Countdown To Yuri’s Night 2012

Featuring 15 visual artists, 20 performers, and two bands, the out-of-this-world party returns for a fifth year to celebrate the anniversary of the first human space flight. The event honors cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin with live music, a sci-fi spoof, burlesque entertainment, an art exhibition, a lunar dance party, and more.

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,” an episodic 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. 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 online.

Rocketgirl

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 (moon bounce). 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, 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.