Arts & Events: Nightlife - Washington City Paper

The Money Shot
Onstage, sex workers exploit you.

Show & Tell By Amanda Hess

Twenty-six-year-old Lorelei Lee, a perky, platinum-haired coed with a kinky white scar etched into her upper thigh, calls herself an artist. Lee deals in “bodily performance,” and you can catch her work in such video art pieces as Belladonna’s Fucking Girls 4 and Tristan Taormino’s Expert Guide to Anal Sex. “Tristan’s is educational,” Lee explains. “Fucking Girls 4 was just fucking.”

When Lee isn’t fucking, she focuses on her other art: short fiction and poetry, which she studies at a San Francisco university, the name of which she doesn’t want published. For the past three weeks, she has read her work across the country as part of the Sex Workers’ Art Show, a traveling pastiche of cabaret, spoken word, and performance art put on by prostitutes, porn stars, burlesque dancers, and drag queens.

“I don’t want to say that all porn is art,” says Lee, who lifts her stage name from the Marilyn Monroe character in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. “But porn can most certainly be artistic.”

According to the literature, the Sex Workers’ Art Show intends to “dispel the myth that [sex workers] are anything short of artists, innovators, and geniuses!” But having sex for money isn’t always so inspired. “Sometimes, I feel like I’m on a factory line,” Lee admits before the Feb. 7 show at the Rock and Roll Hotel. “Sometimes I feel like I’m just making hamburgers.”... Continued

The Dark Nights
Inside L Street's dueling goth parties
Show & Tell By Amanda Hess
Pack Your Bars
Drinking and standing becomes easier
Show & Tell By Amanda Hess
Totally Unradical
Critics are convinced that M.I.A. is a politicized MC. But that's not really what she's selling.
Music Review By Brent Burton
Super Bowl Is Gay
U Street bar goes both ways.
Cheap Seats By Dave McKenna
Pulled Punch
In Virginia, you can't have sangria the way it was meant to be.
Show & Tell By Jessica Gould
Retain Calm
In the wake of a violent year, clubowners are turning to security consultants for advice.
Show & Tell By Jessica Gould
Clothes Call
A tiff between a clubowner and an alcohol investigator was as much sartorial as procedural.
Show & Tell By Jessica Gould
A Royalty Pain
A Rockville restaurant gets a crash course in the business of music licensing.
Show & Tell By Jessica Gould

DJs and Nightclubs Picks

Event Calendar: This Week in DJs and Nightclubs

Fri. Nov. 20, 2009 - Thu. Nov. 26, 2009

AROMA
Saturdays, "Eclectic Relaxation": DJ Oso-Fresh.
AROMA, 3417 Connecticut Ave. NW. (202) 244-7995.
BLACK CAT
Fri., 11/20, CLOSE TO THE EDGE: Vintage Hip Hop and Dance Tracks w/ DJ Dredd. Sat., 11/21, PARTY LIGHTS: 60s Girl Groups, Soul, Garage, and more w/ DJs Mad Squirrel, Rob J. Tue., 11/24, COUCH NIGHT: Dante and Geoff play the newly released, newly remastered Gray Matter records, plus their favorite DC bands.
, 1811 14th St. NW. (202) 667-4490.
CAFE SAINT-EX/GATE 5 LOUNGE
Thu., 11/19, Som Records and Peroni Beer present "Brazilian Rhythms" with DJ Neville C. Fri., 11/20, DJ Provoke. Sat., 11/21, The Birdman. Tue., 11/24, Yellow Fever. Wed., 11/25, "Procedure" with Mark Williams and special guests. Jazz happy hour early with the Birdman.
CAFE SAINT-EX/GATE 5 LOUNGE, 1847 14th St. NW. (202) 265-7839.
CHIEF IKE'S COSMO LOUNGE
Fridays, DJ Bobby Bishop. Saturdays, DJ Big Apple Eddie.
CHIEF IKE'S COSMO LOUNGE, 1725 Columbia Road NW. (202) 332-2211.
CLUB BABYLON
Thu., 11/19, DJ "Simply DJ." Wed., 11/25, DJ Armaggedon.
, 3501 S Jefferson St., Falls Church, Va. (703) 820-3900.
18TH STREET LOUNGE
Tuesdays, "FunkDC Crew". Wednesdays, DJ Kelani, DJ Will Griffin, DJ Yellow Fever. Thursdays, DJ Gavin Holland, Sean Haney. Fridays, DJ Tom B, DJ Donvonte. Saturdays, DJ Will Griffin, Sean Haney. Sundays, DJ Sam "The Man" Burns, DJ Tom B.
18TH STREET LOUNGE, 1212 18th St. NW. (202) 466-3922.
FADO IRISH PUB
Fridays, DJ John Coulter.
, 808 7th St. NW. (202) 789-0066.
FUR NIGHTCLUB.
Sat., 11/21, Dubfire.
, 33 Patterson St. NE. (202) 842-3401.
HEAVEN & HELL
Thursdays, "80's Video Rewind."
HEAVEN, 2327 18th St. NW. (202) 667-4355.
LUX LOUNGE
Fridays, DJ Chris Styles, DJ Xclusive, DJ Bemba. Saturdays, DJ Trini, DJ Iran, DJ Analyze.
LUX LOUNGE, 649 New York Ave. NW. (202) 347-8100.
MODERN
Thursdays, DJ Face. Fridays, DJ Stylus Chris. Saturdays, DJ Black Ceaza.
MODERN, 3287 M St. NW. (202) 338-7027.
OZIO
Tuesdays, DJ Mario. Wednesdays, DJ St. James. Thursdays, DJ St. James, DJ London Shadows. Fridays, DJ Nader, DJ E2. Saturdays, DJ E2.
OZIO, 1813 M St. NW. (202) 822-6000.
ROCK & ROLL HOTEL
Thu., 11/19, Beat Market with DJs Doc Rok and Cold Case. Fri., 11/20, Epic Dance Party. Sat., 11/21, DJ Austin and DJ Ca$$idy.
ROCK & ROLL HOTEL, 1353 H St. NE. (202) 388-7625.
SCIENCE CLUB
Thursdays, DJ Cultcha, DJ Q & Crew (Reggae/Dub). Fridays, Jim P Collective. Saturdays, DJ Eric "ChunkyBeats" Hoopa. Mondays, Pacman & Goldman (Hip-hop/Indie) Tuesdays, Brown Rice Collective. Wednesdays, DJ v:shal kanwar.
SCIENCE CLUB, 1136 19th St. NW. (202) 775-0747.
TEMPLE LOUNGE
Fridays, DJ Tektronics. Saturdays, DJ Chizzau.
TEMPLE LOUNGE, 4001 N. Fairfax Drive, Arlington. (703)908-4999.
ULTRA BAR
Thursdays, DJ Soundwave, DJ Maskell, DJ Armageddon. Fridays, DJ Geometrix, DJ Bomba, DJ Tektronics. Saturdays, DJ Danny & Alex, DJ Tektronics, DJ Mario, DJ Saam & DJ Pedram.
ULTRA BAR, 911 F St. NW. (202) 638-4663.
VELVET LOUNGE
Fri., 11/20, DJ Naraku. Sat., 11/21, DJ Jennder (razzmatazz).
, 915 U St. NW. (202) 462-7625.
WONDERLAND BALLROOM
Thu., 11/19, DJ Bluementhol. Sat., 11/21, DJ Nitekrawler and Lunch Money. Thu., 11/26, DJ Sequoia and DJ Sess.
WONDERLAND, 1101 Kenyon St. NW. (202) 232-5263.