Home The Washington Diplomat October 2016 Events – October 2016

Events – October 2016

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ART 

Oct. 1 to 20

Installation: Con Los Brazos Abiertos – Embracing Mexico

This installation by Mexican graffiti artist Saner features approximately 20 Mexican artists and icons and celebrates the significant contributions that they have made to arts and culture.

Kennedy Center

Through Oct. 2

Alison Saar in Print

Alison Saar uses dynamic printmaking techniques to explore themes of feminine, racial and cultural identity. The artist’s hand-wrought woodcuts combine strong color and bold forms, while her central figures hold evocative objects — snakes, knives, fry pans, plants or bottles — that allude to a range of myth, lore and legend.

National Museum of Women in the Arts

Through Oct. 2

Hubert Robert, 1733-1808

One of the most prominent artists of his era, Hubert Robert loved and depicted ruined structures of all types, whether real or imagined, and not just those of ancient Rome (he lived in Italy for eleven years). He also drew inspiration from scenes he encountered in his native France, including urban renewal projects, Gallo-Roman antiquities and natural disasters. At the core of his success was his brilliance as a master of the architectural capriccio, in which random monuments from different locales were artfully brought together to create new, completely imaginary landscapes.

National Gallery of Art

Oct. 4 to Jan. 2

Drawings for Paintings in the Age of Rembrandt

Dutch landscapes, still lifes, and scenes of daily life possess a remarkable immediacy and authenticity, giving the impression that Dutch artists painted them from life. However, artists actually executed these works — as well as biblical and mythological subjects—in studios, often using drawings as points of departure. Over 90 drawings and 25 paintings by renowned Golden Age masters reveals the many ways Dutch artists used preliminary drawings in the painting process.

National Gallery of Art

Oct. 4 to Feb. 7

No Boundaries: Aboriginal Australian Contemporary Abstract Painting

“No Boundaries” showcases the work of nine Aboriginal artists from remote northwest Australia, revered as community leaders and the custodians of ceremonial knowledge. They took up painting late in their lives, but quickly established themselves at the forefront of Australian contemporary art. The paintings of these nine men cannot be understood outside of the rich cultural traditions that inform them. At the same time, these artists are innovators of the highest order.

Embassy of Australia Art Gallery

Oct. 5 to Jan. 7

The Overflow of Productivity Logic

“The Overflow of Productivity Logic,” with works by artists Cristina Lucas, Irving Penn, Abraham Cruzvillegas and more, features a selection of pieces that, through gestures, evocations or representations, displace the conceptual pillars of the prevailing economic model. Through three thematic axes, the exhibit calls into question production processes and economic exchange, reflects on the role that the economy plays in the constitution of an individual and challenges the logic of “productivity” within the capitalistic economic model.

Mexican Cultural Institute

Oct. 8 to Jan. 8

People on the Move: Beauty and Struggle in Jacob Lawrence’s Migration Series

The Phillips Collection reunites all 60 panels of “The Migration Series,” Jacob Lawrence’s seminal masterwork depicting the mass movement of African Americans from the rural South to the urban North between the World Wars. Shaped by an interdisciplinary team of scholars, this exhibition explores the historical, literary, socio-cultural, aesthetic and contemporary manifestations of migration that underlie Lawrence’s powerful visual narrative. The presentation is complemented by a new interactive website, featuring the artist’s first-hand accounts as well as contemporary responses to migration.

The Phillips Collection

Oct. 8 to Jan. 8

Whitfield Lovell: The Kin Series & Related Works

The work of internationally recognized Bronx-born artist Whitfield Lovell powerfully examines “the markings that the past has made — and continues to make—on who we are.” In his exquisitely crafted Kin series and related tableaux, Lovell combines freely drawn Conté crayon figures of anonymous African Americans with time worn objects from everyday life, such as a brooch, clock or flag.

