Think scratch-and-sniff paintings, screaming photographs, and textured collages at Sensory Overload, a new exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery of Art that opens Thursday at 6. Free.
You can learn what it’s like to make it as a top dancer as the nonprofit Ballet Teatro Internacional puts on a performance Thursday night at an event sponsored by Art Soiree. The backdrop is Marianne Luther’s photographs of a ballet rehearsal in Thailand. The event, held at L2 Lounge in Georgetown, runs from 8 PM to 2 AM. RSVP is required; e-mail artsoireedc@gmail.com. $10.
What to do if you’re broke but want to woo that special someone? Pack a picnic and go to the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden Friday at 5. Tell her you got the James King Ensemble to play a romantic jazz set for you two. Act incredulous when there are other people there. The concert is free, so you can splurge on sandwiches.
Imagine the gunshots and cash registers from “Paper Planes” mixed with rah-rahs from “Bad Romance” and a side of “Material Girl,” and you’ve got an approximation of the Lady Gaga vs. Madonna vs. M.I.A. dance party Friday at the 9:30 Club. DJ Lil’ E spins. $10.
Celebrate the end of the World Cup with international music at Funxion. DJs I-Wah and Cortega spin Afrobeat and other music from around the world. There’s no cover. It all starts at 10 Friday night.
The animals are usually the main attraction at the National Zoo, but Saturday it’s plants. For Family Garden Day at the Zoo, the horticulture team talks participants through its thousands of plants, which come from both deserts and rainforests. Learn about the interdependence of animals and plants and which plants you can find in your backyard. 10 to 4. Free.
You’re an expert at throwback parties. You’ve pulled out your jumpsuits for the Legwarmers and been Goo Goo Dolled to death. Now you get to pick between love beads and Beatles cuts. Party Lights—a set of ’60s soul, girl-group, and garage music—comes to the Black Cat backstage Saturday night at 9:30. Free.
For those more into DJs than divas, the turntable experts from Fatback and Mass Appeal will spin together, creating improv mash-ups for a party called On & On at DC9 Saturday night. No cover. 9 PM.
Even if you haven’t ventured outside all week, you might reconsider for a rooftop pool party. The Capitol Skyline Hotel hosts the year’s first Adult Swim Saturday from noon to 10, and it couldn’t come at a better time. The trick is to get there early—admission is free until 2.
The biggest party on earth is finally coming to an end. Celebrate a month’s worth of slacking off at work to watch soccer by heading to Disco Soccer!, the World Cup finals party at Beacon Hotel Sky Bar Sunday afternoon. There’s free entry, free drinks, and disco music afterward—so even if your squad loses, you don’t have to sulk. Better luck in four years!
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