WHAT’S ON WASHINGTON

National Gallery Nights Return For The Season

On second Thursdays, March 9, April 13, and May 11, 6 to 9 p.m., the NGA East Building comes to life in this popular, free, after-hours program. Join them for themed evenings with music, live performances, artmaking, pop-up talks, and more. Light fare, gelato, and beverages, including beer, wine, and specialty cocktails are available for purchase throughout the East Building and in the Terrace Café and Espresso & Gelato Bar. Registration is required and opens one week in advance at noon. A limited number of passes are online at 10 a.m. the morning of each event, and a few passes will be available at the door—first-come, first-served—starting at 5:30 p.m. nga.gov/calendar/ community-events/nights.

Discover The World Of Orchids At The Botanic Garden

The 27th annual joint orchid exhibit between the United States Botanic Garden and Smithsonian Gardens is “Discover the World of Orchids” which is on display in the USBG Conservatory through April 30. The exhibit shares stories of the diversity of orchids and how technology advances their conservation. One of the largest plant families in the world, orchid shapes, sizes, colors, and scents vary greatly. Throughout the Conservatory, thousands of orchid blooms showcase the USBG and Smithsonian Gardens’ extensive orchid collections. The gift shop features offerings such as live plants and other botanical gift items. The Botanic Garden Conservatory is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. usbg.gov.

BALLET FLAMENCO SARA BARAS: ALMA AT THE KC

Sara Baras sits among the most renowned figures of the art of flamenco. The internationally acclaimed dancer, choreographer, and superstar of the flamenco world returns to the Kennedy Center on Wednesday, March 29 and Thursday, March 30, 8 p.m., both days. In Alma, flamenco embraces the bolero, and the bolero is embraced by flamenco. Baras pays respect to flamenco’s techniques while fusing it with her own modern touch, brilliant footwork, and captivating stage presence. With lavish costumes and live music performed onstage featuring flamenco rhythms, Alma promises to be an exhilarating evening with the “Flamenco queen” herself. $25 to $89. kennedy-center.org.

STORY DISTRICT’S “SHE COMES FIRST”

On Tuesday, March 14, 7:30 p.m. (doors at 6:30 p.m.), Story District presents She Comes First, an annual Women’s History Month special that showcases true stories told live by DC’s inspiring female-identifying groundbreakers. $20. She Comes First is at Miracle Theatre, 535 Eighth St. SE. Neighborhood parking is tricky. There is a metered public parking lot on Eighth Street, SE between I Street and Virginia Avenue under the highway. themiracletheatre.com.

ENJOY AN INTIMATE EVENING WITH THE TEMPTATIONS

This black tie affair, which benefits the Friends of Carter Barron, takes place on April 10 at 7 p.m. at the Howard Theater, 620 T St. NW. For more information and tickets, visit www.thehowardtheatre.com.

AVANT BARD’S “JULIUS CAESAR”

Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare, is one of the most recognized and universally loved productions. Returning from an untimely cancellation in spring 2020 (Season 30), this interpretation of Julius Caesar, directed by Kathleen Akerley, modernizes the story’s politics without targeting Caesar, but by removing Caesar entirely from the stage. The characters in this version of Julius Caesar, much like the citizens of America, are grappling with themselves as much or more than they’re grappling with any particular leader. This production uses mixed media, including film and audio elements, to create a visual masterpiece. $40. “Julius Caesar” is on stage at Avant Bard Theatre, Gunston Arts Center, Theatre Two, 2700 S. Lang Street, Arlington, VA, March 9 to April 1. avantbard.org.

“ONE WORLD CONNECTED” AT AIR AND SPACE

One World Connected tells the story of how taking to the skies and stars fostered two momentous changes in everyday life: the ease in making connections across vast distances and a new perspective of Earth as humanity’s home. Featuring an array of satellites and other tools that have increased human connection, the exhibition asks visitors to consider how global interconnection touches their lives and to imagine how advances in technology might impact our near future. One World Connected is at the National Mall’s Air and Space Museum on the newly renovated second floor. airandspace.si.edu.

BLACK GIRLS ROCK (BGR!FEST) AT THE KC

BGR!FEST is an extraordinary and immersive multi-day live experience, to celebrate and recognize the exceptional cultural contributions of Black women artists, thought leaders, and creatives. Now in its fourth year, this festival spans four days during International Women’s Day weekend, March 9 to 12, across the Kennedy Center cam- pus. BGR!FEST is on the Millennium Stage, 6 p.m. on March 9 and 11; in Studio K on March 9, 10 and 11; in the Concert Hall on March 11. For the complete schedule with details, visit kennedy-center.org/whats-on/festivals-series/black-girls-rock-fest/.