The Phillips Collection

Through Oct. 9

Muchedumbre: Photography by Jorge Brantmayer (Chile)

“Muchedumbre” is a photographic project that investigates Chile’s post-dictatorship era, its transition to democracy, its economic boom and Chile’s current state of paradox. As the Chilean society begins to question an economic system centered on open markets and a growing disparity in wealth, more citizens are demanding a more equitable and just nation. This exhibit documents that process beginning in 2006 through 2015, and chronicles different public demonstrations including marches for free education, gender equality and sexual diversity, as well as protests against environmental degradation, among others.

Art Museum of the Americas

Oct. 14 to Jan. 8

Ragnar Kjartansson

“Ragnar Kjartansson” is the first major survey of the work of the internationally acclaimed Icelandic artist and his prodigious output since his debut in Reykjavík in 2000. It features the artist’s most celebrated works, including many never before seen in the U.S., and encompasses the entirety of his practice — live endurance performance, large-scale video installations, drawings, photography and painting.

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

Oct. 15 to Feb. 20

The Art of the Qur’an: Treasures from the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts

In recognition of one of the world’s extraordinary collections of Qur’ans, the Freer|Sackler is hosting a landmark exhibition, the first of its kind in the United States, featuring some 50 of the most sumptuous manuscripts from Herat to Istanbul. Celebrated for their superb calligraphy and lavish illumination, these manuscripts — which range in date from the early 8th to the 17th century — are critical to the history of the arts of the book. They were once the prized possessions of Ottoman sultans and the ruling elite, who donated their Qur’ans to various institutions to express their personal piety and secure political power.

Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

Through Oct. 18

Nexos: Etchings by Dora Garraffo

The different cultures that arrived with boatloads of illusions and ancestral seeds of indigenous peoples merge in “Nexos,” a series of etchings by Buenos Aires-born artist Dora Garraffo that establish visible and invisible bonds between the magical and the concrete. Ancient wood carvings that used to be figureheads of steamships take on a new life and meaning in her works, while images of women, men and children, surrounded by nature, reveal colors and textures of a reality that identifies us.

Embassy of Argentina

Oct. 20 to March 26

The Great Swindle: Works by Santiago Montoya

Colombian artist Santiago Montoya uses paper currency as the base for his work, re-contextualizing one of our most basic and intimate relationships: the relationship with money. Comprised of works that Montoya has made over the last 10 years, “The Great Swindle” represents a sustained examination of the complicated, fluid relationships we have with financial systems, as well as a journey through the artist’s forays into the materiality of paper bills — raising questions and taking positions on our place within the financial system.

OAS Art Museum of the Americas

Through Oct. 23

Daughter of China, Resident Alien

Two recurring themes in Hung Liu’s work are refugees and heroines, reflecting Liu’s experience as an immigrant, woman and American. Liu, who grew up in Maoist China, examines sacrifice, memory and history through works that navigate the complex and never-ending tension between emigration (with its emphasis on leaving one’s homeland) and immigration (with its emphasis on arriving in a new place).

American University Museum at

Katzen Arts Center

Through Oct. 23

It Takes a Nation: Art for Social Justice with Emory Douglas and the Black Panther Party, AFRICOBRA, and Contemporary Washington Artists

This wide-ranging exhibit of political and visual content provides a cross-generational conversation of social justice in America. On display for the first time in D.C. is the art of Emory Douglas, the renowned radical sociopolitical artist who served as Minister of Culture and the primary artist and illustrator for the original Black Panther Party of the 1960s and 1970s.

American University Museum at

Katzen Arts Center

Through Oct. 23

Todas las Manos

This interdisciplinary public art project celebrates human rights and global justice, commemorating the 40th anniversary of the murders of former Chilean Ambassador Orlando Letelier and co-worker Ronni Karpen Moffitt in D.C. on Sept. 21, 1976. Letelier and Karpen Moffitt were killed by a car bomb explosion. Muralist Francisco Letelier, son of Orlando Letelier, worked in collaboration with youth participants from the Latin American Youth Center to create a large-scale mural in the museum’s sculpture garden.

