Photo courtesy of organizers
From a press release:
Countdown to Yuri’s Night (C2YN), an out of this world art extravaganza—featuring 15 visual artists, 20 performers, and two bands—returns for a fifth year to celebrate the anniversary of the first human space flight. The event, held on Saturday, April 14th, honors cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin with live music, a spoofy SCI-FI stage show, burlesque performances, an art exhibition, a lunar dance party, and more.
A 21+ event, Countdown to Yuri’s Night, takes place Saturday, April 14, from 8pm to 2am, at Rosslyn’s Artisphere. (1101 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington VA 22209). Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 day-of/door. Visit www.c2yn.com for tickets, artist links, and announcements.
C2YN will occupy nearly all of the Artisphere’s futuristic spaces. The Dome will host “The Wrath of Shock-a-Khan,” a stage show punctuated with burlesque performances from DC and NYC starlets. The crew of the S.S.S. Gagarin gets flown for a loop when their old Starfleet Academy buddy Shock-a-Khan comes to call. This 45-minute show features Kittie Glitter as Captain Ballcrusher, Andrew Wodzianski as Drink Bot, Matt Grant as Number Two, and Lucrezia Blozia as Shock-a-Khan. Burlesque stars Candy Del Rio, The Reverend Valentine, GiGi Holliday and NYC’s Pinkie Special will keep the audience’s drive on warp and surf-rockers Atomic Mosquitos will use their infectious tunes sprinkled with the spacey sounds of a Theremin to for an exciting pre-show set.
The MEZZ Gallery will host the exhibition Elevator to the Moon: Retro-Future Visions of Space where 15 contemporary artists draw inspiration from 20th century predictions to create work that celebrates beautifully flawed ideas and inspires new visions for the future. Artists: Chris Bishop, Scott Brooks, Jared Davis, Dana Ellyn, Elstabo, Todd Gardner, Linas Garsys, Sherill Anne Gross, Emily Greene Liddle, Rob Lindsay, Chris Rackley, Matt Sesow, Scott Speck, Steve Strawn, and Andrew Wodzianski. A sneak preview is available on www.c2yn.com.
The Ballroom will blast off with the jazzy-ska band Eastern Standard Time. Called one of DC’s Best Bands by The Washington Post, E.S.T. has toured the universe…even traveling as far as Yuri’s homeland: Mother Russia. Space cadets can enjoy their sounds from the dance floor or the reduced-gravity chamber (moonbounce). After the live music set, DJ P.VO (host of the radio show Hometown Sounds) will embark on a lunar dance party guaranteed to make you want to moonwalk.
Throughout the event the atmosphere will be high with $5 Stoli drink specials (it was the first vodka in space after all), entertainment by DC’s premiere 60’s go-go troupe, Shake; the Jedi Guardians; Dieter’s Dance Party; the hooping wonders of Strange Powers, a special intergalactic edition of the “Spelling Buzz” spelling bee, and more. Costume Contests, geeky giveaways from ThinkGeek, final frontier photo ops and more complete this out-of-this-world event.
About Yuri’s Night:
On April 12, 1961, Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin embarked on the historic first manned space flight. Every year around April 12, Yuri’s Night parties are held all around the world; it’s like St. Patrick’s Day or the Fourth of July for space. Countdown to Yuri’s Night is an artistic spin on this science holiday. C2YN started in 2008 when Jared Davis wanted to engage artists’ perspectives and the average earthling more fully in the celebration.
