Arts & Entertainment
Arts news in brief: Sept. 30
A gay musical, Baltimore Black Pride and a Dakshina performance
A scene from ‘Leave it On the Floor,’ which will be screened in D.C. next week. (Image courtesy D.C. Black Pride)
Gay musical to be screened
D.C. Black Pride presents the D.C. premiere of “Leave It on the Floor” at Landmark’s E Street Cinema (555 11th St., N.W.) at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
“Leave It” is a musical about a young, black gay man who is thrown out of his home and discovers the L.A. ball scene, joining a struggling house. The movie features 11 original songs by Beyonce’s music director, Kim Burse, and choreography by Beyonce’s dance master, Frank Gatson, Jr.
Tickets are $15 and can be purchased online at landmarktheatres.com/tickets.
Baltimore Black Pride next weekend
Leiomy of Vogue Evolution, featured in the sixth season of MTV’s “America’s Best Dance Crew,” will be at Baltimore Black Pride’s main event, Batteries Not Included. The ninth annual Baltimore Black Pride begins Tuesday and runs through Oct. 11.
Leiomy will perform at Baltimore’s Black Pride event next weekend. (Photo courtesy MTV)
The celebration begins with “The A-List Party: A Night to Dance and Mingle” at Clubb Bunns (606 W. Lexington St.) Tuesday at 10 p.m. Wednesday there will be a screening of “Blueprint” at the Creative Alliance Arts Center (3134 Eastern Ave.) at 7 p.m. Friday is the meet and greet affair and black-out party at Club Bunns featuring Kim Walker and her band, “Rapture” at 6 p.m.
The main event is Oct. 8th at Paradox (1310 Russell St.) with Lola Monroe, Damon Rhodes, celebrity makeup artist Jaya Star and Leiomy from MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew.
Cover is $15 or $10 before 1 a.m. with a flyer.
For more information, visit blackpridebaltimore.org.
Dakshina back with various events
Dakshina/Daniel Phoenix Singh Dance Company, a gay-helmed outfit, has its annual poetry reading and sitar concert Sunday at the Westminster Presbyterian Church (400 I St., S.W.) featuring Gowri Koneswaran at 3:30 p.m. and Alif Laila’s annual Art of Peace Concert at 4 p.m.
Dakshina will also have its eighth annual Fall Festival of Indian Arts at the Lincoln Theatre (1215 U St., N.W.) on Oct. 7-8 featuring Leela Samson, who will open and close the festival, as well as Kalakshetra.
For more information on the company and any of its events, visit dakshina.org.
Celebrity News
Madonna announces release date for new album
‘Confessions II’ marks return to the dance floor
Pop icon Madonna on Wednesday announced that her 15th studio album will be released on July 3.
Titled “Confessions II,” the new album is a sequel to 2005’s “Confessions on a Dance Floor,” an Abba and disco-infused hit.
The new album reunites Madonna with producer Stuart Price, who also helmed the original “Confessions” album. It’s her first album of new material since 2019’s “Madame X.”
“We must dance, celebrate, and pray with our bodies,” Madonna said in a press release. “These are things that we’ve been doing for thousands of years — they really are spiritual practices. After all, the dance floor is a ritualistic space. It’s a place where you connect — with your wounds, with your fragility. To rave is an art. It’s about pushing your limits and connecting to a community of like-minded people,” continued the statement. “Sound, light, and vibration reshape our perceptions. Pulling us into a trance-like state. The repetition of the bass, we don’t just hear it but we feel it. Altering our consciousness and dissolving ego and time.”
Denali (@denalifoxx) of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” performed at Pitchers DC on April 9 for the Thirst Trap Thursday drag show. Other performers included Cake Pop!, Brooke N Hymen, Stacy Monique-Max and Silver Ware Sidora.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Arts & Entertainment
In an act of artistic defiance, Baltimore Center Stage stays focused on DEI
‘Maybe it’s a triple-down’
By LESLIE GRAY STREETER | I’m always tickled when people complain about artists “going political.” The inherent nature of art, of creation and free expression, is political. This becomes obvious when entire governments try to threaten it out of existence, like in 2025, when the brand-new presidential administration demanded organizations halt so-called diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programming or risk federal funding.
Baltimore Center Stage’s response? A resounding and hearty “Nah.” A year later, they’re still doubling down on diversity.
“Maybe it’s a triple-down,” said Ken-Matt Martin, the theater’s producing director, chuckling.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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Madonna announces release date for new album
Senegalese court issues first conviction under new anti-LGBTQ law
An effort to increase the number of psychiatrists of color
Comings & Goings
Trump budget targets ‘gender extremism’
Minimal version of ‘Streetcar Named Desire’ heading to Dupont Underground
