I'm not missing it. And I told that to the dancers. Be really clear and know when that bow happens, and you start to tear up or you start to get emotional and you almost feel like the kid that wants one more piece of chocolate, you're not done. You're not done. If you take that bow and you're seeing all your friends or colleagues in your bow and you're like, “Thank you so much.” And you're just smiling like, “We did this, y’all," you're done. “It's been great. We even had a good time. We FEBRUARY 20, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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have it on footage,” and then they go. You're good. So no, I don't miss it. I think that those who do, it's almost like Jay-Z saying he was retiring and then he showed right back up, and you're like, “Dude, didn't you say you retired? That was your last album.” Let it go. So no, I don't.

MW: You mentioned your stepfather picking you up at the airport.

I guess there was some reconciliation?

SHORT: Yeah, there was. Me and my family had not spoken, I think, for like five years. It was a lot of mess. I remember one day, I found this box on the steps of the house. I said, "What is this?"

And then my stepfather goes, "You left something." I'm like, "I 28

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haven’t been there five years."

I opened the box up, my little mixed chihuahua is sitting there looking at me. At that point I just said, "If y'all are that malicious and mean-spirited to take out, I guess, your frustration or anger with me, whatever that may be, on this dog, then it's cool." It's cool because they always say, "Respect your family enough, and your parents, and you live longer." That's an old Southern something, but I just let it go.

I called my dad and my stepmom, because they have this extended family.

Everybody lived, my aunts and all of them, lived in this one big house. So I called them and told them that, "I can't have a dog where I'm at. Can y'all come get the dog?" And so, they hadn't seen me in a while either. So they saw me, they give me these big hugs because my dad had remarried to a white family. They lived in Atlanta. And they came in the car, one big happy family, "Hi. Oh, my god." Got the dog, brought me a care package, just like, "Oh, Shawn, you know it's great that you're in school and we're so happy for you." All of that. "Thank y'all."

Got the dog. Dog was gone.

I went into school. About a week later, I get a [voicemail] from my stepfather and it was saying, "We're coming back to get the dog." I said, "The dog is not here. The dog is gone."

MW: He’d had a change of heart?

SHORT: He had a change of heart. And I think a lot of what my mother might have been going through — because I feel like a part of me feels like I disappointed my mother — was because I didn't turn into the Ken doll, like the perfect... I don't know if you can remember those McDonald's commercials with Calvin?

MW: Yes, I remember Calvin. The whole neighborhood loved Calvin because he was working.

SHORT: The whole neighborhood, everybody loved Calvin and shit. Everybody. My mother would be like, "Listen to the Calvin commercial." And everybody worked at McDonald's because of the value that you saw in Calvin. So then I started working at McDonald's, and so I was fighting for my mother's attention constantly. Because my grades were great, I was playing an instrument,

“My stepfather said, ‘I hear you're about to graduate from Howard. We’d like to be in attendance. We're family.’ I said, ‘WERE WE FAMILY WHEN YOU BOXED UP MY DOG? WERE WE FAMILY WHEN Y'ALL WERE SILENT AND I WAS IN THE STREET TRYING TO FIGURE IT OUT?’” I was doing everything. I was playing the flute and the sax and the piano. And piccolo, but that was marching band. I was doing all of that. Because my mother loved jazz music, I started playing jazz music. My mother enjoyed Herbie Hancock and Junior Cook, and he played flute. So that kind of stirred me to play flute.

Basically, I started to notice in my life that I was always trying to get my mother's approval as I was doing everything else. Mom, look. Mom, look. Make her proud, make her proud.

But then, I think when I turned around and became the golden fleece, everybody said I was the Calvin of the family. However, when Calvin became gay, it was like, "Oh, ain't no Calvin of mine." It became that. So then it didn't matter what I was doing.

[Eventually] word got back to my cousin that I was about to graduate from Howard. Whole family was like, "Shawn's about to graduate from Howard." My mother didn't know, and then my stepfather said, "We need to have a meeting." I said, "We don’t need to have a meeting." He was like, "Shawn, for the sake of...Can you just have the meeting?" So I showed up, got to the meeting, my mother was quiet, I was sitting there. He said, "We're having a family meeting." And I just said it, "Why are we having this meeting? Mom, you don't care." And my mother just got enraged and like she was about to start crying and she said, "What do you expect me to say, Shawn? What was I supposed to say? Anything I would've said at the time would have drawn you away from me." [I said,] "Your silence did." She got quiet. She didn't know what to say.

My stepfather, at the meeting, we're talking, and he said, "I hear that you're about to graduate from Howard." I said, "I am." And he was like, "Me and your mother would like to be in attendance." I said, "Why? I did this by myself." And then he said, "Well Shawn, we're family." I said, "Were we family when you

boxed up my dog? Were we family when y'all were silent and I was in the street trying to figure it out?"

And then my mother was like, "No one told you to leave." I said, "But no one told me to stay either." They got it, because I was real clear about, I can get the fuck up and leave. Then my mother was like, "Do you owe any bills?" I said, "I do, actually.

I owe $500." The library always thought I had books — I didn't, but Howard's whatever. So I went ahead and said, "Yeah, I have $500 in fees I have to pay." My mother said, "Well, I can pay that." I said, "I don't need your money." Mom said, "I want to pay it." I said, "Do you really?"

