The audience seated in folding chairs stares curiously at the dancers in front of them. Perhaps, the performers aren’t what these families and elderly couples think of when they hear the word “ballet.” After all, there are no tutus or pink-ribboned shoes in sight. Instead, seven boys of varying heights, ages, and races stand before them on the carpeting, barefooted and wearing khakis and bold-colored T-shirts. Some are still prepubescently skinny, but all have strong, sinewy muscles and the awkwardness and sweetness of youth—the oldest ones experimenting with trendy hairstyles and the little ones young enough to have cowlicks and sneaky smiles that tease the corners of their lips.

“What are we in for?” the audience seems to be wondering this day in April. When the boys begin to move, it all makes sense. Their motions are controlled, graceful, and musical, and their bodies appear weightless as they fly through the air or lift high up onto their toes. Their artistry combines strength, vivacity, and masculinity, and the audience murmurs in amazement during one section as the boys lift the smallest of their troupe and hold him suspended in the air while they prance through the room. Even one of the youngest audience members, who has been fussing, stops and asks his mother, “How’d they do that?”

This unlikely performance at an unlikely place—a conference room at a library in Prince George’s County—exemplifies the mission of this unique group, which is nothing less than a complete revision of what it means to be a ballet dancer.

The dancers are part of the Estelle Dennis/Peabody Dance Training Program for Boys, which gives young men ages 9 to 18 tuition-free admission to Peabody Dance, the after-school dance training program that is part of the community school affiliated with the lauded Peabody Institute. Now 101 years old, Peabody Dance is one of the oldest continuously operating dance training centers in the country and, since its inception, has developed talents that go on to some of the top dance companies in the world. In 2009, as a way to attract boys to the program, advisers and instructors decided a scholarship program could encourage families who couldn’t afford training, or who otherwise might be hesitant. The small proportion of boys to girls in ballet has been noted nationally, and though statistics on the subject are hard to find, for years teachers have reported that they often only have a single boy in their classes, if any.

“There has always been this underlying thought from fathers—and mothers, too—that they didn’t raise their boys to be ballet dancers. It still exists to some degree, but much less,” says Barbara Weisberger, who is Peabody Dance’s artistic adviser. “This program is helping to remove that stigma, because these boys are wonderful talents. They’re a joy to watch.”

“My teachers wouldn’t let me stop, even when I wanted to. Now, I won’t stop until I’m in one of the top companies in the world. that’s my goal.”

Last school year, 31 boys attended Peabody Dance (which can cost thousands a semester) tuition-free, breathing new energy and life into the mirrored-walled studios and bringing economic, racial, and social diversity to a world that “hasn’t always been that way,” says Melissa Stafford, Peabody Dance director and department chair. “I love that boys from rough neighborhoods are in class with someone whose parents are doctors, and their progress is all based on what they can do in the studio. The boys get exposed to other people and other parts of the city that they would probably never see.”

In its eight years, the program has gotten results, with the students going off to dance company training programs, or getting full rides to college dance programs. The training has opened their minds, and their futures, to opportunities they didn’t know were possible.

“My teachers wouldn’t let me stop, even when I wanted to,” says Antrel McDowell, 20, who grew up in Park Heights, danced at Peabody, and is now in a pre-professional training program. “Now, I’m dancing in Sarasota [at the Sarasota Cuban Ballet School] and I won’t stop until I’m in one of the top companies in the world. That’s my goal.”

Barbara Weisberger still remembers the first auditions she oversaw for the Estelle Dennis program in May 2009. Walking into The Mount Royal School and Roland Park Elementary/Middle School that day, she drew her breath in amazement as she saw dozens of boys, 60 total, who were black and white and of all ages, waiting to show her what they could do.

Though most of them were hip-hop dancers, it didn’t matter to Weisberger— their enthusiasm was contagious—and it didn’t seem to matter to the boys that she was showing them a completely different style of dance. They were just excited to move. “They enjoyed themselves so much. They were so musical, they were such fun, they were so natural,” Weisberger says. “We were in tears it was so wonderful.”

Brought on as an adviser at Peabody in 2001, Weisberger—now 90, who has been involved with ballet since age 3, and has the distinction of being the first child student of the legendary choreographer and ballet master George Balanchine—immediately noticed what she calls the “dearth of boy dancers” at the school. She, along with then artistic director Carol Bartlett requested a change to the Estelle Dennis program—named for a Roland Park resident and leader in the 20th-century contemporary dance scene—which previously gave one scholarship to a male dancer from Maryland each year. The thinking behind the change was that “we should up the training of boys in ballet so we have more boys who are strong enough dancers to join companies,” Weisberger says. “And whatever form of dance you choose to follow, you would do it better because you have ballet. It’s like learning your ABCs.”

She and Bartlett picked about 20 boys, ages 9 to 15, that first year based on their bodies’ flexibility and coordination, as well as their musicality, but many didn’t have any formal dance training—which was intentional. As Weisberger experienced that first day at auditions, once the dancing bug caught them, their bodies—and minds—were flexible enough to try different styles and types of training. Still, the requirements were strict—classes twice a week, which would increase as they got older to up to five days a week. But the boys would be together in class, and wouldn’t have to worry about being the only boy amid a bunch of girls, though they would attend coed classes after the first two years of training.

The teachers saw attrition that first year, which they knew would come as some of the boys realized the focus and commitment necessary to continue. LaTanya Cherry-Lyle, whose 15-year-old son DeVonté Tasker has danced with the program for six years, remembers the adjustment her son faced as he encountered an environment different than any he’d experienced growing up in the Bel Air-Edison neighborhood—one with strict rules, rigorous classes, and high expectations. She recalls how tired he was when she would pick him up from rehearsal, sometimes as late as 9 or 10 o’clock at night. “As soon as he would sit down in the car, he was out,” she says. “But now, he’s more disciplined, focused, and driven. DeVonté wants to succeed and he’ll practice more and more until it’s good enough for him.”

And, the boys were making their own mark on the school. “There’s a different, masculine culture that they’ve brought,” says Stafford, who became director and department chair in 2013 after Bartlett’s death from cancer. “When you step out for a five-minute rehearsal break, you’ll come back to the boys doing three pirouettes and trying to outdo each other in a friendly, competitive way. That camaraderie they have with the other guys has changed the energy of the school.”

As refreshing as those new dancers were, Stafford and the other instructors soon realized that they couldn’t continue to accept boys to the program who were in middle or high school unless they’d had training. “We just don’t have enough time with them,” Stafford says. But she’s also realized that the school will have to occasionally make exceptions, as there have been boys who’ve surprised her.

“When I finish dance class, everything is hurting. but it pays off because when I perform, people say, ‘Ooo, he’s really good.'”

