Theatre & Performing Arts

New Columbia Swing is your source for swing dancing and learning. Take our free beginner lesson, offered every week, followed by a fun social dance. Dance is $15 at the door or $12 if you preregister at https://newcolumbiaswing.org/register. $10 for students/military. **Is this your first time dancing with us? Register with the code FIRSTTIME for a 100% discount!** **SCHEDULE:** Join us at 8pm for a drop-in beginner lesson (no partner required). The main social dance starts at 9:00pm! Any questions or concerns? Email us at info@newcolumbiaswing.org.

Note that we are in **Suite #130**. This class will provide instruction into the basic concepts of **Jiu-Jitsu** as a form of martial art. Participants will have the opportunity to study, practice, and experiment with **submission holds** and **strategic fighting controls** that are the hallmark of the now famous methodology of Professional MMA athletes and professional combatives users. This **gi class** is held every **Monday** and **Wednesday** and includes one hour of instruction and one hour of open training. Gis are available if you need one. Drop-in fee for non-members is **$20** which which can be paid on-site.

The story begins as an intentionally confusing tale of travel between dimensions, but the plot eventually becomes clear. Much of the running time involves a woman seeing her lover, a quantum-physics expert who has recently died, briefly appearing alive at brief and apparently random intervals. As a professional photographer, she has no understanding of the principles involved, so scenes of her researching the phenomenon aren’t entirely convincing. The story is interesting, however; whether it comes to a satisfactory conclusion is entirely up to the observer, but somehow this seems appropriate to quantum physics. ■ Title — *Between Waves* ■ Director — Virginia Abramovich ■ Cast — Fiona Graham, Luke Robinson, Sebastian Deery ■ Unrated, suitable for general audiences ■ ©2020 \| 1h 40m \| Drama\, Romance\, Sci\-Fi ■ Watch it free with ads on Fawesome: [https://fawesome.tv/movies/10580567/between-waves](https://fawesome.tv/movies/10580567/between-waves) ■ Watch it free with ads on Tubi: [https://tubitv.com/movies/619478/between-waves](https://tubitv.com/movies/619478/between-waves) ■ Available free without ads to Hoopla subscribers: [https://www.hoopladigital.com/title/14828612](https://www.hoopladigital.com/title/14828612) ■ Available free without ads to Amazon Prime subscribers: [https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.a1b253b3-38ed-4f22-9459-13b30832a3f5](https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.a1b253b3-38ed-4f22-9459-13b30832a3f5) ■ As with most of our online features, you can watch this one whenever you like. Members who watch at the scheduled time may enjoy exchanging comments with other members on this page. If you post a comment before the show, please avoid spoilers. Comments posted after the show may contain any content, but Oddball Cinema encourages members to always avoid spoilers unless there’s some particularly important details you need to mention. ■ Many of the movies on our online events from as far back as March 2020 are still available for viewing. However, titles sometimes move from one streaming service to another. If you find that the links on an old event no longer work, you can search for the current providers of any title here: [https://justwatch.com](https://justwatch.com)

From director Park Chan-wook (Oldboy, The Handmaiden) and based on Donald E. Westlake's novel *The Ax*, the story follows Man-su on his desperate hunt for a new job after his abrupt layoff from the paper company he served for 25 years. I'll be sitting in row 5, seat 11 and will be at Departures bar at about 6 if anyone wants to meet up beforehand.

Improv workshop at Library. We will teach basics of Improvisation and rules before each game. Experienced and newbies alike are welcome to attend/participate. If you don't want to perform this time around, feel free to come enjoy the workshop and relax. If you need to cancel, please change your status to "will not attend."

