Teahouse of Artful Serenity

By Lavanya Ramanathan
Thursday, April 17, 2008

To call the upcoming exhibition by Shinji Turner-Yamamoto "challenging" would be an understatement.

To see it -- the way the artist would imagine, anyway -- you'll have to crouch or plain squeeze your way through the door. That's after you've shown the guard your ID and left your shoes outside.

Is all the effort worth it? For even 10 minutes in Turner-Yamamoto's delicious-smelling, meditative space -- oh, yes.

Turner-Yamamoto's show, "Three Windows: Sun, Moon, Star," is installed at the Embassy of Japan's Ippakutei Teahouse, a spare, bare structure constructed amid gardens of bamboo and stone just a few hundred feet from the Rock Creek Parkway. Built in 1960, the teahouse has never before been open to the public.

Beginning tomorrow and for the next two weeks, the teahouse, which is not actually used for tea service, will be open, just for Turner-Yamamoto's show. The Japanese-born artist fuses Eastern elements such as incense, pigments such as "Indian yellow," and meditative spaces with details from his many years in Europe and the West. The scroll in the space dividing the "sun" and "moon and star" rooms depicts a "black rainbow" the artist saw while living in Ireland.

If you go, know that it won't be easy. For starters, visitors with disabilities will not have the easiest time getting through the gardens and up into the teahouse. And you'll have to find the entrance, which is through the alley between the Japanese Embassy and the adjacent Indian Consulate, and bring a photo ID.

But at dusk, around 7:30 (the time the artist recommends a visit), it is an enchanting place, inside and out. Also suggested by the artist: Sit in the two rooms, or outside on one of the benches, and just take it all in.

Free. Open noon-5:30 p.m. Mondays-Wednesday, noon-8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, tomorrow through May 2. 2520 Massachusetts Ave. NW. (Groups of 10 or more, call ahead.) 202-238-6949.

Save the Date

[ CONCERT ] Alicia Keys The soulful "No One"-belting diva sold out Love the last time she was in town, but on her next visit, to Verizon Center, there will be a few more seats available. Keys will be on her first mega-tour, dubbed "As I Am," complete with catwalk, projections, backup dancers and -- get this -- outfits (for everyone) designed entirely by Giorgio Armani. The show, which includes Ne-Yo and Jordin Sparks, kicks off this weekend and lands in Washington on June 13 (or see it at Baltimore's First Mariner Arena on June 15). $49.50-$125. 8 p.m. Verizon Center, 601 F St. NW. 202-397-7328.

[ FILM ] International Jewish Film Festival At the end of the month, the Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia will launch this eighth annual festival at various venues, including the community center, Arlington's Rosslyn Spectrum and Cinema Arts Theatre in Fairfax. Over two weeks, films from eight nations, including Germany, Israel and the United States, will be featured. On the schedule: "Bad Faith," a comedy about an expecting couple who suddenly must deal with the fact that one of them is Jewish and the other Muslim; and "I Have Never Forgotten You: The Life and Legacy of Simon Wiesenthal," a Nicole Kidman-narrated doc about the famed "Nazi hunter" who survived a concentration camp and made it his life's work to find fugitive Nazis and bring them to trial. Each screening: $3.50-$9.50; opening and closing screenings (with receptions), $25. Various locations April 29-May 15. For schedule and details, visit http://www.jccnv.org.

The District

Today

[ CLOSING ] $5 to Downward Dog Today and tomorrow are your last days to take advantage of the third annual D.C. Yoga Week's cheap classes at more than a dozen studios, including Capitol Hill Yoga, Tranquil Space Yoga and Unity Woods Yoga Center. Participating studios offer daily $5 classes and other discounts. For details, visit http://www.dcyogaweek.com.

[ ON STAGE ] Judah Friedlander This local boy (Gaithersburg's finest) has gone Hollywood, but always manages to stay in character -- he is always wearing a trucker hat and T-shirt that looks like it might be dirty-- whether he's on "30 Rock" or on stage, self-aggrandizing. He returns to D.C. for a run that begins tonight at the Improv. $15-$17. Tonight at 8:30 p.m., Friday-Saturday at 8 and 10:30 p.m., and Sunday at 8 p.m. DC Improv, 1140 Connecticut Ave. NW. 202-296-7008.