Take the student who, after being kicked out of his house during his senior year of high school, lived with a family friend so he could continue classes and ultimately received a full-tuition scholarship to the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Or the 15-year-old who wrote Stafford an e-mail after he’d been rejected from the program, asking her to reconsider, writing, “I know I don’t have any training—that’s why I came to you.” “He wrote that, not his mom,” Stafford notes. She told the boy he’d have to come in the summer and take classes with the 8-year-olds, which he agreed to do. “He was eager, he asked questions, he worked hard,” Stafford says. “He took the bus, and his mom only came once. He’s doing this for himself.” Now, he dances while attending Point Park University in Pittsburgh.

“This is their way to see something different, their way to make their own way in the world, and probably not a lot of kids they grew up with had that opportunity,” Stafford says. “I think about how important it is for these boys to feel like, ‘I’m good at something, I’m really good at something,’ because they may not have gotten that message elsewhere. This really is changing lives.”

Beyond Peabody’s exquisite, museum-like façade in Mount Vernon are twisting, winding hallways that lead to the dance department, which has an atmosphere a bit like an elementary school. On any given day there, the walls echo with the chatter of girls and boys, who dash to and fro.

One afternoon this spring, the boys gather in a studio in their usual black tights and shoes and white shirts. They listen quietly and professionally as their teacher tells them the steps and positions for the class, always in French— échappé, changement, and piqué are words they hear often. When they begin, with live accompaniment on piano, the teacher walks around and gently corrects posture, straightening an arm or a leg. After work at the barre and balance exercises, it’s time for stretches and pushups. Sometimes, the younger and older boys take classes together, but mostly they are separate. Sometimes, like on this particular day, alumni like Antrel McDowell stop by.

After class, McDowell joins current student Keon Wagstaff, now 12, in joking about class, talking about YouTube ballet videos, and discussing what companies they’d like to join. Antrel places an arm on Keon’s shoulder and says confidently, “I’m going to the Royal Ballet [in London] and you’re going to Bolshoi.”

Stafford loves this kinship between the boys. “[The older boys] were once these little guys, and they know what they would have wanted to hear,” Stafford says. “And that’s not something you can teach them to do.”

That spirit of togetherness is crucial in today’s ballet world, known for its cutthroat competition, and where the color wall is just starting to come down. Last year, ballet dancer Misty Copeland (who is also an Under Armour ambassador) became the first African-American principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre in New York City, one of the most elite dance companies in the world. And after years of discussions about increasing opportunities for people of color in classical ballet, American Ballet Theatre’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School and the training program at the New York City Ballet have started programs to recruit young minority dancers (though critics are concerned that professional opportunities do not await these dancers).

There’s also the question of the stigma that has existed among the general public about boys who dance—mainly that they are less masculine than boys who compete in team sports, for example. In an effort to expose boys, and their parents, to dance early—when they are, perhaps, more receptive, and haven’t formed opinions about ballet—boys-only classes and scholarship programs similar to Peabody’s have sprung up at places like the Metropolitan Ballet Academy in Pennsylvania and, most recently, the Nashville Ballet.

Stafford has personal experience with this. Her brother, who went on to become ballet master of the New York City Ballet, didn’t tell all his friends that he danced when they were growing up in central Pennsylvania. So she keeps an eye out to make sure the pressures aren’t getting to her students. She is encouraged when she hears boys like Keon talk about how they overcame their own brushes with teasing.

“At first, my friends weren’t happy that I was doing ballet,” Keon explains. “They don’t see boys dance, just girls, and they thought of me in a tutu and pointy shoes dancing around. But then, they saw me dance and they said, ‘Oh, you’re good.’ Now, they don’t see me as the boy that dances. They see me as Keon.”

The boys finish the performance that April day in Prince George’s County sweaty, breathing hard. After a rousing ovation from the audience, they take their own seats at the front of the room to answer questions.
The first few are fairly basic: “How often do you practice?” “How old are you?” Then, it gets a little more in-depth. “What motivates you?” asks one woman. “And what obstacles do you encounter and overcome?”

Noah Schwartz, a 17-year-old who lives in Guilford, takes the microphone first. “Dancing is a lot like sports,” he says. “It’s demanding, you have to do a lot with your body, and it takes a lot of energy. We have to dance together as one, like a team has to know what each person is doing for it to work well.”

Next, it is DeVonté Tasker’s turn. “Motivation-wise, you have to think, ‘Is this really what I want to do for a career?’ I have to try my hardest at every class, no matter how tired I am. I’m sure there’s times where all of us don’t want to take class, but we still have to because we want to get better. It’s like math or science—practice makes perfect.”

The audience murmurs in awe at the professional, focused answers, and someone else stands to ask a question, but Keon reaches for the mike. “I wanted to say something else on the motivation thing.”

A few years ago, before he started the program, Peabody Dance teachers would watch Keon pirouette through the halls, and they told his mother, who works as the registrar at Peabody, “He has to be in the program.” Since starting dance, his grades in school, and his focus, have improved. And now, he tells the crowd, he has discovered what he wants to do with his life.

“When I finish dance class, my legs are hurting, everything is hurting,” he says. “But it pays off because when I perform, people say, ‘Ooo, he’s really good.’ I try my hardest so I can keep doing dance and make it my career.”

The audience applauds, and Keon looks around at his teachers, who are beaming. Keon himself can’t keep a sneaky smile from playing at the corners of his lips.

As Tyde-Courtney Edwards shifts her feet into first position, she closes her eyes. When she starts to feel familiar emotions creep in—doubt, shame, embarrassment—she glances down at her bare feet on the dance floor and then shuts her eyes again. With practiced precision, she slides her right leg out to the side and slowly peels her heel off the floor until all of the energy in her petite frame is concentrated in her perfectly pointed foot. Her mind is now quiet; there is no room in her thoughts for anything beyond her next movement.

As she eases her foot back into first position to complete her tendu demonstration, she opens her eyes to see 15 women and one man looking back at her expectantly, nervously shuffling into place. She cracks a wide smile and guides her students through their first exercise of the night.

When she calls out her signature line—“Suck in the guts and squeeze the butts!”—and hears laughter echoing around the Mt. Vernon studio, she remembers why it was worth all the work of rebuilding herself. And now, through Ballet After Dark, her ballet-based workshop for sexual and domestic assault survivors, she’s hoping to help others become whole again, too.

“I don’t claim to have all of the answers, but I know some things that worked for me, and they might work for you, too,” she tells the class. “It all started with having to rediscover and re-fall in love with myself.”

“I had to be smart about how I was going to make my dreams happen, but I was getting there.”

Ballet was Edwards’ first love. She started taking classes at the age of 3 and decided to become a professional dancer the day she received her high-school acceptance letter into the dance program at the Baltimore School for the Arts.