Artistic Artifacts is hosting **Open Stitch sessions on the first and third Thursday evenings** from 5:30 - 7:30 pm. This is a drop-in, bring your own hand stitching project and the necessary supplies (or you can knit, crochet... whatever needle arts you like). There’s no fee to attend, no instruction nor agenda — just a time to spend with other creatives! Visit our website for all other class & event information: **[https://artisticartifacts.com/collections/wk](https://artisticartifacts.com/collections/wk)**

Pretty Boi Drag, an award-winning BIPOC-centered drag king production based in Washington, DC, celebrates 10 YEARS! After a decade of breaking barriers, uplifting the art of drag kinging and centering Black and POC performers, come join us for one unforgettable afternoon celebrating 10 years of drag king excellence with your Bois. This is a love letter to everyone who’s performed, supported, and believed in the power of drag kings. You can expect an all-star lineup of past and present Pretty Bois bringing their best, biggest, and most beloved acts to the stage. Come raise a glass, tip your kings, and be part of Pretty Boi Drag history as we celebrate this important milestone with love and pride. TICKETS: $15 online / $20 at door LOCATION: DC Comedy Loft, 1523 22nd St NW DC LINK: [https://www.dccomedyloft.com/shows/346140](https://www.dccomedyloft.com/shows/346140) 18+/ASL

Join us for **[Judy’s Altered Minds](https://artisticartifacts.com/pages/judy-s-altered-minds)**! Bring your fiber & mixed media show & tell; many members also enjoy making ATCs (**[artist trading cards](https://artisticartifacts.com/pages/judy-s-altered-minds)**) for exchange each month. **Come early to shop** (JAMs attendees receive a 10% discount on their purchases) — Artistic Artifacts is open Sundays 11:00 am - 4:00 pm. The JAMs meeting starts at 1:30 pm. New members are always welcome! A $3.00 contribution is requested at each meeting. JAMs members are art quilters, collage artists, art journal keepers, surface design enthusiasts, paper crafters, art doll/assemblage artists and more! All levels of expertise are represented, and all are welcome. During JAMs meetings, attendees gather support and encouragement for their art through show & tell and enjoy the camaraderie of like-minded friends.

Oddball Cinema’s Thursday-evening shows this year will be devoted to movies about women; they’ll be the main characters, and many of the features are written and/or directed by women. In this movie, two dejected lesbian high-school students realize that they’re not getting dates due to their drab appearance and bland personalities; they’re regarded as the “bottoms” of the local social hierarchy. The pair have no attraction to each other but are drawn toward cheerleaders, gymnasts, and other cuties. A scheme to start an after-school women’s self-defense club seems like a good way to mix with other girls, but with no experience or training in martial arts, they invent some tall tales to convince the faculty they’d be competent organizers. One lie leads to another, and once the club is established, it quickly descends into chaos. The plot lurches awkwardly at times, but eventually it rushes headlong toward a truly grand finale. ■ Title — *Bottoms* ■ Director — Emma Seligman ■ Cast — Rachel Sennott, Ayo Edebiri, Ruby Cruz ■ Rated R for language and ridiculous violence ■ ©2023 \| 1h 31m \| Comedy ■ Distributed by MGM

Join us for a Friday evening of creative practice\* and cozy conversation! Please visit the group page for details on event structure and what to expect: https://www.meetup.com/the-evening-art-society/?eventOrigin=your_groups Guests are welcome, though we request that you please let us know how many to account for. We don't want to run out of snacks! Kids are also welcome, with the understanding that this is a shared space intended to be comfortable for all and conducive to creative work. Reach out if you have any questions. We can't wait to see you! \*Because we ultimately just want to provide a safe, warm space for our community to enjoy on a weekly basis, our definition of this is pretty broad. Want to curl up with a good book? Working on the next great American novel? Looking for a café-like hum as the backing track to doing your taxes? You're also welcome here!