Me and my mother are the same person in the sense that, it's a sense of, I will do it on my own if necessary. I will fight to make sure I can get it done. My mother's the same way. That's probably where I get it from. But if I get that headstrong, I don't tend to back off of it. So if you left me to figure it out, I'm going to go figure it out. Don't tell me in the middle of it change paths or do it this way, because I'm going to attack you because you left me to do it. That's what she was doing. So after a while, we got in the car. They were taking me back to my space. My mom stopped and went to the ATM machine. She gave me the money and she said, "Take this money, Shawn."

MW: One major theme for you and for the company seems to be value yourself — know your value. It feels like a philosophy you take through a lot of your life.

SHORT: Yeah. I'm not a super religious person. My family is. My grandmother, grandfather are both reverends. My great-uncle’s a reverend. So, my mother grew up one of eleven kids. All of them had to be in a super Christian household.

In middle school, I was on this quest because I was always in the library. The library was a space that I could go to that I didn't have to worry about anything. I could just go and explore shit. I would get in there, and I just went into the reference section on religions and there were books on Paganism, Satanism or whatever. And I would pick these books up and read them. I would take them home, and my grandmother would be going off. But what I realized from looking at Hinduism and Confucius and then Pagans and Muslims, everybody was saying the same thing, [though] some did it more than others: value you and value your community and work with each other. I would call it basic morals, but it's so funny how that is not what it is.

I was talking to Anthony, one of my mentees, who also was in the company. He was talking about his life and he was just like, “Ugh.” And I said, "You know what, Anthony? You can change anything you want in your life. You don't like your hair color, change it. You don't like your weight, change it. You don't like your man, change it. You don't like your family, change that too.” You have to be right, so that you can go and deliver. Like family members who got real toxic, I pulled them out. I said, “I love you, but I just can't put you in my circle anymore.” Got into major arguments with family who were like, “You think you’re...!” I didn't think anything.

All I'm saying is I can control this, I can't control that. And in doing that I sleep better, less stress. You value yourself enough, change yourself so you're happy with yourself. If you're happy with yourself, you'll project that everywhere. So yeah, just value yourself. Because if you do it, then everybody else will start doing it too. l Dissonance Dance Theatre performs “Diaspora” on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 8:15 p.m. as part of Intersections Festival 2020 at Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE. Tickets are $35. Call 202399-7993, ext. 2 or visit www.atlasarts.org.

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A Guide to the Atlas Intersections Festival

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INCE IT OPENED 15 YEARS AGO IN A RENOVATED FORMER ART DECO movie palace, the Atlas Performing Arts Center has had a visible impact on its H Street Corridor neighborhood through its regular work in presenting “art that informs, educates, enlightens, and inspires,” as the institution’s executive director Doug Yeuell puts it. That is also essentially the goal of Intersections, a festival that aims to showcase art that makes “a difference in our society, culture, and world.” The 11th annual festival offers more than 50 performances from artists ranging from musicians to filmmakers, dancers to speakers. The festival officially launches on Thursday, Feb. 20, with a concert by folk-pop singer Malinda and her band as part of a launch party with light bites and drinks starting at 7 p.m.

Highlights from this weekend and the next are listed below. Descriptions are adapted from those submitted to us by the individual artists. The festival runs through Sunday, March 1 at the Atlas, 1333 H St. NE. A festival pass is $85. Tickets to the Launch Party are $45, or $25 for the concert only. Individual ticket prices vary.

Call 202-399-7993 or visit www.atlasarts.org/intersections for a full schedule and details.

FRIDAY, Feb. 21 AN EVENING WITH LAURA COATES

Lang Theatre, 8 p.m. $25 ELIZABETH MCCAIN

A Lesbian Belle Tells...

Lab Theatre 1, 8 p.m. $35 True stories of growing up in a traditional Mississippi family, coming out in D.C., experiencing family estrangement, and finding love and belonging.

GABRIEL MATA/MOVEMENTS

This is Where/I Begin...

Lab Theatre 2, 8 p.m. $25 A solo dance exposing the plight of a DACA recipient/Dreamer and the relationship of living in the states.

SATURDAY, Feb. 22 JESS HOEVERSEN AND MARIAH LOPEZ

Small Creatures Lab Theatre 2, 1 p.m. $25 Mariah Lopez performs her work “Indelible” and Hoversen presents “The Light of Slow Descent.”

MOTION X/DANCE DC

The Fate of Choice Lang Theatre, 2 p.m. $25 A new multimedia dance performance that explores free will vs. determinism.

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BRENDA A. HAYES

BackBurner Dreams Lab Theatre 1, 2:15 p.m. $20 The film follows three women of color as they try to bring the dreams and passions they had for their lives before marrying and raising children.

SILK ROAD DANCE COMPANY

The Golden Road to Samarkand Sprenger Theatre, 2:15 p.m. $25 Dances of Uzbek, Uyghur, Kazakh, Afghan, Persian, Georgian, and Indian origin celebrate the diversity and beauty of Silk Road cultures.

AYESIS CLAY

Sculpting Clay or How I Became Mother of Unicorns Lab Theatre 1, 4:30 p.m. $25 A coming of age tale of one woman’s attempts to navigate the fantastical journey of her dreams while repeatedly being drawn into the complicated, often dark realities that her students face.