At BSA, she worked her way through the rigorous curriculum, finding her strengths in quick, sharp movements at the ballet barre, as well as slow, drawn-out adagio work that always made her feel powerful. She felt captivated by the quiet control she had over her body while mastering a new exercise or combination. During certain sections of class, she often found herself smiling, “because I was so happy,” she says today.

After graduating from the program in 2005, Edwards spent the next several years working temporary jobs around Baltimore to support her frequent trips to Philadelphia and New York City for dance auditions. Between stints as a Baltimore City police cadet, a Comcast salesperson, and a manager at a Westminster doctor’s ofice, Edwards trained with the Peabody Conservatory, the Joffrey Ballet, and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. She performed in music videos and graced the stage in multiple productions with the Maryland Ballet Theatre in Annapolis.

“Being a freelance dancer was such a hustle and a grind,” she recalls. “I had to be smart about how I was going to make my dreams happen, but I was getting there.”

That hard work would eventually pay off, when by the end of October 2012, Edwards was invited to audition for the renowned Bloc Talent Agency in New York City. She was feeling especially hopeful, as her boyfriend had also just proposed.

But then one night, less than a week before her audition, Edwards was reaching into the trunk of her car outside of her Howard County apartment when an unknown man came up behind her and hit her over the head.

“I went through phases where I wished he would’ve just killed me instead of having to go through this.”

Though she was barely conscious, Edwards felt herself being dragged behind the building and into the woods, where the stranger beat, raped, robbed, urinated on, and spit on her before fleeing the scene. The next time she opened her eyes, there was light peeking through the trees. Her arms were covered in scrapes, and sections of her hair were matted with mud. “The first thing I felt when I came to was shame and embarrassment,” she says.

With Edwards in a state of shock, her mother called an ambulance from that same parking lot to transport her to Howard County General Hospital. She then went to the police department, where she reported the attack and answered hours-worth of questions. She completed a rape kit and submitted all of her belongings—including her coat, tennis shoes, and empty purse—into evidence. But as she moved through each step, she couldn’t shake the grumbling comments she overheard from the officers during her ambulance ride—that they didn’t feel like dealing with all of the paperwork this would mandate, as she recalls.

By the time Edwards learned that her case was being handled as a robbery, the rest of her life had already started to unravel: her family expected her to move on within a matter of days; her fiancé stopped returning her calls. Shortly thereafter, she discovered she was pregnant as a result of the rape and had an abortion, crying to herself on the way home alone. The police department’s robbery detectives didn’t respond to her requests for updates on the case, leaving her overwhelmed with anger—both at them and with herself. She started drinking heavily and using drugs as means of coping with her trauma, and that winter, she hit her breaking point and checked herself into the psychiatric ward of the Howard County General Hospital.

After two weeks, she moved back into her mother’s home and spent the next eight months dealing with depression and agoraphobia, which developed after the attack. Terrified to leave the house, she avoided mirrors, showering, and any form of physical contact. “I went through phases where I wished that he would’ve just killed me instead of having to go through this,” she says. “That was very, very tough.”

Eventually, with a recommendation from a Howard County General nurse, Edwards started visiting TurnAround Inc., a counseling and service provider in Towson for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. Working with a counselor there, along with weekly one-on-one and group therapy sessions, helped her navigate her emotions in a way she had not yet been able to. But Edwards still felt distant from her own body. She had dedicated her life to learning how to control her form through every leap, turn, and stretch, but the abuse and its aftermath broke the connection.

Finally determined to reclaim her body—and life—she stepped back into the dance studio for the first time since the attack. “I thought getting back into the studio would cure me,” she says. “I needed something to think about and focus on other than what
happened to me.”

Her worries about having to answer questions from classmates about her hiatus faded away once the music started. “When you’re in the studio, it’s okay to be so focused that you don’t talk to anyone,” she says. “Everyone is just there to dance, and I needed to feel that again.”

She gradually increased her studio time to multiple classes per week, slowly but surely relearning how to let people into her personal space, allowing her teachers to correct her hips during a battement kick or adjust her arm in an arabesque.

“Ballet was the only thing I could do outside of traditional therapy that made me feel like I was on the way to becoming myself again,” she says. “Getting stronger through the physical movement of dance therapy is what saved me.”

Years into her healing process, Edwards still found herself frustrated by the lack of recovery resources for trauma survivors. Therapy had helped her mental health, and ballet had improved her physical well-being, but she felt a desire to create a new alternative practice—one that would strengthen survivors through a mix of physical, mental, and spiritual healing.

“I knew I could use ballet as a tool of empowerment when it came to restoring feelings of grace and elegance in women who had suffered horrible traumas,” she says. “There are people who prefer to move rather than talk, and I understood that.”

So in May 2015, Edwards launched Ballet After Dark, a ballet-based fitness program that includes a self-care workshop for sexual and domestic assault survivors called “Reprocess. Rebuild. Reclaim Your Life.” The three-hour program begins with physical fundamentals, focusing on strength training and gentle ballet movements for any body type, skill level, or gender. (While the workshops are predominantly made up of women, male participants are welcome, too.) Edwards and a licensed mental health professional then lead the class through empowerment exercises such as daily mantras and self-care techniques, and facilitate open discussions about therapy and personal healing journeys. The workshop closes with a guided meditation for attendees to incorporate into their everyday lives.

“As women, we tend to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders, and we often forget to create spaces for ourselves,” Edwards says. “We need more opportunities to escape from reality and have conversations that don’t revolve around pain.”

Since the first class nearly four years ago, Ballet After Dark has gained a loyal following of both trauma survivors and aspiring dancers looking for an intimidation-free way to learn ballet. After an overwhelming number of requests to bring the restorative workshop to other states, Edwards will take her program on the road this spring to one-day events in Atlanta, Charlotte, and Chicago.

The practice has also caught the attention of independent filmmakers Ayana Barber and Brittany Fennell, who have created a documentary about Ballet After Dark that will be shown at the Tribeca Film Festival this April. The film was selected as one of the first projects produced by The Queen Collective, an initiative by Procter & Gamble and actress Queen Latifah’s production company, Flavor Unit.

While she’s humbled by the program’s popularity, Edwards’ motivation comes from her students, like Maria Roxbury, who has been a regular since the inaugural workshop.

Roxbury says she discovered the program while she was caretaking for her mother-in-law and needed an outlet to focus on herself. She left her first class feeling empowered, and over time, she wrote a poem to thank Edwards, who hung it on her refrigerator as a reminder of her purpose.

“She has helped put me back on solid ground,” says Roxbury.

“We need more opportunities to . . . have conversations that don’t revolve around pain

From her place at the front of the dance studio, Edwards leads attendees through an end-of-session discussion on how to push through hardships and setbacks as part of the recovery process.

“It’s important for me to have a family, a sisterhood, and a collective of people that I can heal and grow with,” Edwards tells the class, crediting helping other survivors for keeping her afloat. “And that’s why I’m grateful for you all.”

