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COMMUNITY

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According to the Gaelic calendar, spring starts on February 1st. Celebrate by putting on your dancing shoes and learning a traditional Irish jig! Ceili (pronounced kay-lee) dancing is a high-spirited, community event accompanied by live music that will leave you unbothered whether or not Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow. You don’t need to be Irish or have a partner to show up, though they do recommend bringing a water bottle and “shoes you can bounce in.” SL
(Wallingford Community Senior Center, Wallingford, $10)

FILM

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After producers rushed a rough cut of the film to an ’83 festival screening, where it received a mixed review from the New York Times, Charles Burnett’s My Brother’s Wedding scared off distributors. The film didn’t receive its flowers until a quarter century later, when Milestone Films acquired the rights and Burnett was able to finish the editing and re-release it. The result is definitely worth scoping out in lush 35mm—it’s a “belated realization of a nearly-lost work of art” and a South Central LA tragicomedy that reckons with the realities of working-class Black life in America. LC
(Grand Illusion, University District, $8-$11)

FOOD & DRINK

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Everyone’s favorite organic vegan doughnut chain is officially old enough to drink. Help it ring in its 21st with free mini doughnuts, gift card giveaways, and a special rum-flavored doughnut. JB
(Mighty-O Donuts, Wallingford, free)

LIVE MUSIC

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Slap on your oversized suit for a tribute to the Talking Heads’ iconic 1984 concert film/live album Stop Making Sense. The ’80s cover band Coool Babieswill feel the Byrne with a faithful rendition of the iconic setlist, which includes classics like “Psycho Killer,” “Burning Down the House,” and “Once in a Lifetime.” The Sunset Grooves will start the show with some smooth yacht covers. AV
(Tractor Tavern, Ballard, $15)

FILM

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If you’re a sucker for old-school cinema with an element of surprise, this recurring series has your name written allll over it. Grand Illusion will continue a longstanding tradition with its 16th season of matinee classics screened alongside a secret feature film every Saturday, all in dreamy 16mm. The series continues this weekend with “Revenge Westerns,” in which two undisclosed actors will “redefine the genre.” LC
(Grand Illusion, University District, $8-$11 tickets, $66 series pass)

FOOD & DRINK

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Named for a Thai word that means “oozy” or “lava,” the Bellevue-based pop-up Yérm Doughouse specializes in what they call “Seattle’s first fusion lava pía mochi,” a sensory delight of a treat that combines the Vietnamese pastry pía with chewy mochi and satisfyingly gooey fillings. Enjoy this unique Gusher-like delicacy alongside snacks like chicken wings and beverages like taro milk tea and salted cheese foam-topped Vietnamese coffee from the cafe Saigon Drip. JB
(Saigon Drip Cafe, Pioneer Square)

PARTIES & NIGHTLIFE

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Birthed by “two Chicano friends looking to have a consistent dark dance night,” Cry Now Cry Later is your one-stop shop for darkwave, classic goth, industrial, and dark EDM dance cuts from both forgotten and classic artists. This weekend, DJs Dark Chisma and Shreddy Pippen will leave you with no tears left to cry for a rare all-ages edition featuring an onsite tarot reader and goth-centric vendors. AV
(Vera Project, Uptown, $15-$18)

LUNAR NEW YEAR

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Slither into the Year of the Dragon at Wing Luke Museum’s annual Lunar New Year Fair, which will include a traditional lion dance by Mak Fai Kung Fu Dragon and Lion Dance Association, community information booths, storytime sessions, calligraphy lessons, and dragon-themed crafts with local artists inside the museum. While you’re there, check out the newest KidPlace exhibit, New Year’s All Year Round: Theater, Dance & Sound, to learn more about New Year’s traditions. LC
(Wing Luke Museum, Chinatown-International District, free)

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Take a pause from shopping to celebrate the Year of the Dragon at Bellevue Square (or risk having bad luck for the rest of the year, probably)! There will be performances and activities all day long, including a Chinese Lion and Dragon Parade, martial arts displays, and interactive arts and crafts. Bonus: everything’s indoors, in case another atmospheric river decides to show up (it will definitely not be raining on our parade). SL
(Bellevue Square, free)

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Celebrate the fiery good luck that the Year of the Dragon holds with Seattle Asian Art Museum’s cultural Lunar New Year offerings, including live performances from Mak Fai Kung Fu & Lion Dance Association, a taiji for health demonstration with Seattle School of Chen Style Taijiquan, storytelling sessions, art activities led by Korean American public artist Juliana Kang Robinson and illustrator Julie Kim, and “family-friendly surprises” from Asian American bookstore Mam’s Books. Hope you’re hungry—Shooby Doo Catering will serve up drool-worthy dumplings. LC
(Seattle Asian Art Museum, Capitol Hill, free)

VISUAL ART

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What better way to get the ball rolling on Black History Month than with a cool new art show at Wa Na Wari, a Black cultural arts center sited in a fifth-generation, Black-owned home in the Central District?! The organization’s newest exhibition centers photography, airbrush pieces, and more by Marin Burnett, Brandon Donahue-Shipp, DK, and Christopher Iduma. The opening on February 3 will include live music and snacks, and Donahue-Shipp will facilitate an airbrush collage workshop on February 4 as part of the exhibition. LC
(Wa Na Wari, Central District, free)