Sign Up For Your Free Small Business Workshop Today

Are you an aspiring or existing business in the District?

The Small Business Resource Center (SBRC) is here for you!

WEBINAR: LEARN HOW TO BECOME A CERTIFIED BUSINESS ENTERPRISE (CBE)

Wednesday, March 1, 2023 10:00 am

Register: dlcpsbrc.ecenterdirect.com/events/58977

WEBINAR: DEPARTMENT OF INSURANCE, SECURITIES AND BANKING COFFEE AND CAPITAL

Thursday, March 2, 2023 10:00 am

Register: dlcpsbrc.ecenterdirect.com/events/59413

DLCP AT YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD LIBRARY – LEARN THE PROCESS OF STARTING A BUSINESS

Tuesday, March 14, 2023 6:00 pm

Southwest Library 902 Wesley Pl SW, Washington DC 20024 Register: dlcpsbrc.ecenterdirect.com/events/60823

WEBINAR: INTRODUCTION TO GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING

Thursday, March 15, 2023 2:00 pm Register: dlcpsbrc.ecenterdirect.com/events/60449

WEBINAR: MARSHALL HEIGHTS COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION (MHCDO): STEPS TO OBTAINING A BUSINESS LICENSE

Wednesday, March 15, 2023 6:00 pm Register: dlcpsbrc.ecenterdirect.com/events/59409

SBRC ONE-ON-ONE CALL SESSION: STEPS TO OBTAINING A BUSINESS LICENSE

Monday – Friday

By appointment between 10:00 am – 4:00 pm Register: dlcpsbrc.ecenterdirect.com/events

SBRC ONE-ON-ONE CALL SESSION: “TALK BUSINESS AFTER HOURS”

Wednesdays by appointment between 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm Register: dlcpsbrc.ecenterdirect.com/events

LLAMADA TELEFONICA: 1:1 PASOS PARA OBTENER UNA LICENCIA COMERCIAL CON LA SRA. HERRERA

Miercoles con cita de 12:00 pm a 1:00 pm Registro: dlcpsbrc.ecenterdirect.com/events

Small Business Resource Center (202) 442-4538 | dlcp@dc.gov

Cherokee Days Festival At The American Indian Museum

On Friday, March 31 and Saturday, April 1, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (each day), the three federally recognized Cherokee tribes—Cherokee Nation, United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians, and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indian—showcase the shared history and cultural lifeways of the Cherokee people through storytelling, traditional flute music, wea-ponry, woodcarving, beadwork, traditional games, basket weaving, pot-tery demonstrations, and music and dance performances. This is a museum-wide festival. americanindian.si.edu.

Dc Beer Festival

The DC Beer Festival returns to Nationals Park on Saturday, April 8, noon to 8 p.m., bringing together dozens of craft breweries that will feature spring seasonal beers, plus food trucks, dueling pianos, cover bands, DJs, and more throughout the park. General admission is $50 and VIP Admission is $90 with a choice of two sessions: noon to 3 p.m. and 5 to 8pm. Admission includes unlimited tastings, with food sold separately. VIP Admission will allow attendees to access the warning track and dugouts and receive commemorative tasting glasses and DC Beer Fest hats. beerfests.com/events/dc-beer-festival.

Harlem Globetrotters At Capitol One Arena

Founded in 1926 by Abe Saperstein, the Harlem Globetrotters played their first-ever road game on Jan. 7, 1927, in Hinckley, Illinois. The Globetrotters have since become the world’s home team, synonymous with family entertainment and great basketball skills.

On Saturday, March 18, your favorite Globetrotter stars are bringing out their amazing basketball skill, outrageous athleticism and a non-stop LOL good time. Join the Globetrotters as they go head-to-head against the Washington Generals who will stop at nothing to try and defeat the world’s winningest team. The Harlem Globetrotters., on their 2023 World Tour, are at the Capitol One Arena, 601 F St. NW, on Saturday, March 18 at 1 p.m.; doors at noon. $25 to $180 (VIP BENCH, $435). capitalonearena.viewlift.com.

FOLGER CONSORT’S “SHAKESPEARE IN SONG AND STEP”

As part of the Folger’s First Folio celebration (the 400th anniversary), the Folger Consort returns to its home repertoire of music from Shakespeare’s time with the uniquely English broken consort, an “orchestra” of three plucked stringed instruments, flute, fiddle, and bass viol. Folger Consort’s co-Artistic Directors have often noted the similarities between this engaging style, featuring some fancy pickin’, to the music of the Appalachian descendants of British settlers—bluegrass. In this program, they explore that connection as well as songs from Shakespeare and the shared stories of ballads from both traditions. $20 to $45. The Folger Consort performs “Shakespeare in Song and Step” on Friday, March 17, 8 p.m.; Saturday, March 18, 4 and 7 p.m.; and Sunday, March 19, at 2:30 p.m., at St. Mark’s, 301 A St. SE. folger.edu.