As the workshop ends and classmates shrug on their coats, give goodbye hugs, and head off to their evening plans, Edwards is still full of energy. Smiling to herself, she pulls a black knit sweater over her sports bra and heads out into the lobby to mingle with her regulars.

Spontaneously, they break out in a rendition of the theme song from Living Single, the ’90s sitcom starring Queen Latifah herself. Edwards grooves to the beat as they sing in unison, “Whenever this life gets tough, you gotta fight/with my homegirls standing to my left and my right. . .”

Although her case is still open, Edwards now feels confident that she can dance through whatever the next chapter of her life brings. As another workshop comes to a close, she’s standing tall and unafraid as she walks out into the night.

“I’m still becoming the woman that I’m supposed to be,” she says. “I don’t know who she is yet, but I know I’m on my way.”

Performers from across the continent will make Baltimore their stage for 11 days during the seventh annual Charm City Fringe festival, which kicks off on November 1. New and experimental theater—featuring more than 20 shows, from comedy to a one-man cabaret. Festival headquarters will be at Mount Vernon Marketplace, where fans can get tickets and get festival schedules. Here are our picks for six not-to-miss performances and events.

Launch Party
The opening night kickoff will be from 7 to 10 p.m. November 1, with festival preview performances, music, art installations, light fare from Maiwand Grill, and drinks. Marble Bar, Congress Building, 306 W. Franklin St.

Beaver Dreams
Charm City Fringe is officially an international theater festival. This year, Lost & Found Puppet Co. from Montreal will perform its brilliant, bizarre show Beaver Dreams. Nominated for five Frankie Awards, this production uses puppets and live acting to tell the story of a group of humans and beavers who live near the same pristine lake, deep in the the Quebecois forest, and share the same nightmare: commercial development springing up nearby that’s threatening the natural world. 322 N. Howard St.

The End of Things
Three Princes Theatre will present their world premier of The End of Things, taking the audience on six journeys through failing relationships and an impending apocalypse (as in, an actual threat to planet Earth . . . but also, of course, its metaphorical implications). The show uses monologue, vignettes, and imagery to weave together these vignettes of love and love lost. Downtown Cultural Arts Center, 401 N Howard St.

I Know It Was the Blood: The Totally True Adventures of a Newfangled Black Woman
Tara Lake, a scholar, vocalist, performer, and historian will present her one-woman play I Know It Was the Blood: The Totally True Adventures of a Newfangled Black Woman, which won an Artist’s Choice Award this year at the Chicago Fringe Festival. Dramady musical (with poetry interspersed throughout) takes us back to the 1980s and ’90s and into the world of an African-American Jersey girl’s coming-of-age. 322 N. Howard St.

33 (a kabarett)
Big Empty Barn Productions will present its one-man production 33 (a kabarett), written and performed by Bremner Duthie. Set in the ruins of a cabaret theater, the show references the experimental form of theater known as Kabarett, which satirizes the audience and was performed in Germany until the Nazis rose to power and suppressed the shows and performers, most of whom ended up in concentration camps. In this show, all the actor’s fellow performers have already disappeared, leaving him alone on the stage to perform the pieces from the missing ensemble members himself. Downtown Cultural Arts Center, 401 N Howard St.

The Male Gaze
BlueShift Dance focuses on “the male gaze” in their new show by performing dance pieces created for specifically for them—and about them—by the men in their lives who love them. The lens shifts from sexual object to deep love as the show moves through complex and varied emotional landscapes. Downtown Cultural Arts Center, 401 N Howard St.

The Afro Punk Ballet, an Afro-futurist opera written by composer Scott Patterson and Eric T. Styles and choreographer Preston Andrew Patterson, imagines a post-apocalyptic future where the lush blue green of our world is scorched dusty red by the heat of two suns. “There used to be a river here” General Levi (played by Jarrod Lee) bellows with lament over the devastation wreaked by his greatest invention, the creation of a second sun. His miraculous discovery threatens to destroy all life in the galaxy. What compels a man to generate a second sun? His daughters Corfazsia (Jocelyn Hunt) and Jakub (Alicia Wiliams) are charged to answer that question. We, the audience, watch to see if the world will collapse before they can.

Produced by Afro House, the production is described as “an exploration of the crossroads between African spirituality, mathematics, and physics” and it’s set in an indistinct universe sometime in the distant future. The hypnotizing coo of mezzo-soprano Spirit/Legba (Elise Jenkins) pierces the eerie still of the intimate Peale Center. Her face and those of the other chorus members is obscured by intricate laser printed helmets designed by A.W. Nadine Grant. Scott Patterson plays melodic riffs on his red Fender Rhodes from the center of the room.

The soundscapes evoke the familiar ethereal resonance and pulsing punk accents of sci-fi classics like Blade Runner or Fantastic Planet, but also cull from black musical traditions like gospel, blues, jazz, Afrobeat, and hip hop to illuminate the environments of this new world. If Herbie Hancock and Daft Punk had an interstellar love child that was raised on the avant-garde compositions of Sun Ra, the child would create music that sounds something like this, an otherworldly groove that is operatic but also deeply soulful.

Each of Patterson’s intonations are echoed and accentuated with gush worthy choral accompaniments. Spoiler alert: everybody can sang! Their soaring arias describe the woeful destruction of the second sun and humanities imminent demise. Jakub, the youngest daughter of General Levi, leaps and sprints around the scene. Each pirouette channels celestial orbits, or portals that open passageways to future nows and yesteryears. Her movements are a significant feature of her developing powers, gifts that are slowly revealed in Act 1. Her eldest sister, Corfazsia, a military prodigy readies her army for a war that is rumored to be encroaching on their families territory. With a running time of roughly 50 minutes, Act 1 lays the foundation for a dynamic Afro-futurist tale like nothing that you have ever experienced before.

We spoke with the Patterson brothers during a dress rehearsal of the first act of The Afro Punk Ballet about their inspiration, creative process, and why they chose this medium.

The Afro Punk Ballet is currently in development. How far are you from showcasing the full production?
Scott Patterson: We have had the concept for this for about 4 or 5 years and talked about the idea of a piece called Afro Punk Ballet, inspired by the Afropunk movement, not just the festival.

Preston made the point yesterday that, “We are all fighting for a piece of ourselves in the story.” I think our story reflects that. This summer we had a residency at Single Carrot Theatre for a week to work on a preview of a preview. After that preview [we] decided to concentrate on Act 1. We are really trying to build a universe, not just create a new world, but a new solar system, way of being, [and] that takes time.

Preston Patterson: We wanted the freedom to create as much as we could. We have been playing around with the idea that this is not earth, our solar system or our time. What we are attempting is to take who we are and put that in another time and space. This is an experiment.