JANE FRANKLIN DANCE

EyeSOAR Lab Theatre 2, 5 p.m. $25 Audio, video, and movement highlight the wonderful people and organizations in an industrial neighborhood.

IN PERSON FILM

Blood is At the Doorstep Lab Theatre 1, 7 p.m. $20

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DISSONANCE DANCE THEATRE

Diaspora Sprenger Theatre, 8:15 p.m. $25 An evening-length program celebrating West African, Caribbean, South American, and American music by performing works of contemporary ballet and modern dances set to soca, blues, samba, and soul.

GIN DANCE COMPANY

Unveil Lang Theatre, 8:30 p.m. $35 Includes the pieces “Breaking News” and the elegant contemporary ballet “Infinity.”

LOVE IN THE TIME OF CLIMATE CHANGE

Lab Theatre 2, 8:30 p.m. $20 SUNDAY, Feb. 23 ANNA MWALAGHO

Never Thought I Was Black Till I Came to America Sprenger Theatre, 2 p.m. $25 A one-woman play that tells the story of an African immigrant living in America.

THE SAPAN INSTITUTE

Journeys Lang Theatre, 2:30 p.m. $25 Explores the many stories of the South Asian American experience through music, dance, and theater.

ANDREW EARL SIMPSON

The Lost World Lab Theatre 2, 4 p.m. $20 DEIDRE STAPLES

White-ish Lab Theatre 1, 4 p.m. $25 A comical journey of a black girl wanting to be white, exploring what it means to be black aesthetically, socially, and spiritually, and what it means to be black in white spaces.

DANCIN’ UNLIMITED

Spot on Jazz Lang Theatre, 7 p.m. $20 An evening of choreography that explores all the facets of jazz dance: Blues, Broadway, Contemporary, and Modern.

JAMES FERNANDO

The Electronically Augmented Piano Lab Theatre 2, 7 p.m. $20 A pianist and composer whose music lies at the intersection of jazz, classical, and electronic music.

THE VILLAGE DANCE PROJECT

The Black Storybook: Unique to Us, True to All Sprenger Theatre, 7 p.m. $30 THURSDAY, Feb. 27 BEN BEURGEL

Electroacoustic Oboe Lab Theatre 1, 8 p.m. $20 A program of recent solo oboe music that uses expressive technology and pushes the boundaries of what the instrument can do.

THERESE & ELIZABETH GAHL

Nocturne Lang Theatre, 8 p.m. $30

TVAMEVA + NEHA MISRA

Upakrama - The Beginning Lab Theatre 2, 8 p.m. $25 GLADE DANCE COLLECTIVE

Oizys in the Waiting Room Sprenger Theatre, 8:15 p.m. $25 Dancers embody and confront our anxiety, asking what it takes to redirect its power and invoke change.

FRIDAY, Feb. 28 ERICK ACU˜NA

Acu˜na Acuna Lab Theatre 2, 8 p.m. $20 A one-person comedy show based on comedian Erick Acuña’s real life as a Peruvian Latino living in America.

DAY EIGHT SPOKEN WORD

Spoken Truths Lab Theatre 1, 8 p.m. $20

WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY SINGERS

POLYMATH PERFORMANCE PROJECT

CAPITOL MOVEMENT PROJECT

Ritmos Españoles Lang Theatre, 2:30 p.m. $35 Known for their fiery delivery of flamenco music and song, the company's twelve dancers will be accompanied by an ensemble of seven musicians.

Considering Matthew Shepard Lang Theatre, 8 p.m. $30

Capitol Movement Reimagined Sprenger Theatre, 8:15 p.m. $25 SATURDAY, Feb. 29 MISTO DI VOCI ENSEMBLE

Mysticism, Music and Celebration Lang Theatre, 3 p.m. $25 Explores mysticism and music of the spheres in a multimedia presentation of Alan Hovhaness’ Saturn.

DOMINIC ANTHONY GREEN

Awaken, Brown Eyes Lab Theatre 1, 5 p.m. $20 A collection of four short films detailing the variety of human experiences through the perspective of today’s Black Americans.

MARLOW ROSADO QUINTET

Lang Theatre, 8 p.m. $30

WASHINGTON IMPROV THEATER AND FRIENDS

Weight of the World, Light as a Feather Lab Theatre 2, 8 p.m. $20 Audience members share topics weighing on their minds, and their responses inspire improvisers to create scenes and dialogue as dancers introduce choreography and create movement and patterns.

MARIE MCNAIR, TRULY BENNETT, KYOKO FUJIMOTO, REBECCA LALLANDE

Behind the Mask, Beneath the Surface Sprenger Theatre, 8:30 p.m. $20 SUNDAY, March 1 MARJUAN CANADY

Girls! Girls? Girls.

Lab Theatre 2, 1 p.m. $20 A short performance documentary that explores the past, present and funny yet frightening future of the global black woman.

Thrashes to Ashes Sprenger Theatre, 1 p.m. $20 FURIA FLAMENCA

THEATRE PROMETHEUS

The Wolf You Feed Lab Theatre 1, 3:15 p.m. $10 HEIDI MARTIN

Abbey Lab Theatre 2, 4:30 p.m. $30 CAPITOL TAP & DISTRICT TAP

Sole Beats Sprenger Theatre, 5:30 p.m. $25 This one-hour family-friendly show skips around the globe, highlighting the common themes of how percussive dance is the heartbeat of the world.

