THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7
ART ARTECHOUSE’s latest exhibit, Imaginary World of the Nutcracker, will celebrate the winter season with projections, interactive experiences, and augmented reality inspired by the original story. The exhibit will feature visuals by Sila Sveta, the creative team behind the 2017 MET Gala’s immersive light installations. Through January 7. $15.
DANCE The Kennedy Center’s Suzanne Farrell Ballet company is disbanding at the end of the 2017 season. The company often performed works choreographed by George Balanchine and this performance handpicks pieces that are special for their meaning to the company’s founder Suzanne Farrell. Expect to see two short works created specifically for her as well as the 26-dancer Serenade, which is the first ballet Balanchine made in America and Farrell’s first solo as a dancer. Through Saturday. $29-$89.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8
LIGHTS Georgetown GLOW returns for its fourth year with public light-art installations that celebrate the season of light. This year, GLOW will showcase nine local, regional, and international artists. Visitors can listen to the Curator’s Audio Tour while strolling through Georgetown. Through January 7. Free, 5 PM to 10 PM.
MUSEUMS Objects conservator Ariel O’Connor will lead an in-depth discussion about the exhibit Murder Is Her Hobby: Frances Glessner Lee and The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death at the Renwick Gallery. O’Connor will describe the parallels between art conservation and forensic science and discuss the challenges to conserving these detailed artworks. Free, noon.
MUSIC / BOOKS Singer-songwriter Dar Williams will perform her music and read from her new memoir at the Birchmere. In the book, What I Found in a Thousand Towns: A Traveling Musician’s Guide to Rebuilding America’s Communities—One Coffee Shop, Dog Run, and Open-Mike Night at a Time, Williams reflects on her time touring in small towns and small venues and discusses her observations about the decline of small-town America in the corporate age. Through Saturday. $35, 7:30 PM.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 9
COOKING The 12th annual MetroCooking DC show runs this weekend at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. The show will feature Food Network’s Guy Fieri, local restaurateur José Andrés, and The Chew’s Carla Hall alongside local James Beard-honored DC area chefs. Visitors can watch chef demonstrations, participate in tastings and workshops, and shop at the food exhibitors, including a Made in DC Pavilion featuring local food artisans. A portion of ticket sales will benefit Chef Andrés’s Puerto Rico relief via his World Central Kitchen, using the code PUERTORICO online. Through Sunday. $21.50.
SHOPPING Check out local craft fairs in Virginia and DC this weekend. The sixth annual GRUMP Holiday Arts & Crafts Show runs at Crystal City Underground and features over 50 local vendors—plus a friendly Yeti. The 12th Annual Upshur Street Art & Craft Fair runs on the 800 block of Upshur St NW in Petworth. In addition to 40 local artisans, there will be a gingerbread house-making workshop and contest, a wreath-making and popcorn-stringing station, and elf appearances. Local photographer Madeline Stoltz will snap portraits at the Petworth Mural. GRUMP: 12/9 at Crystal City Underground, 12 PM to 5 PM; 12/15 through 12/17 at ZooLights, 5 PM to 9 PM. Upshur Street Art & Craft Fair: 12/9 and 12/16, 11 AM to 4 PM.
COMEDY Stand-up comedian Jeff Simmermon cut his teeth in DC before moving on to national programs such as The Moth podcast and radio hour and This American Life. He recorded his debut album, And I Am Not Lying, at the Black Cat last December, and he celebrates the album’s vinyl release on Dischord Records at The Gallery at Lost Origins in Mount Pleasant. Simmermon and comic Gastor Almonte will each perform. $12, 9 PM.
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 10
MUSIC Grammy-winning songwriter Emmylou Harris will perform at The Hamilton in a benefit show for Bonaparte’s Retreat, the dog rescue organization that she founded. Her performance will touch on music from her forty-year career. Fellow songwriters Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams will also perform. $90-$250, 7:30 PM.
BOOKS Culinary historian and author Michael Twitty will discuss his new book The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South at Busboys & Poets at 5th & K. In this memoir, Twitty traces the roots of his own family and the charged politics around the origins of Southern cuisine. Free, 6 PM.