Why did you choose opera as the medium to tell this narrative?
SP: Lots of reasons. I love the way opera is big and able to be big. I felt like that is one thing I feel is missing from a lot of Black narratives in all mediums. I’ve been wanting to see Black people in epic bigness. The cast is currently nine people. I envision the cast becoming 45-50 people. [This] one story is going to spawn dozens of other stories. I wanted to give a genesis.

That means it has to be a really big concept and I feel that opera was one way to tackle that. I wanted to see black opera singers in roles that liberate them and place them as more than marginal characters. We wanted to write stories that we thought were dope.

As the dog days of summer give way to the crisp winds of fall, Baltimore’s art season kicks into full gear. Come September, theater seasons launch, galleries host their biggest shows, and an abundance of art-centric colleges and universities—including the renowned Maryland Institute College of Art and Peabody Conservatory—means a swelling of cultural and educational activities. Here, we round up our recommended events to catch from now through the end of 2018.

Kubrick 90: A Would-Be Birthday Retrospective
Through Dec. 2018. Parkway Theatre, 5 W. North Ave.
In honor of what would be Stanley Kubrick’s 90th birthday, the Parkway will screen a retrospective of work by the celebrated filmmaker, semi-chronologically, including classics such as Lolita, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, Dr. Strangelove, Eyes Wide Shut, and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Each film will play twice throughout the festival, and many will be presented on 35mm.

Baltimore Comedy Festival
Aug. 29-Sept. 3. Motor House, 120 W. North Ave.
More than 100 comedians from around the U.S. will be in town for the second Baltimore Comedy Festival, where Motor House will serve as headquarters and a performance venue for this five-day, citywide event.

The Institute of Visionary History and the Archives of the Deep Now
Sept.-Dec. The Peale Center, 225 Holliday St.
With the historical Peale Center as its backdrop, Submersive Productions will present its latest theatrical experience, featuring a different production each month. It will culminate with a December shadow performance themed around a 1980s movie set in pre-World War II Germany.

The Thing is Close
Aug. 31-Sept. 29. School 33 Art Center, 1427 Light St.
Cindy Cheng and Jackie Milad will present work in a two-person exhibit that examines identity and home. Cheng creates sculptural installations that reference the interior of her parents’ house in Hong Kong, with meditations on the importance of particular objects within the space. Milad’s work on paper explores ethnic backgrounds through actual and invented symbols associated with her Egyptian and Honduran heritage

Baltimore Taxidermy Open
Sept. 6. The Walters Art Museum, 600 N. Charles St.
The Walters Art Museum’s Chamber of Wonders houses treasures from around the world, among them taxidermied birds, beasts, and reptiles. But only during this annual event does the museum play host to an array of contemporary taxidermy artists (the term “taxidermy” is used loosely in this context) alongside these antique ones for a pop-up exhibit and taxidermy competition.

DOS-à-DOS
Sept. 7-30. Hamilton Gallery, 5502 Harford Rd.
Baltimore artists L. Nef’fahtiti Partlow-Myrick and Jenny O’Grady, who met as students in the Creative Writing and Publishing Arts master’s program at the University of Baltimore, exhibit a collection of their art books, made from a variety of materials both traditional and unorthodox. The show’s title references a bookbinding technique that ties together two text blocks with a shared spine—that spine being the MFA program in this context.

Survival Bias
Sept. 8-29. Current Space, 421 N. Howard St.
This two-person exhibition of sculptures, wall works, and video by Brittany De Nigris and Adam Milner investigates what defines the immediate present and how things are often an accumulation of past subjects, places, and times. The show’s title is based on the term “survivorship bias,” which describes how our history is shaped, in part, by the artifacts that survive.

Putin On Ice (That Isn’t The Real Title of This Show)
Sept. 12-Oct. 7. Single Carrot Theatre, 2600 N. Howard St.
A mix of fable, melodrama, and theater, the satirical Putin on Ice elevates the man to myth, from dictator to deity, in a collaboration between theater companies Single Carrot and The ACME Corporation.

Balancing Act: Paintings, Drawings, Collages. Works by Joseph Paul Cassar
Sept. 12-Oct. 20, artist talk from 4-6 p.m. Oct. 13. Y:ART Gallery, 3402 Gough St.
Art historian, author, and artist Joseph Paul Cassar will show recent drawings in ink and pastel, paper cutouts, collage, and acrylic on canvas.

Repurposed with Purpose: Meaning in the Materials of Making
Sept. 20-Nov. 10. Maryland Art Place, 218 W. Saratoga St.
This large group exhibit, curated by former Baltimore Museum of Art director Doreen Bolger, nudges viewers to look deeper into pieces and think about the materials used and why, what statement they make, and whether they are a reflection of the artist’s personal story or have a broader significance.

Lovelight Yoga and Arts Festival
Sept. 21-24. Pearlstone Conference & Retreat Center, 5425 Mount Gilead Road, Reisterstown.
Music, art installations, and lots of yoga and meditation will be held in a serene, natural setting at the annual Lovelight Festival in Reisterstown, featuring Krishna Das and Rising Appalachia, among others, plus more than 40 classes and workshops.

Mark Bradford: Tomorrow is Another Day
Sept. 23, 2018-March 3, 2019. Opening Celebration, 1-5 p.m. Sept. 23. Baltimore Museum of Art, 10 Art Museum Dr.
This major exhibition by renowned contemporary artist Mark Bradford will bring together work he showed at the 2017 Venice Biennale and a new site-specific installation. The Los Angeles-based artist explores themes from his personal life, black identity, Greek mythology, and the universe through mixed-media works, abstract paintings, and video.

Fades and Fellowship Barbershop Stories
Sept. 28. Motor House, 120 W. North Ave.
Baltimore-based theater troupe Fades & Fellowship brings black barbershop culture to the stage. Not only does the cast of actual barbers perform the conversations and stories—true and embellished—as overheard in barbershops, but they finish the show by giving a few lucky audience members haircuts onstage.

High Zero
Sept. 28-29. Theatre Project, 45 W Preston St.
Experimental music in all its glory will be performed during this two-day festival by musicians who will expand your definition of music and instruments. Performers include Wendel Patrick, Ada Pinkston, Neil Feather (who plays invented instruments), Carrie Fucile (who plays objects and cassettes), Orlando Johnson (who plays found objects), and several others.

Baltimore Book Festival
11 a.m.-7 p.m. Sept. 28-30. Baltimore Inner Harbor.
The annual Baltimore Book Festival along the Inner Harbor is a free, three-day celebration of the written and spoken word, featuring presses from indie to university and every genre imaginable. Hundreds of authors will participate in readings, talks, book signings, panels, and workshops, and more than 100 exhibitors and booksellers will line the Inner Harbor Promenade, from the Inner Harbor Amphitheater to Rash Field. Highlights this year: authors A.J. Jacobs, April Ryan, Bill Whitaker, Jonathan Abrams, Carol Anderson, D. Watkins, Nic Stone, Tim Junkin, and Wayétu Moore, plus numerous stages and tented areas, including Tablers Tent, Charm City Comic Pavilion, CityLit Stage, Food for Thought Stage, Ivy Bookshop Stage, Literary Salon, Maryland Romance Writers’ Stage, Red Emma’s Radical Books Pavilion, Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America Stage, and a music stage.