JAYAMANGALA

Navagraha - 9 Energies Within and Without Lang Theatre, 7 p.m. $20 Dancers explore and use the nine energies to connect the Self with the Universe.

JOSANNE FRANCIS + CHAO TIAN

Parallel Intersections Lab Theatre, 7:30 p.m. $25 The sounds of the tropical steelpan elegantly punctuate the bold, ethereal lilt of the Chinese dulcimer, creating an absolutely transcendent soundscape.

BALANCE CAMPAIGN

Rebirth Lab Theatre 2, 8 p.m. $25 A concert of new musical works

by Sarah Kirkland Snider, Judd Greenstein, and Daniel Kellogg. l

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LISABI FRIDELL, COURTESY OF MUSIC BOX FILMS

Movies

Swing Your Partner

Two male dancers competing for a role can’t keep their hands off each other in the tender romance And Then We Danced. By André Hereford

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EVAN GELBAKHIANI MARKS AN IMPRESSIVE FILM DEBUT STARRING in And Then We Danced (HHHHH), a well-crafted tale of two company members in the National Georgian Dance Ensemble who become competitors, then partners, then lovers. As fresh-faced junior ensemble member Merab, Gelbakhiani is quiet yet intense, and, no surprise, he vividly expresses emotion with his entire body. Even tracking him from behind, the camera picks up on the joy in his stride, or the dejection sinking his shoulders.

And he dances brilliantly, whether boldly throwing himself into a make-or-break audition, or simply losing himself on the dance floor at a club. Director Levan Akin, born in Sweden to immigrant Georgian parents, keeps the camera in fluid motion, a partner in the dance of Merab’s life. All the handheld camerawork can occasionally distract from vital moments of stillness, but Akin’s astute direction and Gelbakhiani’s charismatic performance maintain a steady focus for the tender drama, the Swedish entry for best international feature at this year’s Academy Awards.

Set in the mostly unfamiliar milieu of traditional Georgian folk dancers living and training in metropolitan Tbilisi, And Then We Danced doesn’t set out to break the increasingly familiar mold of a certain type of queer romance. The protagonists might be swimmers or soccer players, cops or farmers, or fellow history buffs whiling away the summer in an Italian villa. For the sensitive male ingenue, something strange and exciting is ignited with the unexpected arrival of the usually more rugged Tom, Dick, or Harry in the picture.

In this case, the new guy is Irakli (Bachi Valishvili), a rakish charmer who shows up wearing his rebellion with the same casual air that he dons his hoop earring and leather jacket. The ensemble’s rigid rehearsal director Aleko (a very effective Kakha Gogidze) immediately orders Irakli to lose the earring, but with or without it, he radiates a rough allure that has Merab enthralled the moment this replacement dancer steps through

the door. Unfortunately for Merab’s spot in the ensemble, Aleko also sees the new guy’s appeal as a dancer more suited than Merab to the hyper-masculine style the company demands of its male dancers.

With a role in the company’s main ensemble on the line, Aleko pits lithe Merab and strapping Irakli against each other to prove who’s more worthy of representing “the spirit of our nation.”

While the battle for that lead spot remains fairly suspenseful up to the very end, the budding attraction between Merab and Irakli clearly is headed in only one direction. Despite Irakli falling easily into the macho, hard-drinking crew of Merab’s irresponsible brother David (Giorgi Tsereteli), the pair’s secret passion won’t be denied. Even Merab’s girlfriend and lifelong dance partner Mary (Ana Javakishvili) can see what’s coming, though only up to a point. Javakishvili limns a touching portrayal of a smart girl who catches on sooner than lovestruck Merab, though she’s inexperienced too.

She and especially Gelbakhiani make their characters’ innocence credible and endearing. That’s the key to these coming-of-age romances, watching innocence rush headlong into a danger we in the audience see spelled out in the bold, bright signs of past experience.

The film also succeeds by immersing us in the details of the dancers’ practice of training, trial and error, their physical exertion playing out in dynamic fashion

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LISABI FRIDELL, COURTESY OF MUSIC BOX FILMS

both as art and competition, and sometimes youthful abandon. Dancing along with Merab and company to the pulsating traditional percussion inside the rehearsal studio, or watching them fall into a joyful pile to the disco strains of Abba’s “Take a Chance on Me,” And Then We Danced transmits weighty emotions through music and movement. Akin’s dialogue carves an intriguing world of class, politics, and toxic masculinity from the film’s depiction of contemporary Georgia, but the story works a kind of magic in its wordless passages. And in Gelbakhiani, the movie has an ideal silent actor whose wide-open face speaks volumes, and who, with the flick of his finger or the turn of his ankle, can convey the power of a young dancer discovering and delivering his talent. l And Then We Danced is not rated, and opens Friday, Feb. 21 at Landmark’s E Street Cinemas.

Visit www.landmarktheatres.com/washington-d-c.

