Photo by [Charles Pictures]FRIDAY
DANCE: The VelocityDC Dance Festival is tonight and tomorrow. This new event is produced by dance companies from around the city and features three main performances for $15 each at the Shakespeare Theatre Company‘s Sidney Harman Hall. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. tonight and Saturday, with an additional showing at 10 p.m. Saturday. Read more about our art picks for this weekend here.
ART: It’s First Friday in Dupont Circle. Visit Foundry Gallery for Feminine Essence, works by Luba Sterlikova, dedicated to breast cancer survivors. 6 to 8 p.m. The WPA, Aaron Gallery, Studio, and Hillyer galleries, among others, will be open. All 6 to 8 p.m., except Hillyer runs until 9 p.m.
MOVIE: A revival of Jean-Jacques Beineix’s 1986 film Betty Blue opens tonight at E Street Cinema. The film, adapted from Philippe Djian’s 1985 novel 37°2 le matin, follows two young lovers bouncing around France trying to find their place in the world, as one of them succumbs to violent mental illness. It also contains massive amounts of nudity and graphic sex. And don’t miss the rest of ourfilm picks for the week.
SATURDAY
FESTIVALS: The Washington City Paper’s Crafty Bastards is celebrating its sixth year, which as always features a wild array of indie crafts, from jewelry and purses to paperworks and toys, plus live music, food, and the popular B-Boy battle. Free, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., at the Marie Reed Learning Center (18th Street at Wyoming Ave NW) in Adams Morgan.
Capital City Brewing Company is celebrating Oktoberfest in Shirlington on Saturday. For $25 you can try 10 different beers (free admission for non-drinkers) and collect a souvenir mug. But that alone hardly makes a festival; there will also be vendors selling German fare and food, plus dance and music performances. Although the event ends at 7 p.m., be sure to get your fix before the last call at 6 p.m.
FOOD & DRINK: Taste of Bethesda returns for its 20th year. Don’t miss our suggestions for making the most of it. 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
ART: Edward Burtynsky’s Oil at the Corcoran is a must see exhibit, and art geeks won’t want to miss its opening day on Saturday with a discussion between the artist himself and Dr. William Rees (the guy who invented the concept of “ecological footprint”) at 4 p.m., $10.
MUSIC: The Black Cat is hosting not one but two dance nights tonight. On the mainstage there’s Eighties Mayhem with DJs Steve EP, Killa K and Krasty McNasty, $10, 9:30 p.m. Backstage there’s the Wag with DJ Mark Zimin of Moustrap, featuting ’60s garage and soul accompanied by “cool mod videos,” $5, 9:30 p.m.
SUNDAY
JAZZ: The All Souls Church, Unitarian hosts the Orleans Jazz Fest, featuring clarinet virtuoso Evan Christopher and master N’awlins drummer Shannon Powell, 6 p.m., with a reception to follow. $10-$20.
FESTIVAL: The Takoma Park Street Festival is free this Sunday featuring music, arts, crafts and family events, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
MUSIC: Kicking off a regular series on Sundays, the National Academy of Sciences (2101 Constitution Ave. NW) hosts a free classical concert by the Fry Street Quartet playing quartets by Beethoven, Bartók, and Dvořák. To attend, you do not even need to make a reservation: just show up before the concert with a photo ID. The doors open a half-hour before the performance. 3 p.m.
Don’t miss Mayer Hawthorne at DC9 for his first D.C. appearance in support of his debut album, A Strange Arrangement. He’ll be joined by Buff1 (read our interview with him here) and 14KT. $10 in advance/$12 at the door, 8:30 p.m.
Up and coming local dance-punk act Noon:30 lay down thick, fuzzed-out bass grooves, while vocalist Blue S. Moon alternates between soaring vocals and disdainful sneers. With the Press and Aaron Thompson at the Black Cat Backstage, $8, 9 p.m.
