Rage is scary. We don't know what to do with rage.  It's uncomfortable and untouchable. We fear what's inside when rage is lurking around. But in What To Send Up When It Goes Down, create…
India.Arie is music therapy for the soul " part mindfulness meditation through song and part groove-funk to keep it real. Authenticity is her brand essence, but her performance is much more …
As seen through the simple symbolism of a wooden fence, Ford's Theatre's season opener of August Wilson's Fences is a brilliant and searing exploration of the tragi-conflicts and heroic triu…
Teenage girls can be mean " just ask Broadway's Tina Fey. But if you ask Jocelyn Bioh, the award-winning playwright of off-Broadway's School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play, you'll ge…
When the opening moments of a play are a super loud blast of bluesy music and a checkers game on the verge of anarchy, you know you are in for a lively ride. But it was the acting in Jitney,…
There's something way-cool seeing a full classical orchestra accompany a cornrowed, ponytailed R&B crooner in a bow-tied tux on the stage of the hallowed Concert Hall of the Kennedy Cent…
Amélie is a whimsy of a musical with a big cast of characters and an equally big heart. An ensemble-driven rom-com that transports you into a world of imagination and prankish intrigue, AmÅ
The National Black Theatre Festival was over-the-top for the 65,000 ticketholders who descended upon Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the City of the Arts and Innovation, July 29 through Augus…
A foreboding, wide-open hotel window overlooking the Manhattan night skyline beckons you to enter the tender interior space of '70s soul singer, composer and recording artist, Donny Hathaway…
The reviews are in: Jubilee is being praised for honoring and preserving the impact of the Negro Spiritual upon the American Songbook. In the Arena Stage production, Director Tazewell Thomps…
The airy-fairy world of contemporary ballet takes a turn toward the macabre in Nancy Flores-Tirado's darkly romantic NOC-tURNE, performed by NFT Dance & Company in follow-up to Atlas' IN…
The Kennedy Center's annual party with a purpose on Wednesday night, the Celebrating the Human Spirit Awards Gala, honored Distinguished Philanthropists Patrick G. Ryan and Shirley W. Ryan a…
Spring is in the air with not only the blooming cherry blossoms but also the bursting energy of the New York City Ballet's exciting spring concert at the Kennedy Center. Something old and so…
We usually think of a rat as a detestable lowlife animal that we dread. It slinks in dark corners of the floor, hiding itself from being seen. It nervously darts and runs when spotted and ca…
Chazz Palminteri is one cool dude. Imagine having your own life story play to sold-out houses on and off Broadway, and be made into a classic film directed by none other than Robert De Niro.…
Women are on the move today. A US Congress reflects the voices of women as never before. #MeToo movements everywhere are fighting the forces that would stifle those voices. So, on the surfac…
"Who will tell our grandmothers' stories?" The phenomenal Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater soulfully responds in memory of its iconic founder with dignity, power and enough creative energy…
In Lincolnesque, a play written by John Strand and directed by Colin Smith, the art of lying for one's country succeeds in fusing a deceptively light touch and inside-the-Beltway political h…
Back in the ’60s, Bob Dylan wrote "The Times They Are a-Changing," an ode to protest, social change and the country's mood moment. Dance Place's New Releases Choreographers Showcase va…
Imagine yourself sitting on a creaky ship as a passenger en route to the Emerald Isle of Ireland. Frederick Douglass, the great abolitionist, is on board with you. The year is 1845. The ship…
Make no mistake about it, there were no missteps in the lusciously agile performance of the Malpaso Dance Company at the Kennedy Center on Friday night. The company has been growing strong s…
The School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies of the University of Maryland hosted its fourth Black Theatre & Dance Symposium at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center on Satur…
There's simplicity in truth. Arena Stage's Two Trains Running is August Wilson's simple truth about the African American experience during the 1960s urban renewal of inner-city Pittsburgh. B…
The unsettling sight of a young man in shackles sitting on a bare, plank-wood floor; a glimmer of night sky piercing the darkness through the barred window of a simple jail cell; and the ten…
When is art an intentional expression of respectful cultural appreciation and when is it an unconscious foray into cultural misappropriation? These were some of the deep questions raised in …