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FEBRUARY 20, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

CAMERON WHITMAN

Stage

Body Conscious

Inspired by a true story, Boy takes a serious look at a singular struggle for self-acceptance. By André Hereford

D

EPICTING TWO REMARKABLY DIFFERENT PERIODS IN ONE YOUNG man’s life, Anna Ziegler’s Boy (HHHHH) pieces together a revelatory whole from a deeply fractured journey. Adam Turner (John Jones) began his life as a healthy baby, one of two male twins born in 1968 to married couple Doug (Mike Kozemchak) and Trudy (Karen Novack). But, as Trudy tearfully explains, a severe accident during Adam’s circumcision led to the decision to raise the injured infant as a girl they named Samantha. Concerned that Samantha may never have a so-called normal life, they enlist the aid of Boston-based therapist Dr. Wendell Barnes (Vishwas) to guide their child on the complicated path towards wellness and self-acceptance.

Dr. Barnes, though kind and comforting, is himself guided by rigid, narrow-minded concepts of gender that only make the going rougher for Sam as puberty hits. Keegan Theatre’s production, staged with smarts and sensitivity by Susan Marie Rhea, makes an effective case that gender identity can’t be coerced by a doctor’s good intentions, nor the patience and understanding of loving parents. Reclaiming his male name, Adam won’t be defined by the choices Trudy, Doug, and the doctor made, but by his innate sense of self that says he’s a boy.

Portraying Adam at 21, and Samantha in sessions with Dr. Barnes between the ages of 7 and 12, John Jones powerfully captures the frustration of a person forced to sort through mixed signals and misinformation in order to find himself. The performance

rides that tension believably, although perhaps too insistently. Even as Adam kindles a romance with sweet-natured retail clerk Jenny (Lida Maria Benson), Jones plays the heavier scenes with a sober intensity that tends to overshadow the play’s lighter moments. Ziegler injects humor and lightness into the script to ease the tension, but Rhea’s direction opts more for a consistently serious mood that occasionally feels overdramatic.

At least Benson’s natural, engaging portrayal of Jenny picks up on the character’s cautious optimism and snarky humor. She provides an easy lightness and stability that Adam needs along his tumultuous journey, and that benefits the emotional ebbs and flows of the play. Benefiting the structural flow of the play, Vishwas invests the gentle but misguided Dr. Barnes with a sense of purpose that helps drive the action as it bounces between years, and sessions in the doctor’s office, to scenes from Adam and Jenny’s adult romance.

Through it all, Matthew J. Keenan’s beautifully evocative set remains mostly the same, with shards of a broken reflection hovering over an open doorway that might lead to Adam’s true self. l

Boy runs through March 7 at The Keegan Theatre, 1742 Church St. NW. Tickets are $36 to $46.

Call 202-265-3767, or visit www.KeeganTheatre.com.

FEBRUARY 20, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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NightLife Photography by Ward Morrison

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Scene

Peach Pit at DC9 - Saturday, Feb. 15 - Photography by Ward Morrison See and purchase more photos from this event at www.metroweekly.com/scene

DrinksDragDJsEtc...

Friday, February 21 A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 5pm-3am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Live televised sports DC EAGLE Meaty Fridays Happy Hour 5-9pm • Free Hot Dogs all night and Pizza at 7:30pm • $2 off all drinks until 9pm • $5 Cover starts at 7pm, $10 after 9pm • RuPaul’s Drag Race Viewing, hosted by Crystal and Brooklyn, 8pm • Birds of Prey Drag Show at 10:30pm • Open until 3am FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Karaoke, 9pm-close

GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • $3 Rail and Domestic • $5 Svedka, all flavors all night long • Rough House: Hands On, Lights Off, 10pm-close • All Body Types Welcome • Featuring DJ Lemz • $5 Cover (includes clothes check) NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Open 3pm • Beat the Clock Happy Hour — $2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm) • Buckets of Beer, $15 • Weekend Kickoff Dance Party, with Nellie’s DJs spinning bubbly pop music all night NUMBER NINE Open 5pm • Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • No Cover • Friday Night Piano with Chris, 7:30pm

• Friday Night Videos, 9:30pm • Rotating DJs PITCHERS Open 5pm-3am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Foosball • Live televised sports • Full dining menu till 9pm • Special Late Night menu till 2am SHAW’S TAVERN Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers • Milly Cover Band, 9pm TRADE Doors open 5pm • XL Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass is served in an XL glass for the same price, 5-10pm • Beer and wine only $5 • Otter Happy Hour with guest DJs, 5-11pm

Destinations A LEAGUE OF HER OWN 2317 18th St. NW 202-733-2568 www.facebook.com/alohodc AVALON SATURDAYS Soundcheck 1420 K St. NW 202-789-5429 www.facebook.com/ AvalonSaturdaysDC

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ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS Men of Secrets, 9pm • Guest dancers • Rotating DJs • Kristina Kelly’s Diva Fev-ah Drag Show • Doors at 9pm, Shows at 11:45pm • Music by DJ Jeff Eletto • Cover 21+

Saturday, February 22 A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 2pm-3am • Video Games • Live televised sports AVALON SATURDAYS Avalon Saturdays and Chorus DC present the Return of DJ Shane Marcus, 10pm-4am • Drag Show, 10:30-11:30pm, hosted by Ba’Naka and a rotating cast of drag queens • $4 Absolut Drinks, 10pm-midnight