American University Museum at

Katzen Arts Center

Through Oct. 31

Beyond Hangeul

Contemporary works by six Korean artists are inspired by the elegant, adaptable design of Korea’s native writing system, hangeul. Not only to be appreciated by Korean speakers, this exhibition looks beyond hangeul as a functional communication tool, exploring the past, present and future of hangeul through its structural value as well as its aesthetic and formal beauty. Featuring works of installation, painting, calligraphy and sculpture, this exhibition also coincides with Hangeul Day, the Oct. 9 national holiday in Korea celebrating hangeul’s creation in the 15th century. It has since stood the test of time as one of the world’s most scientific, easily learned alphabets, profoundly impacting literacy and education when it was introduced.

Korean Cultural Center

Through Nov. 4

2,000 Miles: Divided Land, Common Humanity

This exhibition aims to contribute to our ongoing conversation about walls, borders and people. Until recently, the idea of separating territories and peoples via manmade borders seemed an outdated relic from the past. Recent political developments, however, including the creation of new barriers at the European Union’s borders, have made such barriers a topic of heated debate. Germany’s own past in this regard serves as inspiration for two German artists, Daniel Schwarz and Stefan Falke, who take a close look at the geography and the cultural and social commonalities on the two sides of the U.S.-Mexican border.

Goethe-Institut

Through Nov. 6

Will & Jane

Merchandising, parodies and spinoffs through the centuries have put William Shakespeare and Jane Austen on a first-name basis with the world. Explore the stories of “Will” and “Jane” and the nature of literary celebrity. How does today’s Cult of Jane resemble the first wave of Bardolatry 200 years ago?

Folger Shakespeare Library

Through Dec. 11

Spirit of the Wild: Through the Eyes of Mattias Klum

All life on earth is interconnected. Cities, societies and nations depend on healthy natural ecosystems to survive and prosper. Mattias Klum, one of the most important natural history photographer of our time, shares the stories of his journeys; from deep in the Artic to wild places like the Borneo rainforest, to the savannahs of Tanzania and the life under the sea.

House of Sweden

Through Dec. 11

Viktigt by Ingegerd Raman

With love of craftsmanship and simplicity at the heart of it all, Viktigt pieces do their job in silence. Ingegerd Råman, the House of Sweden’s own designer, explores the craftsmanship behind her IKEA collection of glass, ceramic, bamboo and natural fibers.

House of Sweden

Through Dec. 11

Woodland Sweden

Nature is prevalent everywhere in Sweden and there is a long tradition of using nature’s raw materials in the country’s built environment. Wooden architecture and design, in fact, are becoming a new Swedish export item. This exhibition shows the rapid development of Swedish innovative contemporary architecture and examines different aspects of construction work with wood.

House of Sweden

Through Dec. 31

Deco Japan: Shaping Art and Culture, 1920-1945

The style that came to be known as art deco, which flourished from the 1920s to 1940s, was a vivid reflection of the modern era and the vitality of the machine age. Between the wars, as normalcy returned to politics, jazz music blossomed and the flapper redefined the modern woman, art deco left its mark on every form of visual art. This exhibit explores how the Japanese interpreted the style and transformed it through their own rich art and craft traditions.

Hillwood Museum, Estate and Gardens

Through Jan. 2

Intersections: Photographs and Videos from the National Gallery of Art and Corcoran Gallery of Art

Nearly 700 photographs from Eadweard Muybridge’s groundbreaking publication “Animal Locomotion,” acquired by the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1887, became the foundation for the institution’s early interest in photography. The Key Set of more than 1,600 works by Alfred Stieglitz, donated by Georgia O’Keeffe and the Alfred Stieglitz Estate, launched the photography collection at the National Gallery of Art in 1949. Inspired by these two seminal artists, Muybridge and Stieglitz, the exhibition brings together highlights of the recently merged collections of the Corcoran and the National Gallery of Art by a range of artists from the 1840s to today.

National Gallery of Art

Through Jan. 2

Recent Acquisitions of Dutch and Flemish Drawings

“Recent Acquisitions of Dutch and Flemish Drawings” encompasses landscapes, seascapes, portraits, still lifes and history subjects that demonstrate the originality of Dutch and Flemish draftsmanship and its stylistic evolution.