COMEDY

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Devised in the style of Norman Lear’s ’70s-era American sitcoms (think All in the Family, Maude, The Jeffersons, and Good Times), Unexpected Productions’s Black Ice will channel the elements that made these shows pretty damn great—they often grappled with political and social themes while maintaining an approachable, disarming vibe. Audience members will offer suggestions to the comedian cast and provide the laugh track, so get your weirdest guffaw ready. LC
(Unexpected Productions’ Market Theater, Pike Place Market, $8-$20)

FILM

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I’m taking notes from Marlene Dietrich, who once said, “I dress for the image. Not for myself, not for the public, not for fashion, not for men.” As Hollywood director Josef von Sternberg sought out the next screen siren, his working relationship with Dietrich became the stuff of legend: The pair made bliss, beauty, and opulence come to life on screen in six Paramount-produced films throughout the ’30s. Dietrich did it all—she was a “sultry chanteuse, a cunning spy, and the hedonistic Catherine the Great,” for starters—and von Sternberg’s chiaroscuro lighting captured it all. Dress for the image and head to the Beacon for screenings of all six of the films, continuing with Blonde Venus this weekend. LC
(The Beacon, Columbia City, $12.50)

LIVE MUSIC

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Taking inspiration from beloved vocalists like Brandi Carlile, Amy Winehouse, and Norah Jones, local singer-songwriter Lucia Flores-Wiseman contrasts her powerful, timeless vocals with delicate acoustic guitars—and on her newest single “Promise You,” a ukulele. She will play her first-ever headlining show alongside bluegrass ensemble Northern Moon and alt-Americana band Big Dirt. AV
(High Dive, Fremont, $10-$13)

SHOPPING

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Though this all-ages market is actually happening in the afternoon, it’s channeling the dark vibes of a midnight lament with wares including incense, erotic art, leather goods, and florals. If you haven’t put any thought toward Valentine’s Day yet, this sounds like an excellent place to pick up everything you need for some fun (and a little bit kinky) plans. They’ll also be slinging slices of Stevie’s Famous Pizza, a huge draw since we no longer have to trek to Burien. SL
(Clock-Out Lounge, Beacon Hill, free)

LUNAR NEW YEAR

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The first of Seattle Center’s 2024 cultural festivals celebrates Tết, or Vietnamese Lunar New Year. A fashion show will feature colorful ao dai, traditional Vietnamese dresses, and the rest of the schedule is jam-packed with art, music, performances, and hands-on experiences that showcase Vietnamese culture. Expect red and yellow everywhere (they’re considered lucky colors) and get excited for lion dances and Vietnamese food from vendors like CÀPHÊTERIA and Cỏ May Bistro. There will also be a health fair providing free services, screenings, and support. SL
(Seattle Center, Uptown, free, Saturday-Sunday)

COMMUNITY

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If you’re a fan of House Hunters, watch HGTV more than any other channel, and won’t stop talking to your partners/friends/family/passersby about your latest home improvement project, this one’s for you! Bring five bucks cash and be treated to a world of resources, contractors, and design consultants ready to help make your development dreams happen. Children under 18 are free, so you can start ’em early (who knows, maybe the housing market will be better by the time they grow up). SL
(Seattle Convention Center, Downtown, $0-$5, Friday-Sunday)

EXHIBITS

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An often-overlooked 1968 social justice movement confronted poverty head-on and reimagined American activism, but you’ve probably never heard of it. The Smithsonian’s traveling exhibition Solidarity Now! 1968 Poor People’s Campaign looks closely at the nearly six-week-long protest, which took place in a constructed “Resurrection City” in DC and drew attention to the impact of poverty on Americans. Everyone from rural Appalachians to residents of Puerto Rico and Native communities showed up for demonstrations and demands for jobs, living wages, access to health care, and more. Organized by Martin Luther King Jr. and Ralph Abernathy, the Poor People’s Campaign was the “first large-scale, nationally organized demonstration to take place after King’s death.” Head to this exhibition to learn more about it through photographs, oral histories, and political ephemera. LC
(Washington State History Museum, Tacoma, $0-$14, Saturday-Sunday; opening)

FILM

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If the words “incisive literary satire” perk up your ears, then boy, does director Cord Jefferson have the film for you!! In his new dramedy (an adaptation of Percival Everett’s Erasure), Jeffrey Wright stars as Monk, a novelist who’s understandably aggravated by the establishment that profits from “Black” entertainment and its exhausting tropes. When Monk writes a book under a pen name, he finds himself paddling in the same phony waters he admonished in the first place. LC
(SIFF Cinema Uptown, Uptown, $13-$14, Friday-Sunday)