• 21+ • $20 Cover, $25 VIP • Tickets available at Eventbrite.com

Drag Show, hosted by Miss Destiny B. Childs, 8-10pm • Karaoke, 10pm-close

DC EAGLE Open at 5pm • Happy Hour until 9pm • $5 Cover except for special events • Saturday Kink in the Main Bar, 9pm-close • LOBO, BRUT, Xavier Entertainment and Aftershock rotating on 2nd, 4th, and 5th Saturdays • Atlantic States Leather Weekend: Contest for Sir, Boy, and Bootblack • For more information, visit www.atlanticstatesleatherweekend.com • Serving until 3am

GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • $5 Bacardi, all flavors, all night long • JOX: The Green Lantern Underwear Party, 9pm-close • Music by DJs DJ Chaim, UltraPup, and Pup Phoenix • $8 Cover (includes clothes check)

FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Saturday Breakfast Buffet, 10am-3pm • $14.99 with one glass of champagne or coffee, soda or juice • Additional champagne $2 per glass • Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Freddie’s Follies

NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Drag Brunch, hosted

by Chanel Devereaux, 10:30am-12:30pm and 1-3pm • Tickets on sale at nelliessportsbar.com • House Rail Drinks, Zing Zang Bloody Marys, Nellie Beer and Mimosas, $4, 11am-3am • Buckets of Beer, $15 • Guest DJs playing pop music all night

DC EAGLE 3701 Benning Rd. NE (202) 455-6500 www.dceagle.com

NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR 900 U St. NW 202-332-6355 www.nelliessportsbar.com

FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR 555 23rd St. S. Arlington, Va. 703-685-0555 www.freddiesbeachbar.com

NUMBER NINE 1435 P St. NW 202-986-0999 www.numberninedc.com

GREEN LANTERN 1335 Green Ct. NW 202-347-4533 www.greenlanterndc.com

FEBRUARY 20, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

PITCHERS 2317 18th St. NW 202-733-2568 www.pitchersbardc.com

NIGHTLIFE HIGHLIGHTS Compiled by Doug Rule

MONDAY NIGHT SKATING: MARDI GRAS MASQUARADE Billed as “the gayest skate a Monday night can have and the most fun on eight wheels,” MNSkating is a longstanding LGBTQ roller-skating tradition. Held the last Monday of every month, the evening includes couples/trios/group skating, limbo, conga line, and other fun games (“Ghostbusters Mayhem,” say). There’s also a charity-benefiting 50/50 Raffle and door prizes. This Monday, Feb. 24, from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m., comes a Mardi Gras-themed event one day before the actual holiday, allowing skaters to kick things off in a sober way, given that the host venue is a dry one. If you’re wondering what to wear, organizers suggest “a ball gown and mask, or more minimalist attire if you dare.” At the Laurel Roller Skating Center, 9890 Brewers Ct. in Laurel, Md. For more information, including pricing, call 301-725-8070 or visit www.MondayNightSkating.com.

NUMBER NINE Doors open 2pm • Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 2-9pm • $5 Absolut and $5 Bulleit Bourbon, 9pm-close • Jawbreaker: Music of the ’90s and 2000s, featuring DJs BacK2bACk, 9:30pm PITCHERS Open Noon-3am • Video Games • Foosball • Live televised sports • Full dining menu till 9pm • Special Late Night menu till 2am SHAW’S TAVERN Brunch with $16 Bottomless Mimosas, 10am-3pm • Happy Hour, 5-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers • Special Saturday Edition of Karaoke, 9pm

TRADE Doors open 2pm • XL Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass is served in an XL glass for the same price, 2-10pm • Beer and wine only $5 ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS Men of Secrets upstairs, 9pm-close • Fully nude male dancers • Ladies of Illusion Drag Show with host Ella Fitzgerald in Ziegfeld’s • Doors open at 9pm, Show at 11:45pm • Music by DJs Keith Hoffman and Don T. • Cover 21+

Sunday, February 23 A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 2pm-12am • $4 Smirnoff and Domestic

SHAW’S TAVERN 520 Florida Ave. NW 202-518-4092 www.shawstavern.com TRADE 1410 14th St. NW 202-986-1094 www.tradebardc.com ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS 1824 Half St. SW 202-863-0670 www.ziegfelds.com

MASQUERADE DRAG BINGO AT RED BEAR BREWING On Fat Tuesday, Feb. 25, Red Bear Brewing head queen Desiree Dik invites everyone to don their “best masquerade costumes, beads or party gear” to win prizes for “best dressed” at the gay-owned nanobrewery in NoMa. The occasion is the venue’s usual rounds of bingo held every second and fourth Tuesdays as co-hosted by Dik along with Bombalicious Eklaver. The games, which are free to play and ASL interpreted, start at 7 p.m. and are interspersed with drag shows. Red Bear Brewing is at 209 M St. NE. Call 202849-6130 or visit www.redbear.beer.

NATIONAL MARGARITA DAY Every day is National Margarita Day for some of us, but officially, it comes just once a year. And this year, on Saturday, Feb. 22, you don’t have to stick to traditional tequila haunts around town to get your fill of the sweet and boozy concoction. All day long, starting at noon, Nellie’s Sports Bar offers wallet-friendly options, ranging from just $6 for a basic House Margarita, to $8 for an Avion-branded one, to $10 for a frozen blend. Best yet, you can mix and match and imbibe until you get your fill, are cut off, or until closing time at 3 a.m., whichever comes first. Nellie’s is at 900 U St. NW. Call 202332-NELL or visit www.nelliessportsbar.com.