National Gallery of Art

Through Jan. 2

Senses of Time: Video and Film-Based Works of Africa

This exhibition features six internationally recognized African artists and examines how time is experienced and produced by the body. Bodies stand, climb, dance and dissolve in seven works of video and film art by Sammy Baloji, Theo Eshetu, Moataz Nasr, Berni Searle, Yinka Shonibare and Sue Williamson, all of whom repeat, resist and reverse the expectation that time must move relentlessly forward.

National Museum of African Art

Through Jan. 5

North Is Freedom

This photographic essay celebrates the descendants of freedom-seekers who escaped slavery in the United States by fleeing to Canada. In the years before the American Civil War, approximately 30,000 fugitive slaves followed the “North Star” to freedom, using a network of clandestine routes that became known as the “Underground Railroad.” Some 150 years later, Canadian photographer Yuri Dojc explores the northern end of the “Underground Railroad” and presents a series of 24 portraits of descendants. This exhibit honors the contributions of once-enslaved African Americans and their descendants to Canada and celebrates the opening of the newest Smithsonian museum, the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Embassy of Canada Art Gallery

Through Jan. 7

#Opera Before Instagram: Portraits, 1890-1955

An exhibition opening next month at the Library of Congress will showcase photographs of early opera stars from a collection assembled by the late authority on opera Charles Jahant, in a format that will explore how Jahant might have used an Instagram account had he lived today.

Library of Congress

James Madison Building

Through Jan. 8

NO MAN’S LAND: Women Artists from the Rubell Family Collection

Born in 16 countries across five continents, 37 contemporary artists use their aesthetically diverse work to address varied political and intellectual themes. This exhibition centers on the process of making as well as on images of the female body — both topics that extend from the feminist art movement of the 1970s.

National Museum of Women in the Arts

Through Jan. 28

DeLIMITations

This exhibit chronicles a 2,400 mile-long, site-specific installation that traces the border between Mexico and the United States as it existed in 1821. In marking the short-lived historic boundary with a series of monuments that mimic those installed along the contemporary border, artists Marchos Ramírez Erre and David Taylor question the permanence of borders while recognizing the shared history and common interests between the two neighboring countries.

Mexican Cultural Institute

Through Jan. 29

Los Angeles to New York: Dwan Gallery, 1959-1971

The remarkable career of gallerist and patron Virginia Dwan will be featured front and center for the first time in an exhibition of some 100 works, featuring highlights from Dwan’s promised gift of her extraordinary personal collection to the National Gallery of Art.

National Gallery of Art

Through Jan. 29

Turquoise Mountain: Artists Transforming Afghanistan

Decades of civil unrest nearly destroyed Afghanistan’s vital artistic heritage. Over the past decade, Turquoise Mountain, an organization founded in 2006 at the request of the prince of Wales and the president of Afghanistan, has transformed the Murad Khani district of Old Kabul from slum conditions into a vibrant cultural and economic center.

Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

Through Feb. 12

Notes from the Desert: Photographs by Gauri Gill

Since the late 1990s, Gauri Gill (born 1970) has been photographing marginalized communities in western Rajasthan, India. Featuring 57 of her prints, this exhibition showcases Gill’s work in the remote desert region and draws on her extensive archive.

Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

Through March 5

Photography Reinvented: The Collection of Robert E. Meyerhoff and Rheda Becker

The collection of Robert E. Meyerhoff and Rheda Becker brings together works of critically important artists who have changed the course of photography through their experimentation and conceptual scope. Especially rich in holdings of work by photographers of the famed Düsseldorf School, among them Struth, Candida Höfer, Andreas Gursky and Thomas Ruff, the collection also includes examples by photographers exploring the nature of the medium itself, such as Demand, Cindy Sherman and Vik Muniz.

National Gallery of Art

Through Aug. 6, 2017

José Gómez-Sicre’s Eye

A half-century ago, Cuban-born curator José Gómez-Sicre took the reins of the OAS’s art program, thrusting himself into the rapidly expanding Latin American art world and bringing young, emerging talent to the OAS’s budding exhibition space. Impassioned by the arts, Gómez-Sicre planted the seeds of what is today considered among world’s finest collections of modern and contemporary Latin American and Caribbean art. The OAS will be celebrating the centennial of Gómez-Sicre’s birth throughout 2016, honoring his contribution to the legacy of the hemisphere’s art.