Chinese Snuff Bottles
Sept. 30-Dec. 9. The Walters Art Museum, 600 N. Charles St.
Chinese snuff bottles—historically used to hold a medicinal blend of tobacco, spices, and herbs and worn around the neck—were not only intriguing and practical pieces but also intricate works of art. The Walters will exhibit nearly 250 snuff bottles made from stone, glass, porcelain, ivory, lacquer, enamel, and precious metals. The show coincides with the 50th annual Convention of the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society, which will be held in Baltimore in October.

Afro Punk Ballet
Oct. 4-6. The Peale Museum, 225 Holliday St.
This sci-fi, futuristic ballet opera is the second in a trilogy produced by Afro House. As the story goes, mad scientist Levi created a second sun that is drying up the lands and bringing the nation’s inhabitants to near extinction. His descendants are left with his mess to clean up.

Parenting: An Art Without a Manual
Oct. 6, 2018-Sept. 1, 2019. American Visionary Art Museum, 800 Key Hwy.
AVAM’s next annual mega-exhibit is a meditation on the art of parenting—from cultural wisdom to scientific breakthroughs in cognitive and behavioral research. Work by three dozen artists will incorporate a wide spectrum of media and styles, such as Allen Christian’s life-sized torso sculptures of Mother, Father, and Child made from antique piano parts; Leon Borensztein’s black-and-white photos documenting his daughter, who was born legally blind; and a group of women who sewed their fathers’ old ties into hexagonal assemblages and provided six-word stories to accompany them.

John Waters: Indecent Exposure
Oct. 7, 2018-Jan. 6, 2019. Opening Celebration, 1-5 p.m. Oct. 7; Artist Conversation with John Waters and Senior Curator Kristen Hileman, 6 p.m. Nov. 1. Baltimore Museum of Art, 10 Art Museum Dr.
Enter the wonderfully absurd world of John Waters in this retrospective exhibition of photos, video clips, early films, photocopied drawings, and sculpture from the legendary Baltimore filmmaker. The artist’s penchant for black humor is evidenced in the more than 160 pieces he has made since the early 1990s that criticize, dramatize, and exploit popular culture and celebrate the LGBTQ and other marginalized communities.

Open Studio Tour
10 a.m.-6 p.m. Oct. 13-14. Assorted venues citywide.
More than 100 artists open their studio doors across the city for this two-day, self-guided tour, where visitors can watch the artists in their element and talk with them about their work.

A Charmed Life
Oct. 13-Nov. 24. Creative Alliance, 3134 Eastern Ave.
This retrospective of more than 130 photographs will span Jim Burger’s 30-plus years as a photojournalist with The Baltimore Sun and City Paper. Burger will present an illustrated talk of his life’s work from 7:30-8:30 p.m. on Nov. 8 to coincide with the exhibit.

Leonard Bernstein’s Mass
7:30 p.m. Oct. 26. New Psalmist Baptist Church, 6020 Marian Dr.
This massive theatrical spectacle, conducted by Baltimore Symphony Orchestra director Marin Alsop, will feature hundreds of Baltimore performers—Peabody Conservatory instrumentalists, singers, and dancers; Preparatory students including members of the Peabody Children’s Chorus; and others from the community including the Morgan State University Choir and students from the Baltimore School for the Arts. The show is loosely based on a Catholic Mass and uses song and dance to raise questions about faith.

Charm City Fringe Festival
Nov. 1-11. Various venues in the Bromo Arts District.
Experimental theater and performance art will be highlighted in this 11-day festival that brings performers from across the continent to Baltimore for more than 90 performances in theater, comedy, dance, crankies, film, and more.

Romare Bearden: Vision and Activism
Nov. 10, 2018-March 3, 2019. Reginald F. Lewis Museum, 830 E. Pratt St.
Romare Bearden is considered one of the most important and influential artists of the 20th century. As an artist, educator, scholar, writer, songwriter, and social activist, he examined race through his work: paintings, editorial cartoons in the Baltimore Afro-American newspaper, collages, and other artwork. More than 50 of his pieces will be displayed at this major exhibition.

A Wonder in My Soul
Nov. 29-Dec. 26. Baltimore Center Stage, 700 N. Calvert St.
Set in a Baltimore beauty shop, this story of friendship and community confronts the issues of gentrification and crime as its co-owners decide whether or not to move the shop.

Violinist Joshua Bell
8 p.m. Nov. 30, 3 p.m. Dec. 2. Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, 1212 Cathedral St.
Joshua Bell, one of the most celebrated violinists of his era, with appearances on The Tonight Show and Amazon’s Mozart in the Jungle, will perform Dvorák’s romantic Violin Concerto under the baton of Romanian conductor Cristian Măcelaru.

Alice Gadzinski
Dec. 7, 2018-Jan. 12, 2019. Creative Alliance, 3134 Eastern Ave.
Baltimore sculptor Alice Gadzinski was a resident artist at the Creative Alliance when she passed away earlier this year from cancer. In honor of her creative spirit, the art center is hosting an exhibit of work she made at the Creative Alliance, as well as never-before-seen pieces.

Black Nativity
Dec. 7-30. Motor House, 120 W. North Ave.
Langston Hughes’ Black Nativity, a musical originally performed Off-Broadway in 1961, is a retelling of the Nativity story with an entirely black cast. The show, presented in Baltimore by ArtsCentric, includes Hughes’ poetry as well as traditional Christmas carols sung gospel-style.

Rock Climbing
Contrary to what you may think, climbing uses lots of muscles in both the upper and lower body—including the ones you didn’t know you had (hello, finger muscles). It can improve your stamina and strength while also boosting brain function. Where to go: Earth Treks, several locations, including 1930 Greenspring Dr., Lutherville-Timonium, 410-560-5665.

Ballet
Whether you took dance as a child, have tried a barre class, or have never danced in your life, ballet is a great way to improve flexibility, balance, and endurance in all adults. It can also build lean and toned muscles while improving core strength and posture. Where to go: Baltimore School of Dance, 4001 Falls Rd., 410-790-6742.

Horseback Riding
It may look like Preakness jockeys and Olympic show jumpers are having the horse do all the work, but keeping your balance on a one-ton animal takes a lot of core and leg strength. Start slow and learn the basics on a calming trail ride, then work your way up to trotting, jogging, and cantering. Where to go: Graham Equestrian Center, 10301 Harford Rd., Glen Arm, 410-663-4445.