CRYFEST: THE CURE VS. THE SMITHS DANCE PARTY After all that tequila on Saturday, Feb. 22, you might feel like crying if you’re still standing — and if you can still move before, say, 1 a.m., get yourself to the Black Cat for the 14th Street institution’s longest-running, mopiest DJ-driven battleof-the-bands-themed events. The 18th Anniversary CryFest features DJs Steve EP, Missguided, and Killa K, all of whom will take turns spinning tunes with Robert Smith’s signature forlorn croons alternating with the whines of Morrissey. It’s promoted as “the largest Cure/Smiths dance party in the U.S.” Doors at 9:30 p.m. The Black Cat is at 1811 14th St. NW. Tickets are $15. Call 202-667-4490 or visit www.blackcatdc.com. l FEBRUARY 20, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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Cans • Video Games • Live televised sports DC EAGLE Open at Noon • Happy Hour until 9pm • Food served 4-7pm, $12 a plate • Cigar Sundays and Cruisy Sundays • $3 off all Whiskeys & Bourbons and Rail, $5 Chivas Regal • Serving until 2am FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Fabulous Sunday Champagne Brunch, 10am-3pm • $24.99 with four glasses of champagne or mimosas, 1 Bloody Mary, or coffee, soda or juice • Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Gayborhood Piano Bar Night, hosted by John Flynn, 5-8pm • Karaoke, 9pm-close GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • Karaoke with Kevin downstairs, 9:30pm-close

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NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Drag Brunch, hosted

by Chanel Devereaux, 10:30am-12:30pm and 1-3pm • Tickets on sale at nelliessportsbar.com • House Rail Drinks, Zing Zang Bloody Marys, Nellie Beer and Mimosas, $4, 11am-1am • Buckets of Beer, $15 • Guest DJs NUMBER NINE Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 2-9pm • $5 Absolut and $5 Bulleit Bourbon, 9pm-close • Multiple TVs showing movies, shows, sports • Expanded craft beer selection • Pop Goes the World with Wes Della Volla at 9:30pm • No Cover PITCHERS Open Noon-2am • $4 Smirnoff, includes flavored, $4 Coors Light or $4 Miller Lites, 2-9pm • Video

Games • Foosball • Live televised sports • Full dining menu till 9pm

Monday, February 24

SHAW’S TAVERN Brunch with $16 Bottomless Mimosas, 10am-3pm • Happy Hour, 5-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers • Dinner and Drag with Miss Kristina Kelly, 6:30pm • No Cover • For reservations, email shawsdinnerdragshow@gmail.com

DC EAGLE Too Smart Trivia every week • Happy Hour until 9pm, $2 off all drinks • Free Pool play • $2 Bud & Bud Lights

TRADE Doors open 2pm • XL Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass is served in an XL glass for the same price, 2-10pm • Beer and wine only $5

FEBRUARY 20, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Singles Night • Half-Priced Pasta Dishes • Karaoke, 9pm GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • $3 rail cocktails and domestic beers all night long • Singing with the Sisters: Open Mic Karaoke Night with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, 9:30pm-close

NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Beat the Clock Happy Hour — $2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm) • Buckets of Beer, $15 • Half-Priced Burgers • Paint Nite, 7pm • PokerFace Poker, 8pm • Dart Boards • Ping Pong Madness, featuring 2 PingPong Tables NUMBER NINE Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • No Cover SHAW’S TAVERN Happy Hour, 5-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers • Shaw ’Nuff Trivia, 7:30pm TRADE Doors open 5pm • XL Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass is served in an XL glass for the same price,

5-10pm • Beer and wine only $5

Tuesday, February 25 A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 5pm-12am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Live televised sports DC EAGLE Jockstrap Tuesdays: First Drink Free for Guys in Jockstraps • Twisted Tuesdays in the Eagle’s Nest • Hosted by DMV Kiki Nights (Vogue Beats, House, GoGo) FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Taco Tuesday • Karaoke, 9pm

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GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • $3 rail cocktails and domestic beers all night long • Tito’s Tuesday: $5 Tito’s Vodka all night

• Half-Priced Burgers and Pizzas, 5-10pm • Democratic Debate Watch Party in the Tavern, 9pm • Schitt’s Creek Watch Party, Second Floor, 9pm

NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Beat the Clock Happy Hour — $2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm) • Buckets of Beer $15 • Drag Bingo with Sasha Adams and Brooklyn Heights, 7-9pm • Karaoke, 9pm-close

TRADE Doors open 5pm • XL Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass is served in an XL glass for the same price, 5-10pm • Beer and wine only $5

NUMBER NINE Open at 5pm • Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • No Cover PITCHERS Open 5pm-12am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Foosball • Live televised sports • Full dining menu till 9pm • Special Late Night menu till 11pm SHAW’S TAVERN Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers

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Wednesday, February 26 A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 5pm-12am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Live televised sports DC EAGLE Happy Hour until 9pm • Karaoke by D&K Sounds from 9pm-1am • $5 Rails, Wines & Domestic Drafts FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • $6 Burgers • Beach Blanket