OAS Art Museum of the Americas

 

DANCE

Thu., Oct. 13, 8 p.m.

Inbal Pinto and Avshalom Pollack Dance Company: Wallflower

This startling and ethereal contemporary dance piece floats like a waking dream and flutters on the edges of remembrance and anticipation. Costumed from head to toe in colorful hand-knitted body suits, the 10 dancers throw away the conventions of Western movement and create startling shapes, unexpected compositions and shocking sculptural configurations with their bodies. Tickets are $25.

University of Maryland

Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center

 

DISCUSSIONS

Tue., Oct. 4, 6 p.m.

Famous Luxury Fashion Houses: A Remarkable Family History

The Georgetown University Italian Research Institute, in collaboration with the Embassy of Italy and Georgetown Retail and Luxury Association, a student organization, invites you to a conference on the extraordinary family history and creativity of two famous luxury brands: Salvatore Ferragamo and Oscar de la Renta. The featured speakers, Massimo Ferragamo and Alex Bolen, will share the family history of the two famous houses, the creativity of their collection and managerial skills that have ensured the global success of their fashion luxury brands. Admission is free but registration is required.

Georgetown University Intercultural Center Auditorium

Tue., Oct. 4, 6:30 p.m.

Women’s Crossfit Hour

Get in shape with D.C.’s leading pioneers in fitness, featuring CrossFit coach Danielle Dionne, who will turn the Czech Embassy’s main hall into a training facility. Beginners and enthusiasts are welcome to join in the Work Out of the Day (WOD) and learn about the positive impact of proper nutrition and mental focus on their personal fitness goals from accomplished female athletes. This program is a part of the “Mutual Inspirations Festival 2016 – Martina Navrátilová,” honoring the best tennis player of all time, among men and women, and trailblazer on healthy living, who believes in training and having fun through various sports.

Embassy of the Czech Republic

Wed., Oct. 12, 6:30 p.m.

It’s Alive! Benefits of Fermentation

The Japanese Embassy shares the unique culture of traditional Japanese cuisine and culture with Takashi Sato, president of the Japanese soy sauce company San-J, who will describe the processes behind fermentation that produce the unique taste characteristic of Washoku cuisine, as well as Daisuke Utagawa, owner of the local ramen shop Daikaya and sushi shop Sushiko, who will present the benefits of fermented ingredients and their use in Japanese cooking. Admission is free but registration is required.

Japan Information and Culture Center (JICC)

Wed., Oct. 26, 7 p.m.

Fresh Talk: Liz Ogbu and Swoom – How Do We Build Better Together

Liz Ogbu, a designer, urbanist and social innovator, participates in a conversation with artist Caledonia Curry (a.k.a. Swoon) about solving social problems through creative transformations of places, systems and communities. Tickets are $20.

National Museum of Women in the Arts

 

FESTIVALS

Sat., Oct. 5, 6:30

Noche Ibero Americana

Don’t miss a night of food, music, art and more as the Ibero-American Cultural Attachés Association (AACIA) presents Noche Ibero Americana!

Come taste cuisine from Paraguay, Mexico, El Salvador and Venezuela while sipping on Argentinian and Chilean wine, Costa Rican beer, Dominican rum mojitos and Peruvian pisco. Finish it all off with Portuguese natas, Ecuadorean chocolate and Guatemalan coffee. The program will include music from Spain by the Pavel Urkiza duet with percussion by Rigel Pérez; dance from Panama by GRUFOLPAWA; and music from Colombia by Verny Varela. The Mexican Cultural Institute’s exhibit will also be on display and the evening will include a raffle for two round-trip business class plane tickets to Lima, as well as Brazilian Cachaça, Cuban cigars and Roberto Canessa’s book “I had to survive.” Plus, all guests will walk away with a special surprise from Honduras. Tickets are $79.