**What to Expect:** Join us for a relaxed, supportive gathering where we'll create together, share our process, and connect mindfully. No art experience necessary, all levels and all creative expressions welcome! **What to Bring:** Please bring your own art materials and supplies, whatever you enjoy working with! **Ideas for materials:** sketchbooks, journals, pastels, crayons, markers, colored pencils, collage materials, yarn, lego, diamond art, iPad or tablet for digital drawing, or anything else that calls to you. Bring paper or surfaces to work on as well. There's no right or wrong, just bring what feels good! 🙂 **What we'll do:** **6:00 pm:** Arrive, get settled, grab a drink/snack, and find a spot **6:10 pm:** Set out your supplies, take a breath, and ease in **6:15–7:30 pm:** Create, chat, unwind, and follow the good vibes **7:30 pm:** Gentle wrap-up with *Come/leave whenever, this is relaxed and flexible gathering!* **Location:** Whole Foods, cafe area (front of the store), 4501 Market Commons Dr, Fairfax, VA 22033. Look for the table with art supplies! This is a social, low-key meetup, not a formal class, and there will be no instruction.

[Profs and Pints Northern Virginia](https://www.profsandpints.com/washingtondc) presents: **“The Life of Frankenstein,”** on the birth, evolution and impact of a tale of man-made monstrosity, with Bernard Welt, an emeritus professor of arts and humanities at George Washington University who frequently lectures on Frankenstein in literature, cinema, and culture. [Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at [https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/profsandpints/nv-life-of-frankenstein](https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/profsandpints/nv-life-of-frankenstein) .] Guillermo del Toro’s lush and lovingly produced film adaptation of Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel *Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus* is just the latest of many iterations of the story to capture the public’s imagination. People have watched Victor Frankenstein give life to his monster in numerous films, on television, and on stage, and even perform “Putting on the Ritz” with him thanks to the comic genius of Mel Brooks. Mary Shelley did not just tell a tale. She spawned the modern genre of speculative fiction and gave rise to a myth that would crop up in debates over nature versus nurture and other matters. Even today it stokes anxieties over the potential impacts of robotics, artificial intelligence, and genetic engineering, by evoking the image of a monster turning on its progenitor. Come gain a new appreciation of Mary Shelley’s creation with the help of Dr. Bernard Welt, who has studied the relationship between nightmares and the horror genre and is the author of *Mythomania: Fantasies, Fables, and Sheer Lies in Contemporary American Popular Art.* Dr. Welt will start by telling a literary origin story almost as famous as Frankenstein itself, of how an 18-year-old Shelley started writing *Frankenstein* in 1816 while staying in a villa on Lake Geneva with two of her era’s leading poets, Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, her lover. Housebound by foul weather, the three read Gothic tales of ghosts and monsters and challenged each other to produce something even more terrifying. Mary dreamed up a story of a man who defied death by creating a living being out of scraps of deceased men harvested from graveyards and anatomy labs. The resulting novel, *Frankenstein*, published anonymously in 1818, would by that century’s end become a touchstone in philosophical discourse on the nature of humanity and in political discussions of imperialism and populism. By the 21st century, Mary Shelley (as she became) had earned a more significant place in the literary canon than Byron and her husband Shelley. We will examine how this grisly tale became a landmark of modern thought and look at the part played by numerous film adaptations from the first years of cinema to the present day. (Door: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. The talk starts 30 minutes later.) Image: From a Theodor von Holst engraving in an 1831 edition of *Frankenstein* published by Colburn and Bentley of London.

This class will provide instruction into various concepts of **Jiu-Jitsu** as a form of **martial art**. Participants will have the opportunity to **study**, **practice**, and **experiment** with **submission holds** and **strategic fighting controls** that are the hallmark of the now famous methodology of Professional MMA athletes and professional combatives users. This **gi class** is held every **Tuesday** and **Thursday** and includes **one hour of instruction** and **30 minutes** (sometimes longer, TBD) of **open training**. Gis are available if you need one. Drop-in fee for non-members is **$20** which which can be paid on-site. Note that we are in **Suite #130**.

Note that we are in **Suite #130**. This class will provide instruction into the basic concepts of **Jiu-Jitsu** as a form of martial art. Participants will have the opportunity to study, practice, and experiment with **submission holds** and **strategic fighting controls** that are the hallmark of the now famous methodology of Professional MMA athletes and professional combatives users. This **gi class** is held every **Monday** and **Wednesday** and includes one hour of instruction and one hour of open training. Gis are available if you need one. Drop-in fee for non-members is **$20** which which can be paid on-site.