Drag Bingo Night, hosted

by Ms. Regina Jozet Adams, 8pm • Bingo prizes • Karaoke, 10pm-1am GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4pm-9pm • Bear Yoga with Greg Leo, 6:30-7:30pm • $10 per class • $3 rail cocktails and domestic beers all night long • Karaoke, 9pm NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR SmartAss Trivia Night, 8-10pm • Prizes include bar tabs and tickets to shows at the 9:30 Club • Absolutely Snatched Drag Show, hosted by Brooklyn Heights, 9pm • $3 Bud Light, $5 Absolut, $15 Buckets of Beer NUMBER NINE Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • No Cover PITCHERS Open 5pm-12am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Foosball • Live televised sports • Full dining menu till 9pm • Special Late Night menu till 11pm

FEBRUARY 20, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

SHAW’S TAVERN Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers • Piano Bar with Jill, 8pm TRADE Doors open 5pm • XL Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass is served in an XL glass for the same price, 5-10pm • Beer and wine only $5 • Women’s Crush Wednesday: A Monthly Happy Hour for LBT women/Non-GenderConforming/Nonbinary Folx who enjoy the company of women, 5-10pm

Thursday, February 27 A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 5pm-2am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Live televised sports

DC EAGLE $5 Rail and Domestics for guys in L.U.R.E. (Leather, Uniform, Rubber, Etc.) • Lights Dimmed at 8pm FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Karaoke, 9pm-close GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • Shirtless Thursday, 10-11pm • Men in Underwear Drink Free, 12-12:30am • DJs BacK2bACk NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Beat the Clock Happy Hour — $2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm) • $15 Buckets of Bud Products all night • Sports Leagues Night NUMBER NINE Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • No Cover • ThurSlay, featuring DJ Jack Rayburn, 10pm PITCHERS Open 5pm-2am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Foosball • Live televised sports • Full dining menu till

9pm • Special Late Night menu till 11pm • Thirst Trap Thursdays, hosted by Venus Valhalla, 11pm-12:30am • Featuring a Rotating Cast of Drag Performers • Dancing until 1:30am SHAW’S TAVERN Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers • Half-Priced Bottles of Wine, 5pm-close TRADE Doors open 5pm • XL Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass is served in an XL glass for the same price, 5-10pm • Beer and wine only $5 ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS All male, nude dancers, 9pm-close • “New Meat” Open Dancers Audition • Music by DJ Don T. • Cover 21+ For more specials not featured in print, visit www. metroweekly.com/nightlife/drink_specials. l

FEBRUARY 20, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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Scene

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Capital Pride Reveal at City Winery - Thursday, Feb. 6 - Photography by Ward Morrison See and purchase more photos from this event at www.metroweekly.com/scene

FEBRUARY 20, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

FEBRUARY 20, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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LastWord.

People say the queerest things

“If your conversation during a presidential election is about some guy wearing a dress and whether he, she, or it can go to the locker room with their daughter, that’s not a winning formula for most people. ” — Former Mayor MIKE BLOOMBERG, speaking at the Bermuda Business Development Agency in March 2019, Buzzfeed News reports.

Bloomberg derided Democratic candidates who advocated for protections for transgender people, arguing that such stances don’t play well with Middle America voters. Bloomberg made similar comments about a “man wearing a dress” entering a women’s locker room in 2016.

“Trump’s embrace of Limbaugh’s homophobia is not only offensive on its face, but further compounded by his repeated attempts to gaslight the LGBTQ community. ” — Human Rights Campaign President ALPHONSO DAVID, in a statement after Rush Limbaugh said on his radio show that Donald Trump called him and told him not to apologize for offensive comments about former Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

Limbaugh drew bipartisan criticism last week after saying Buttigieg “loves to kiss his husband” and asking “how’s this going to look...onstage next to Mr. Man Donald Trump?”

“People kept saying that I [came out]... I didn’t do that. I mean, it’s not inaccurate, but I never did ‘come out’ come out. I mean, I guess I am now.”

— Actress ROSARIO DAWSON, in an interview with Bustle, discussing a post on her Instagram in 2018 celebrating Pride Month, which said she was “sending love to my fellow lgbtq+ homies.” Dawson, who is dating Sen. Cory Booker, told Bustle she questioned her own LGBTQ identity, and whether she should come out, because she has “never had a relationship in that space, so it’s never felt like an authentic calling to me.”

“I’ve already spoken publicly about this and I’ll repeat it again: As long as I’m president this will not happen.”

— Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN, confirming that same-sex marriage will not be legalized in the country while he remains president, Reuters reports. Putin, who has overseen an increase in anti-LGBTQ laws and attitudes in Russia during his four terms as president, also seemed to signal support for a constitutional amendment limiting marriage to one man and one woman.

“When I tried to speed off to come around this corner, they kept trying to shoot, shoot, shoot.”

— South Miami Heights resident CLIVE KHOURI, speaking to WPLG Local 10 News, after he and a male friend were shot by two or three attackers on ATVs. He believes they were targeted because the shooters “probably saw us kissing in the car.”

Khouri was grazed by a bullet, while his friend was taken to hospital in critical condition. A lesbian woman who was sitting in her car nearby was also grazed by two stray bullets.

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