Mexican Cultural Institute

Through Nov. 20

Mutual Inspirations Festival: Martina Navrátilová

This year’s Mutual Inspirations Festival, hosted by the Czech Embassy, honors a living sports legend: Martina Navrátilová. The Czech-American tennis great took women’s tennis to another level and inspired the world with her unsurpassed record of 59 Grand Slam titles. Beyond her victories on the court, Navrátilová has become an inspirational leader to rising stars, athletes, women, breast cancer patients and minorities, and she is an outspoken advocate for human rights and healthy living. The annual festival, now in its seventh year, celebrates the mutual influence between Czech and American cultures and the enormous personalities who have shaped this connection. Highlights include a variety of films screenings, discussions, exhibitions, fitness demonstrations and theater. For information, visit www.mutualinspirations.org.

Various locations

 

MUSIC

Fri., Oct. 7, 7 p.m.

Ukraine – Journey to Freedom: A Century of Classical Music for Violin and Piano

The dynamic Ivakhiv-Gadeliya Duo has performed in venues and festivals across the U.S. to great critical acclaim. Both natives of Ukraine, Solomiya and Angelina met and formed their duo at Stony Brook University while working on their doctorates in musical arts. Tickets are $95, including Ukrainian buffet, wine and nearby parking. For information, visit www.embassyseries.org.

Embassy of Ukraine

Sun., Oct. 9, 3 p.m.

Quinteto Latino

Quinteto Latino blends the vibrant colors and vigorous rhythms of Latin American music with the sumptuous voices of the wind quintet: flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn and bassoon. Whether exploring new twists on traditional folk songs or premiering works by living composers, these five musicians perform with impeccable artistry and infectious energy. Tickets are $25.

University of Maryland

Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center

Sat., Oct. 15, 6 p.m.

Eastern European Folk Dance Variety Show Featuring Talija Art Company

Established in 1998 in Belgrade, Talija Art Company performs folk dances from all regions of the former Yugoslavia, as well as from Hungary, Romania, Russia and Bulgaria. Talija’s core repertoire is comprised of the customs and folk tales gathered from these cultures and the troupe uses motion as the element binding the colorful traditions of music and dance together. To date, Talija has given more than 4,000 performances throughout the world. Tickets are $20 in advance (www.SvLuka.org/Talija) or $25 at the door.

St. Luke Serbian Orthodox Church

Potomac, Md.

Fri., Oct. 14, 8 p.m.,

Sat., Oct. 15, 8 p.m.

Havana Cuba All-Stars

The Havana Cuba All-Stars will conjure white sand beaches, swirling cigar smoke and swinging Latin jazz in “Cuban Nights,” a program that features Cuba’s most prominent musicians sharing their rich musical heritage, from the “Rumba” to the “Cha-Cha-Cha” to the “Habanera.” Tickets are $30 to $50.

George Mason University

Center for the Arts (Oct. 14)

Hylton Performing Arts Center (Oct. 15)

Sat., Oct. 15, 7 p.m.

Luna de Tango / Moonlight Tango

Teatro de la Luna presents this one-night-only performance of tango and milonga music that features the extraordinary voices of Mariana Quinteros and Oscar “Tucu” Medina. Tickets are $35.

Rosslyn Spectrum Theatre

Mon., Oct. 17, 8 p.m.

Omara Portuondo – ’85 Tour

Omara Portuondo, the great Cuban diva and artistic ambassador of her country, wants to celebrate her 85th birthday with a grand fiesta that represents the impressive sweep of her career — on every stop meeting with old friends and new to perform together much loved Cuban classics. Tickets are $45 to $65.

GW Lisner Auditorium

Thu., Oct. 20, 8 p.m.

Ludovico Einaudi – Elements

Italian pianist and composer Ludovico Einaudi’s neoclassical music has been featured in movies and he has performed on stages around the world, from the Lincoln Center to La Scala in Italy to a glacier in the Arctic (with Greenpeace). Please call for ticket information.

GW Lisner Auditorium

Thu., Oct. 20, 7:30 p.m.