Tomorrow

[ ON STAGE ] Aaron Karo Who is this guy and why is his show at the 9:30 club tomorrow night one of those rare, seated affairs? Karo is not one of those singer-songwriters/guys with guitars, it turns out. He is a writer/comedian whose highest point to date arrived when he was a sophomore at U-Penn. That is when he penned an e-mail to his friends describing the idiosyncratic life of a college freshman; it was circulated so widely, it eventually became a book, "Ruminations on College Life." Now just under 30 and a self-described "recovering fratboy," he's still writing his ruminations (Seinfeldian thoughts on modern life, including notes on women and their little cameras, traveling in Japan, and filing taxes if you're a comedian.) Karo performs tomorrow. $30. Doors at 9 p.m. 9:30 club, 815 V St. NW. 202-393-0930.

Saturday

[ CONCERT ] DJ Rekha Returns Get funky when the founder of New York's regular Basement Bhangra parties visits the Black Cat again to spin traditional folk rhythms from India's Punjab region, mashed up hip-hop, Bollywood hits and dancehall. So how does one who is not from the subcontinent dance to Indian music? Just remember: Pretend you're simultaneously screwing in a light bulb and turning a doorknob. Works every time. $13. 9 p.m. 1811 14th St. NW. 202-667-7960.

Maryland

Today

[ ON STAGE ] "Elephant Man" Silver Spring-based Troika Theater -- a new company staging its first work -- presents this story of a hideously disfigured young man who maintains his dignity. Troika's spin: The troupe reworks the tale into something a little more avant-garde, with non-traditional casting. $18.50; $45, tickets and dinner. 8 tonight. Various times through April 27. Jackie's Restaurant, back room, 8081 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring. Reservations, 301-445-0145.

Tomorrow

[ FILM ] "Contempt" You can see the exact moment the insecure screenwriter (Michel Piccoli) loses the love (and respect) of his blindingly beautiful bride (Brigitte Bardot) in Jean-Luc Godard's "Contempt." She watches him cower before and butter up a producer (Jack Palance), even letting him make advances toward his wife. From then on, it's all downhill for the marriage. But the real treats are the tongue-in-cheek references to Hollywood staples -- oversexed blondes and stunning, beachy locations among them. A restored print of 1963's "Contempt" is at the AFI Silver tomorrow though next Thursday. $9.75; seniors, students and AFI members, $8.50. Daily at 12:30, 2:45, 5, 7:15 and 9:30 p.m. (except on opening day, when there is no 12:30 screening). AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Rd., Silver Spring. 301-495-6720.

Northern Virginia

Today

[ FILM ] "Forgotten Ellis Island" This documentary by Boston journalist Lorie Conway looks at the massive hospital complex that treated immigrants at Ellis Island (and held the sick for long periods), an institution that sprang up in part to respond to the severe diseases that entered the United States through its new populations, and in the end, sent some people packing for reasons that included being "feebleminded." The movie, shown as part of the Planet Arlington series, is tonight at the Arlington Central Library. Free. 6:30 p.m. 1015 N. Quincy St., Arlington. 703-228-6340.

[ ON STAGE ] "The Eccentricities of a Nightingale" This play marks the first time American Century Theater has tackled Tennessee Williams, and true to form, the company chose a rare one, Williams's reworking of his own "Summer and Smoke." The play follows a would-be couple whose ideals are so different that they threaten to keep them apart. $23-$29; age 18 and younger, free with adult. Thursday-Saturday at 8 p.m., also Saturday and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Theater II, Gunston Arts Center, 2700 S. Lang St., Arlington. 703-998-4555.

[ LITERATURE ] Poetry Night Marking National Poetry Night, Olsson's bookstore is opening its floor (on Thursdays, anyway) for people to read favorite poems or originals. Perhaps a good place to practice your delivery? Free. 7 p.m. Olsson's Books in Old Town Alexandria, 106 S. Union St. 703-684-0077.