Biking
As the weather warms up, save some gas money and opt to ride your bike. Benefits include muscle toning, improved cardiovascular health, better blood circulation, improved joint mobility, strengthened bones, and decreased body fat levels. Take a solo ride or join on the many group rides with The Baltimore Bicycling Club. Where to go: The Baltimore Bicycling Club.

Budoshin Ju-Jitsu
Budoshin ju-jitsu focuses on practical self-defense and teaches students how to protect themselves against a variety of attacks through proper holds, blocking, and striking. While training can help with your overall fitness level, ju-jitsu can also help increase your self-esteem. Where to go: Baltimore School of Self Defense, 11600 Crossroads Cir, Middle River, 410-529-1262.

Standup Paddleboarding
A low-impact, full-body workout, paddleboarding engages your core and legs for balance and your arms for momentum. Because it is low impact, it is also great for people with rehabilitation injuries because it is gentle on your muscles and joints. Where to go: B’More SUP, 8500 Cove Rd., Dundalk. 

Visual Art

Reflections: Intimate Portraits of Iconic African Americans
Photographer Terrence A. Reese’s career has led him to take portraits of such stars as Lauryn Hill and George Clinton. The artist, who goes by TAR, will exhibit a selection of his work at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum this month in the show Reflections: Intimate Portraits of Iconic African Americans. Black-and-white images will depict such luminaries as the Nicholas Brothers and Gordon Parks in their natural environments and living spaces so as to better reflect who they are, through their personal objects, style, and the context of their lives. Wednesdays through Sundays, Feb. 1 through Aug. 12, at Reginald F. Lewis Museum, 830 E. Pratt St.

Artist talk with Shirin Neshat
Iranian artist Shirin Neshat explores gender, identity, and politics in her work, as well as the differences in culture between the West and Muslim countries. Because she tackles such complex themes, there is no shortage of questions and discussion surrounding her work. It also makes her a perfect candidate for MICA’s Mixed Media lecture series, which brings to Baltimore artists from across the globe. For this installment, Neshat will be in conversation with Baltimore Museum of Art Director Christopher Bedford. 7 p.m. Feb. 15 at Falvey Hall, Brown Center, 1301 W. Mount  Mount Royal Ave.

Music

Charm City Django Jazz Fest
Nothing like some live gypsy jazz to add a little heat to a cold winter’s day. Creative Alliance has got us covered with not one but three days of its annual Charm City Django Jazz Fest, which will bring in acts from across the region and world, including headliner Samson Schmiit, a legendary Manouche gypsy guitarist from France. Swing on by to see Sara L’abriola, Ultrafaux, ‘Nuff Said, and others, to experience a range of styles within the genre. Feb. 23 to 25 at the Creative Alliance, 3134 Eastern Ave.

Out of Darkness: Two Remain
A new opera looks at what you might consider atypical Holocaust survivors: one, a political prisoner, and the other a homosexual Protestant, both of whom used words to overcome the traumas of captivity during the war. World-renowned composer Jake Heggie developed the two-act opera based on the true stories of these characters who “survive through their poetry,” says Garnett Bruce, stage director of the Peabody Chamber Opera’s production of the piece. Feb. 8 through 11 at Theatre Project, 45 W. Preston St. The composer and librettist will attend opening night, with a talk following the show.

Theater

Constellations & Crossroads
Constellations & Crossroads is a theatrical double-header steeped in American history and exploding with life. Baltimore Rock Opera Society partnered with Arena Players, Baltimore’s historic African-American community theater, to present two short musicals in their entirety, backed by a live band. The Determination of Azimuth tells the story of Katherine Johnson, a black mathematician who worked for NASA and was responsible for comp[uting paths for rocket ships sent into space. Battle of Blue Apple Crossing leans more on fiction to tell the tale of blues legend Robert Johnson, said to have sold his soul to the devil in exchange for musical ability. The score follows America’s musical heritage from field spirituals to rock ’n’ roll to garage rock. 8 p.m. Feb. 9 through 18 at Arena Players’ venue at 801 McCulloh St.

All She Must Possess
The Rep Stage premiere of All She Must Possess tells the story of Baltimore’s famed Cone sisters, Claribel and Etta, extravagant world travelers and collectors of art and curios. During the early 20th century, they stored thousands of paintings—including work by Matisse and Picasso, among other greats—in their homes, amassing what would become one of the world’s largest collections of modern art (a large portion would eventually be housed at the Baltimore Museum of Art, where it is today). In the theatrical version of their lives, written by University of Maryland Baltimore County professor Susan McCully and directed by Rep Stage artistic director Joseph W. Ritsch, paintings come to life and Gertrude Stein—Etta’s lover—makes an appearance. Coinciding with the play is an exhibition of historical women’s clothing from the Cone sisters’ time, on display at Howard Community College’s Rouse Company Foundation Gallery through March 11. The play runs Feb. 8 to 25 at Rep Stage at Howard Community College.

Dance

The Community Project
Each year, The Collective pulls together dancers from the community and pairs them with a professional choreographer to develop the Community Project performance. This year, 22 dancers—ranging in age from teens to baby boomers and across all skill levels—met on several cold January weekends to rehearse under dancer Caitlin McAfee for this year’s show, which is but one component to the Baltimore Dance Invitational. Set to Indian Wells’ song “Cascades,” the group will show through movement how the mind races, gets distracted, and follows its own trails of thought. Gordon Center for Performing Arts on Thursday, February 15, 2018 at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 15 at the Gordon Center for Performing Arts, 3506 Gwynnbrook Ave., Owings Mills. 

Beyonce vs Rihanna Dance Party: Round 2
The Ottobar event flier states it best: “Are you ‘Drunk In Love’ or ‘Drunk On Love’?!” At the Beyonce vs Rihanna Dance Party, that is precisely the question. And also, are you ready to duke it out—through dance, of course, to support your diva de jour. The dance party battle will light up with Beyonce tracks from DJ Mills and Rihanna tracks from Ottobar owner Craig Boarman. 9 p.m. Feb. 16 at the Ottobar, 2549 N. Howard St.

Miscellanea

African-American Arts Festival
The University of Baltimore helps us to celebrate Black History Month specifically through art at its annual African-American Arts Festival. Its offerings span an array of artistic mediums: film, visual art, music, theater. Some highlights: a panel with Black Ladies Brunch Crew of D.C., an African drumming circle, readings of Langston Hughes poetry spliced with live, improvised jazz piano, and a screening of Jonathan Demme’s film of Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved. Feb. 15 to 18 at the University of Baltimore, 1420 N. Charles St.

Exhibit of Original Costumes

We may be 2,500 miles from Hollywood, but John Klisavage brings us a touch of its wonder by way of costume. At his bookstore in Havre De Grace, he’s displaying several outfits worn in major motion pictures, including Hunger Games and The Notebook. February and March at Washington Street Books & Music, 131 N. Washington St., Havre De Grace.