SOUNDS OF THE DMV: HIP HOP SHOWCASE AT THE KC

On Saturday, March 25, at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., in the Kennedy Center’s Studio K, experience the dynamism and diversity of the DMV hip hop scene. Tickets are $25 at kennedycenter. org/whats-on/explore-bygenre/hip-hop.

Murder Capital At Dc9

The Murder Capital’s first album “When I Have Fears” had all its songs written and recorded within the first nine months of the band knowing each other. Next the band had to learn to navigate their personal relationships through the relationships they harnessed with these new songs. Without knowing what these songs would sound like, the band knew what they wanted them to feel like—and worked backwards from there. And that’s exactly how The Murder Capital ended up with an album that is both totally pure and yet completely confident in its direction. The Murder Capital is at the DC9 Nightclub, 1940 Ninth St. NW, on Friday, March 24, 7:30 p.m. (doors at 7 p.m.). $18 to $20. dc9.club.

Pacific Overtures At Signature

Pacific Overtures is a stunning exploration of tradition and transformation based on historical events. In 1853, after 200 years of stability, Japan faces an American expedition determined to open the “floating kingdom” to trade. The isolationist island’s reckoning with the unwelcome western influence is brilliantly illuminated through a kaleidoscope of stories about sailors, samurai, “someone in a tree” and two friends who choose radically different paths. This innovative epic of East meets West is one of Sondheim’s most ambitious and rarely produced musicals. Pacific Overtures is at Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington, from March 7 to April 9. sigtheatre.org.

THE KENNEDY CENTER’S “RIVERRUN”

Spanning World Water Day (March 22) to Earth Day (April 22), hundreds of extraordinary talents from around the world—musicians, actors, dancers, authors, filmmakers, chefs, and visual artists—will converge in Washington, DC, for RiverRun. RiverRun includes world-class performances from artists inspired by our world’s waterways; immersive exhibitions and interactive workshops; and films, writers, and climate experts on rivers and oceans. RiverRun will carve an artistic path through the stages, grand halls, and terraces of the Kennedy Center as well as the studios and green spaces of the REACH—which links the Center to its own river, the Potomac. On Wednesday, April 5, 7:30 p.m., there will be a free, multi-media concert with music and video images from NASA and National Geographic that will dramatize the story of rivers and climate change over the last 20 years on Planet Earth. kennedy-center.org/ whats-on/festivals-series/riverrun.

1972 The “Blue Marble” (Apollo 17). On April 5 at the Terrace Theater, there is a multimedia concert with music and video images from NASA and National Geographic will dramatize the story of rivers and climate change over the last 20 years on Planet Earth. Photo: NASA

WHAT’S ON WASHINGTON

WE WHO BELIEVE IN FREEDOM: BLACK FEMINIST DC

We Who Believe in Freedom: Black Feminist DC is an unprecedented exhibition tracing Black feminism in Washington, DC from the turn of the 20th century through the civil rights and Black Power movements to today. The exhibit examines the voices and stories of more than a dozen trailblazing women, from the early Black feminism of the “Jane Crow” era to the future of Black feminism. Standing at the intersection of race, class, and gender, Black feminists fought for a definition of freedom and liberation that extended beyond their individual circumstances—work that remains unfinished today. We Who Believe in Freedom: Black Feminist DC opens at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library on March 31 as part of a partnership between the National Women’s History Museum and DC Public Library. womenshistory.org/black-feminist-dc.

Howler monkey eating flowers, Barro Colorado Island, Panama

Washington Women In Jazz Festival

Many women are active professionals in the Washington, DC jazz scene, but few are represented as performers on regional jazz festivals. Created by Amy K. Bormet in 2011, the Washington Women in Jazz Festival creates equitable performance opportunities for women while up-lifting the image of the jazz community and drawing in dynamic new audiences. The 13th annual Washington Women in Jazz Festival is from March 6 to 27 at some of the area’s best music venues: Blues Alley in Georgetown (March 6, 13, 20 and 27); Westminster Church SW (March 10); the Atlas Performing Arts Center on Capitol Hill (March 17); My Dead Aunt’s Books in Hyattsville (March 21); Mr. Henry’s on Capitol Hill (March 24); and Goethe Instiut, downtown (March 26). washingtonwomeninjazz.com.

