Beat the post-Halloween lull this weekend by interacting with powerful performers and educators in the District.
Learn valuable culinary skills with mother-daughter pair Elena Terry and Zoe Fess at the National Museum of American History Friday, watch in awe as Dora Jar takes the stage at DC9 Nightclub Saturday and inspire your inner child at the Kennedy Center debut of “Air Play” by Acrobuffos Sunday.
Friday
Cooking Up History
If you’ve ever fantasized about cooking in a museum – wait no longer. Activist chef Elena Terry and her daughter Zoe Fess will host a cultural cooking class based upon their culinary culture as part of the Ho-Chunk Nation – a Native American tribe located across Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri and Illinois – at the National Museum of American History. They will offer training on spiritual enlightenment, Native American cultural understanding and ancestral culinary techniques during the class. Terry summons impressibility while discussing how food can bridge cultural identities and advocacy. The mother-daughter pair will prepare “Seedy SassSquash,” a dish derived from ancestral tribe ingredients like squash custard, wild rice and apple dust, to complete the food-focused educational experience.
National Museum of American History, 1300 Constitution Avenue NW. Noon to 1:15 p.m. Free. Find more information here.
Saturday
Dora Jar Concert
Watch an electrifying performance from up-and-coming alternative artist Dora Jar at DC9 Nightclub. It would be senseless to miss out on Jar’s personal show as this intimate, three-story venue molds to the aura of her 2022 EP, “Comfortably in Pain.” Earlier this year, the 24-year-old artist opened for Billie Eilish’s widely-acclaimed “Happier Than Ever” tour after her otherworldly singing videos caught the attention of thousands on Instagram. Jar’s inventively haunting music not only captivates its listeners through sound, but also through its enchanting lyricism that will evoke emotion from anyone at the concert. Dora Jar is no longer your best-kept secret – make the trip to DC9 Nightclub to witness her elegance before fame and popularity inevitably take hold over another young artist.
DC9 Nightclub, 1940 9th Street NW. 7:30 p.m. $20 general admission. Find more information here.
Sunday
“Air Play” by Acrobuffos
Experience an engaging performance of stage acrobatic art from talented married couple Seth Bloom and Christina Gelsone – also known as the circus-duo “Acrobuffos,” who play siblings (for the sake of the plot) at the Kennedy Center. Whether you are a child or an adult with love for interactive, aesthetic performances, this multifaceted production is a must-see. The show, appropriately titled “Air Play,” uses a multitude of monstrous balloons to orchestrate an in-air spectacle. Sculptor Daniel Wurtzel helped conduct the creation of this masterful exhibition with his specialized knowledge of kinetics to elevate the already undeniable talent of Bloom and Gelsone, who have been performing together since 2005.
The Kennedy Center, 2700 F Street, NW. 3 p.m. Tickets start at $20. Find more information here.