A culinary documentary on Basque cuisine
Parkway Theater has teamed up with a local restaurant to bring a food and film pairing, naturally. After a screening of The Txoko Experience: The Secret Culinary Space of The Basques, scriptwriter Marcela Garces and director Yuri Morejon will answer any questions the audience has, and then . . . everyone can partake in the food portion of the evening: passed pintxos from the Basque-inspired La Cuchara restaurant. Renowned Basque chefs serve as narrators of the culinary documentary, which explores Txokos, groups of people who gather to explore innovative and experimental ways of cooking. As Morejon puts it, “Txokos represent a distinctive, albeit enigmatic element of Basque gastronomy. As the private temples of traditional Basque cuisine, they captivate people with their warmth, ambiance, and great respect for fresh products.” 7 p.m. Feb. 22 Parkway Theater, 5 W. North Ave.

Visual Art

Scott Pennington’s Two-Minute Joys
Scott Pennington’s art is nothing if not fun. He draws from his experience as a furniture maker to craft large-scale, interactive artwork. Through several light-based installations and wall pieces, his latest show, Two-Minute Joys, explores a tradition Pennington grew up with: the carnivals that make their rounds from town to town, bringing people together among their bright lights, rich colors, and the sweet scent of carnival food. It’s what the artist refers to as the “carnival aesthetic,” prevalent throughout his work. Indulge in a carnival trip of the mind at Maryland Art Place, courtesy of Pennington. Jan. 18 through March 10, MAP, 218 W. Saratoga St. Reception from 6 to 9 p.m. Jan. 18.

Curatorial tour of Beyond Flight: Birds in African Art
The Baltimore Museum of Art exhibit Beyond Flight: Birds in African Art shows the many uses of birds in sub-Saharan art. See the dramatic masks worn during rituals, herbalists’ staffs, and household objects embellished with bird imagery while meditating on how these winged creatures have piqued our curiosity over the centuries. As BMA associate curator of African art Kevin Tervala pointed out, birds make up less than one percent of living things and yet are used extensively throughout all artistic genres. Through June 10, BMA, 10 Art Museum Drive; curatorial tour from 2 to 3 p.m. Jan. 5.

Art talk with longtime MICA instructor James Hennessey
As a decades-long painting instructor at Maryland Institute College of Art, James Hennessey influenced the work of thousands of Baltimore artists. His retrospective exhibit at the Creative Alliance, Enduring Concerns, celebrates him with a survey of his paintings done over the years that he’s worked in the city. Through Jan. 13, with an artist talk at 7 p.m. Jan. 6, Creative Alliance, 3134 Eastern Ave.

Dance

King of What: Bboy/Bgirl Jam
Motor House will play host to breakers from across the U.S. and Canada during its five-hour King of What, which kicks off with a cypher that will allow hundreds of dancers to showcase their skills before a selected few move into one-on-one competition—i.e., before things get real. One lucky break-boy or -girl will be named the best and take home $1,000 (and someone else will win a $100 prize for having the flyest getup). And if five hours isn’t enough, there’s an after party. 5 to 10 p.m. Jan. 20 at Motor House, 120 W. North Ave.

Music

Hirsute live
The only thing better than an album listening party is an album performed live in its entirety. Amy Reid will provide us with this gift at the performance of her 2017 release Hirsute at the Motor House. She’ll be joined by a band to combine electronica, vocals, and live instrumentation. Plus, guest artists  Infinity Knives & Randi will perform, and Hanna Olivegren (of Zomes) and Noelle Tolbert will explore movement and sound. 9 p.m. Jan. 6 at the Motor House, 120 W. North Ave.

Off The Cuff: Impressionist Masterworks
For a tasty music and art pairing, try the January installment of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s Off the Cuff series, where the music of Debussy and Ravel will be performed alongside projected images of Impressionist art by Monet, Degas, Cézanne, and others, and you’ll learn how Impressionism influenced composers of the day. In collaboration with the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Impressionist Masterworks short-format concert includes commentary from BSO music director Marin Alsop and BMA senior curator of European painting and sculpture Katy Rothkopf, who will provide context to enrich the experience. An after party, Ravel on the Rocks, will extend the night with live gypsy jazz by Orchester Prazevica and food from Dooby’s. 7 p.m. Jan. 13, Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, 1212 Cathedral St.

Literary Arts

Red Emma’s Mother Earth Poetry Vibe
The gift of poetry is its ability to inspire us. With that idea in mind, Red Emma’s Mother Earth Poetry Vibe is an open mic that focuses on work that engages conscious thought, spirituality, justice, equality, and, in short, raises the vibration of our collective consciousness. All are welcome to share, while Philadelphia-based lyricist, author, educator, and voiceover artist Lyrispect will be the featured guest of the evening. 6:30 to 9 p.m. Feb. 3 at Red Emma’s Bookstore Coffeehouse, 30 W. North Ave.

Miscellanea

Edgar Allan Poe: Evermore
Raise your glass for a toast to the macabre poet Baltimore claims as its own, Edgar Allan Poe, who would have been 209 on Jan. 19, had he not died of . . . well, either alcohol, brain congestion, cholera, drugs, heart disease, rabies, tuberculosis, or suicide (don’t worry, folks, you’ll just be drinking nonalcoholic apple cider, courtesy of Poe Baltimore). 6 to 6:30 p.m. Jan. 19 at Westminster Hall and Burying Ground, 519 W. Fayette St.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Parade
“We’ve got some difficult days ahead,” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said to a crowd in Memphis, Tennessee, less than 24 hours before he was assassinated. “But it really doesn’t matter with me now because I’ve been to the mountaintop. . . . I’ve looked over, and I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land.” Baltimore will celebrate the legendary Civil Rights activist on his birthday with a parade down Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Noon to 2 p.m. Jan. 15.

Moonifestations of Ancestor Earth closing
What do you get when you combine meditation with January’s waxing moon? One guess is Moonifestations. Xander Dumas and Elliot Moonstone, better known as The Dandy Vagabonds, will close out their fiber-art installation Moonifestations of Ancestor Earth: a voyage of expansion at the Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower with a guided meditation. Through the use of astrology and gemstones, they’ll help the group to “moonifest” individual and collective intentions. Come dressed in the likeness of your favorite element, stone, or planet, and bring a journal. Noon to 2 p.m. Jan. 27, Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower Galleries, 21 S. Eutaw St.

News

Resort, a new contemporary art gallery
Resort, a new gallery in Baltimore exhibiting contemporary art, will hold its inaugural show this month. A Big Toe Touches a Green Tomato will showcase the work of former artistic director of The Contemporary Ginevra Shay and Philadelphia-based artist and self-described “plant person” Roxana Azar. Jan. 20 through March 3; opening reception from 5 to 8 p.m. Jan. 20, Resort, 235 Park Ave.