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For Ages 3 to 8. 123 Andrés perform bilingual songs for young audiences, who are encouraged to sing and dance along!
Over the past half century, dwarves, hobbits, magic, dragons, runes, and other staples of fantastic realms have become entrenched in popular culture, from The Lord of the Rings to the Harry Potter series. There are substantive historical inspirations behind these phenomena. Historian Justin M. Jacobs discusses the evolving conceptions of fantastic elements in Eurasian history and lays bare the truth behind what he sees as four distorted myths of fantasy in our culture in this fall series. This session focuses on old Norse runes.
Mary Todd Lincoln and Varina Banks Howell Davis experienced 19th-century political life at its highest levels. They shared similarities, as each was Southern-born, well-educated, a gifted conversationalist, and a mother of young children. Both had their fair share of critics during their husbands’ time in office, and neither woman was one to sit back quietly. Each survived her husband and sought to preserve his memory—and dealt with the numerous challenges in the war’s aftermath in her own way. Kelly Hancock of the American Civil War Museum in Richmond examines the reasons.
What do The Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Dukas, Saint-Saens’ Danse Macabre, Orff’s Carmina Burana, and Weber’s Der Freischütz have in common? All are deliciously spooky excursions into the musical supernatural, eternally popular with classical audiences eager to experience a good scare. Speaker and concert pianist Rachel Franklin leads a hair-raising tour of some of the best-loved classical music haunts, showcasing works by a coven of composers.
Thousands of years ago, Indigenous peoples in the Andes assessed their climate, geography, and ecology and realized that, to provide better support for agriculture and herding, they needed to harness water. Their solution was to build hydraulic infrastructure, such as canals, terraces, reservoirs, and dams. Archaeologist Kevin Lane reveals the story of canals on the coast and in the Central Andes and explains how these old technologies are being repurposed today to deal with the effects of climate change.
Before Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia invaded the North in 1862, it battled Union forces in the Second Manassas campaign. Civil War tour guide Marc Thompson analyzes the army’s movement from Richmond toward Manassas following the Seven Days Battles and explains how the evolving nature of the Civil War can be seen through the fielding of two kinds of Federal armies in response to the threat posed by Lee’s Confederates.
Spend an autumn day exploring the scenic 93,000-acre Agricultural Reserve in Maryland’s Montgomery County, designed as a means to preserve farmland and rural space. Melanie Choukas-Bradley, a longtime resident of the reserve, serves as guide and introduces some of her favorite places in this close-in slice of paradise at the base of Sugarloaf Mountain.
Step into the National Museum of Natural History after hours to enjoy a fun and lively sketching experience in the museum. With graphite and sketchbook in hand, study and sketch objects in the museum’s collection.
In-person Program: Go on an interactive exploration of the Natural History Museum and participate in hands-on crafts projects and games. Then roll out your sleeping bag and dream away in the darkened halls of one of the world’s most famous museums! Geared for children ages 8 to 14 years old, accompanied by an adult.