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Real Lanthimos heads know that he doesn’t direct anything without dystopic, black comedy underpinnings and plotlines that make audiences ponder why they’re on the planet at all. He is weird, as directors should be, and you’re either in or you’re out. This time around, he’s adapted a ’92 Scottish novel for the screen, painting the picture of a young woman (played by Emma Stone, who is raven-haired and looks charmingly bananas) brought back to life by an unorthodox scientist (played by my famous dad, Willem Dafoe). Best part? Poor Things “saved” my other dad, Mark Ruffalo, from “depressed dad typecasting.” Praise be. LC
(SIFF Cinema Uptown, Uptown, $13-$14, Friday-Sunday)

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Kick off Black History Month in the grooviest way possible with the Afrofuturist masterpiece Space Is The Place, which sees space prophet Sun Ra and the whole Intergalactic Solar Arkestra return to Earth (Oakland, to be exact) after a cosmic trip to prep Black people for an impending apocalypse through teleportation tunes. Their music aims to transport listeners to a “planetary paradise away from violence and racial prejudices”—if you haven’t seen the sci-fi classic yet, make this the year you fix that. LC
(Central Cinema, Central District, $12, Friday-Sunday)

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If you’ve been keeping up with A24’s films by international directors lately, including solid entries like After Yang and Dream Scenario, you’re probably already jazzed for The Zone of Interest, which is a co-production between the US, the UK, and Poland. Filmmaker Jonathan Glazer (who directed the Scarlett Johansson-as-an-extraterrestrial flick Under the Skin) tells the story of a Nazi commandant and his family, who attempt to build a happy life near the Auschwitz concentration camp. Call me presumptuous, but uh, I’m not rooting for them. The film has been shortlisted for Best International Feature at this year’s Oscars. LC
(SIFF Cinema Uptown, Uptown, $13-$14, Friday-Sunday)

VISUAL ART

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Aiming to redefine stereotypes and notions of luxury in Black culture, the group exhibition Black & Boujee challenges the Eurocentric conception of opulence, centers Afrocentric aesthetics, and will likely expand your perceptions on all things expensive. The show is a great reason to visit Bainbridge Island—it’ll showcase works by Black artists and designers working in painting, sculpture, and other mediums to investigate the “complexity of navigating luxury in a society shaped by racial inequalities.” LC
(Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, Winslow, free, Friday-Sunday)

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The brilliant, genre-transcending Cuban American artist Ana Mendieta died on September 8, 1985 after somehow “falling” from a window amid an argument with her husband, the minimalist artist Carl Andre, who passed away on January 24. Let’s pay Andre homage the right way: By focusing solely on Mendieta and her “earth-body” works, which stand the test of time and are infinitely stronger than anything he ever created. That’s what Colleen RJC Bratton does in Edgeless Burial, which directly references Mendieta’s Siluetas series of ephemeral body tracings created in varying landscapes. Bratton’s drawings “find their roots in the landscapes that birthed them,” including the Puget Sound, the Cascades, and a small farmstead, among other places. Bratton reckons with impermanence, transformation, and the climate crisis in her multimedia time-lapses and “biomorphic” installation, which also reference Washington’s landmark decision to legalize human composting. LC
(Gallery 4Culture, Pioneer Square, free, Friday-Sunday)

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You’ll find plenty of weekend-worthy exhibitions at Seattle Art Museum right now, like Remember the Rain, a collection of 20th-century Haitian paintings, and Elizabeth Malaska: All Be Your Mirror. (Pro tip for you Cheap and Easy readers: You can snag free museum passes from the Seattle Public Library and the King County Library.) Don’t forget to duck into SAM Gallery, though, where you’ll find Enter the Forest, a collection of works by local artists Linda Davidson, Chris Sheridan, and Sheryl Westergreen that feel as though they were pulled straight from the forest floor. LC
(SAM Gallery, Downtown, free, Friday-Sunday)

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In this joint show Merry Go Round of Pleasure & Understanding, two artists, Melissa Messer and Ian Kurtis Crist, share vastly different approaches to capturing the human form. Messer’s paintings of people—some solo, some warmly wrapped up in one another—will invite your eye to linger on the long brush strokes and lulling colors that shape their bodies. Crist’s work, however, is initially unsettling—stark scenes of sex, violence, and questionable characters will leave you wondering if I should be looking at all. Along with the show, which hangs at Koplin Del Rio through March 2, Messer and Crist are hosting a variety of complementary events including a free, bring-your-own-art-supplies figure drawing night (February 17), an artists’ salon (February 24), and a film night at the Beacon where the theater’s own Tommy Swenson will screen a secret movie inspired by the artwork (February 21). STRANGER ARTS EDITOR MEGAN SELING
(Koplin Del Rio Gallery, Georgetown, free, Saturday-Sunday; opening)

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Inspired by a recent residency in Joshua Tree National Park, which is home to delightful “Don’t Die Today” signage and over 300 historic mines, Katie Miller’s solo exhibition Overburden blends kiln-fired glass, photographic weavings, and hand-cut paper to think about the sociological influence of historic and modern mining and mineral extraction practices. A quick peek at Miller’s Instagram reveals ultra-detailed compositions that remind me of the Joshua tree’s spiky leaf growth. LC
(The Vestibule, Ballard, free, Friday-Saturday)