Nilko Andreas Guarin, Guitar; Mélanie Genin, Harp: United Nations Day Commemoration

Classical Guitarist Nilko Andreas Guarin has been praised as an “electrifying performer for his powerful stage presence and spontaneity that grows irresistible.” Since his Carnegie Hall debut in 2009 performing with the Azlo Orchestra, Andreas has been captivating audiences in two continents as a soloist and chamber musician. Tickets are $150, including buffet and wine. For information, visit www.embassyseries.org.

Colombian Residence

Sat., Oct. 22, 2 p.m.

Adam Levin: Masters of Spanish Guitar

Acclaimed American guitarist Adam Levin has been praised as an “exciting and powerful player who takes chances” by Soundboard Magazine. His solo concert at the Former Residence of the Ambassadors of Spain will unite beloved Spanish classics with works from today’s Spanish masters. Admission is free but registration if required (www.spainculture.us).

Former Residence of the Ambassador of Spain

Wed., Oct. 26, 7:30 p.m.

Cimbalom Duo: 60th Anniversary of the Hungarian Uprising

This duo combines two master cimbalom players who, over the past few decades in their respective careers, have done more to raise the global profile of this emblematic Hungarian instrument than anyone else. Kálmán Sándor Balogh has enjoyed a multifaceted career, collaborating with many well-known Hungarian bands and touring the world as leader of his own ensemble and as a soloist, while Miklós Lukács has earned a reputation in the contemporary classical and jazz spheres, performing with leading European orchestras. Tickets are $95, including buffet reception. For information, visit www.embassyseries.org.

Embassy of Hungary

Fri., Oct. 28, 8 p.m.

Washington Performing Arts Presents Hilary Hahn and Robert Levin

Three-time Grammy-winning violinist Hilary Hahn brings a wide-ranging program in a recital performance with pianist Robert Levin. In this concert, she conjoins these two major currents of her career, performing timeless works alongside three new partitas by Spanish composer Antón García Abril, commissioned by Washington Performing Arts. Tickets are $38 to $95.

Kennedy Center

 

THEATER

Through Oct. 1

I Call My Brothers

A car has exploded and a city has been crippled by fear, reeling from an act of terrorism. Amor wanders the city, doing his best to blend in. But what is normal behavior? And who is a potential perpetrator? Over 24 hours, Jonas Hassen Kemiri’s fierce, funny and explosive play — written in response to the Stockholm terrorist attacks of 2010 — explores where the lines between criminal and victim, and fantasy and reality, blur. Tickets start at $30.

Silver Spring Black Box Theater

Through Oct. 2

Cervantes: The Last Quixote

GALA Hispanic Theatre enters its fifth decade by commemorating 400th anniversary of the death of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra with this world premiere. In this new play of mystery and intrigue, Cervantes has died in the street. A drunk insists that the man who killed him is the renowned poet Lope de Vega. In Casanova’s tale, the same man recounts the secrets Cervantes shared with him, revealing the most tempestuous period in the great writer’s life and the unbridled creativity of his final years. Tickets are $40 and $45.

GALA Hispanic Theatre

Through Oct. 2

The Marriage of Figaro

One of opera’s most enduring and beloved classics, Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” tells an upstairs/downstairs story of love, lust, seduction, infidelity and, ultimately, forgiveness, all set to some of the most sublime and memorable music ever written. Tickets are $25 to $315.

Kennedy Center Opera House

Oct. 3 to Nov. 7

THEatrical SELECTIONS

In the weeks leading up to the nation’s presidential election, five leading D.C. theatres will collaborate to bring politics and drama to the stage in this free, politically charged play reading series. Each theatre will host a reading of a play they feel reflects the country’s current political and social environment, and will consider political moments from burgeoning fascism in the 1930s to partisan horse-trading in modern America. For information, visit www.shakespearetheatre.org/theatrical-selections/.

Various locations

Oct. 5 to 23

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Based on the bestselling novel, this heartwarming story has an unforgettable young hero whose investigation of a mystery leads to a life-changing adventure in “one of the most fully immersive works ever to wallop Broadway” (New York Times). Tickets are $39 to $149.