STEP INTO A TROPICAL FOREST: BARRO COLORADO ISLAND 100 YEARS OF DISCOVERIES AND WONDER

Through 2023, celebrate the 100th Birthday of Barro Colorado Island Research Station by immersing yourself in a Panamanian jungle at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (second floor). From monkeys to microbes, research on the “most studied piece of tropical real estate in the world” gave rise to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, which now hosts 1200 scientists from 50 countries at 12 tropical research facilities, trains young biologists, and contributes new knowledge vital to the future of tropical forests and reefs. naturalhistory.si.edu.

The Millennium Stage

Since 1999, the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage has offered free, live (and livestreamed) performances in the Grand Foyer at 6 p.m., Wednesdays through Saturdays. From American traditional and contemporary performances…to international styles, artists, and global traditions…bluegrass, gospel, hip hop, comedy, opera, dance, spoken word, movement, classical performance and children’s theater have all been featured on their stage. Book tickets in advance online or inperson at the box office the day of each performance. Standing room is also available behind the seated area. kennedy-center.org/whats-on/millennium-stage.

Born in Cape Town, South Africa, Derek Gripper is a composer, arranger, and virtuoso guitarist. He is known for evoking the West African kora on solo guitar, creating an unprecedented meeting point between the written tradition of Western classical music and the oral tradition of the West African griots. He performs on the Millennium Stage on Saturday, March 25, 6 p.m.

SHOUT, SISTER, SHOUT! AT FORD’S

Inspired by Gayle F. Wald’s book “Shout, Sister, Shout! The Untold Story of Rockand-Roll Trailblazer Sister Rosetta Tharpe”, this musical tells the story of Sister Rosetta Tharpe-one of America’s most influential rock-and-roll, R&B and gospel crossover singers and guitarists. Ambitious, courageous and uncompromisingly public, Tharpe became a pioneer of the women’s movement for racial and sexual equality and is a musical legend who redefined the national and international music scene in the 1930s and ’40s and beyond. $33 to $90. SHOUT SISTER SHOUT! is at Ford’s Theatre, 514 Tenth St. NW, from March 15 to May 13. fords.org.

Yonder Mountain String Band At The Barns At Wolf Trap

Pioneering jamgrass ensemble Yonder Mountain String Band has been redefining bluegrass music by pushing the envelope into realms of rock ’n’ roll and improvisation for nearly 25 years. The band’s Barns debut showcases how Yonder Mountain String Band has cemented their reputation as one of the most innovative groups on the live music scene. Yonder Mountain String Band is at the Barns at Wolf Trap, 1635 Trap Rd., Vienna, VA, on Friday, March 17 and Saturday, March 18, 8 p.m. (both nights). Tickets start at $47. wolftrap.org.

WASHINGTON NATIONAL OPERA’S “BLUE”

In Harlem, a couple celebrates the birth of their firstborn—a boy, Black and beautiful. As the mother worries for her son’s future in today’s America, the father wrestles with his role as a police officer, a “Black man in blue.” When the unimaginable happens years later and a white officer kills the son, their deepest fears come true. Tony Award–winning composer Jeanine Tesori and NAACP Theatre Award–winning librettist Tazewell Thompson’s new opera is inspired by contemporary events and Black literature, including TaNehisi Coates’s “Between the World and Me” and James Baldwin’s “The Fire Next Time.” Tesori’s signature genre blending style captures the grief of a community, the bonds of a family, and the vulnerabilities of protecting a child. By giving voice to the joy and pain of families that are often unheard, “Blue” places timely issues at the forefront of modern opera. $35 to $179. “Blue” is at the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater for six performances from March 11 to 25. kennedycenter.org.

TO THE WILD SKY: RACHMANINOFF, TENNYSON AND POE

“Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky.” On Sunday, March 19, 4 p.m., poetry and music together paint vivid landscapes, evoking unearthly vignettes from the minds of Edgar Allan Poe and Alfred, Lord Tennyson. The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra joins Cathedral Choral Society at Washington National Cathedral for this stunning marriage of music and words. The repertoire is Sergei Rachmaninoff– Isle of the Dead, Op. 29, based on Arnold Böcklin’s painting, Isle of the Dead; Augusta Read Thomas–Ring Out, Wild Bells, text by Alfred, Lord Tennyson; and Sergei Rachmaninoff–The Bells, Op. 35, text by Edgar Allen Poe. Tickets start at $25 with discounts available for educators, healthcare workers, veterans, active military and a pay-what-you wish livestream. cathedral.org.