Kennedy Center

Oct. 7 to Nov. 20

The Year of Magical Thinking

Iconic stage and screen actress Kathleen Turner returns to Arena Stage to star in Joan Didion’s one-woman drama that chronicles the sudden death of her husband, the writer John Gregory Dunne, and the illness of her only daughter. Her first-person account weaves together an intensely personal yet universal story of hope in the face of inescapable loss. Tickets are $40 to $90.

Arena Stage

Through Oct. 8

The Call

When Annie and Peter decide to adopt, they set their sights on a child from Africa. But just how much of Africa are they willing to bring into their home? Long-buried secrets surface, surprising new tensions with old friends arise and their marriage is put to the test — all in the face of one startling choice. With keen acumen, this portrait of cultural divide casts global issues into the heart of an American home. Tickets are $25.

University of Maryland

Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center

Oct. 8 to 22

Volcanoes – Tales of El Salvador

For generations, the popular Salvadoran folk tales of the cadejos, the magic dogs of the volcanoes, have been passed down from family to family. With lively music and movement, the stories of the cadejos now come to life on stage as they protect Salvadorans at home and abroad from eruptions of volcanoes, thieves in the night and journeys across borders (appropriate for ages 5 to 9). Tickets are $10 for children and $12 for adults.

GALA Hispanic Theatre

Through Oct. 9

Collective Rage: A Play in Five Boops

Five different women named Betty collide at the intersection of anger, sex and the “thea-tah” in award-winning playwright Jen Silverman’s absurdist romantic comedy that is at once hysterical, inspired and boldly uncompromising. Tickets start at $35.

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

Through Oct. 16

Come From Away

“Come From Away,” based on the heart-warming true story of how a small Canadian town cared for 6,579 airline passengers stranded in Newfoundland in the wake of 9/11, has been extended due to popular demand. The musical, featuring a rousing score of folk and rock, honors the better angels of our nature, revealing hope and humanity in a time of darkness. Please call for ticket information.

Ford’s Theatre

Through Oct. 23

Motherstruck

As a teenager in Jamaica, Staceyann Chin lived in fear of an unwanted pregnancy. As a lesbian performance poet in Brooklyn in her ever-later 30s, she craves nothing more than a child … only to face twists of love, biology and health insurance. A hilarious, intimate and heart-shaking story of the best-laid plans and hairpin turns. Tickets start at $45.

Studio Theatre

Oct. 28 to Dec. 24

Carousel

Named the best musical of the 20th century by Time magazine, “Carousel” follows Billy Bigelow and Julie Jordan through their journey of love, loss and redemption and soars with unforgettable songs including “If I Loved You,” “June Is Bustin’ Out All Over” and “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” Tickets are $50 to $99.

Arena Stage

Through Oct. 30

Dante’s Inferno

A lost traveler must navigate a treacherous journey through the nine circles of hell in search of spiritual redemption and his lost love. This revitalized, wordless version of Synetic’s emotionally charged production promises to be a wicked whirlwind of stunning visuals, hauntingly vivid original music, and powerful physicality. Tickets start at $35 (recommended for ages 16 and up for violence and partial nudity).

Synetic Theater

Through Oct. 30

The Little Foxes

There are people who eat and there are those who get eaten. This fall, Arena Stage serves up Lillian Hellman’s “The Little Foxes,” a delicious drama about family greed and betrayal. Emmy Award winner and Golden Globe nominee Marg Helgenberger stars as Regina Giddens, clawing her way to wealth with her equally calculating brothers. When their plan to control the local cotton mill is thwarted, they’ll turn to ever more devious schemes, even as it further divides their family. Tickets are $40 to $90.

Arena Stage

Through Oct. 30

Sense and Sensibility

Reason and passion collide in Jane Austen’s beloved tale of sisterhood and romance. When sudden financial straits force the Dashwood family to move to a distant cottage, sisters Elinor and Marianne become ensnared in heart-wrenching romances. Tickets are $30 to $75.

Folger Theatre

Through Nov. 6

Romeo & Juliet

The most famous love story in the world and one of Shakespeare’s early poetic masterworks, “Romeo & Juliet” follows two star-crossed lovers from love at first sight to eternal life hereafter. Please call for ticket information.

Shakespeare Company Lansburgh Theatre