Women’s History Is Center Stage at L’Enfant Gallery
By • March 11, 2026 0 359
On Saturday, March 7, four feminine silhouettes sat in antique chairs in a candlelit room of American artworks. The artists spoke with powerful conviction on the historical dynamics that influenced and still impact modern Black femme performers.
Hosted by Georgetown’s L’Enfant Gallery, Bebe Bardeaux, GiGi Holliday, Hannah Lane and Kassidy Luvit shared their experiences with and explorations of the legacy of “shake dancers.” “Shake dancer” is a historical term given to Black jazz dancers and burlesque performers from the late 19th century up through the 1960s.
Mezzo-soprano Chrystal E. Williams and pianist Natalia Kazaryan, playing L’Enfant Gallery’s new baby grand piano, performed songs by Berlioz, Ravel, Viardot and the Boulanger sisters on March 6. Photo by Adam Green.
Bebe Bardeaux spoke about her forthcoming book “Shake Queens,” an examination of the history of shake dancing from its origins in Africa to its arrival on American stages during a time when segregation ruled. Through sharp and insightful questions, Bardeaux led the panel to explain how shake dancing lives on through present-day performers and historians.
The guests, who packed the gallery’s intimate salon, listened and laughed aloud to an animated first-half discussion touching on race, ancestral roots, the shame and stigma surrounding strip clubs of the past and the empowered, freeing choice to perform for yourself with others watching.
Fifty people whooped and hollered in appreciation for the internationally acclaimed GiGi Holliday, visiting her hometown of D.C. from New York City, where she now lives. Her infectious personality and deep knowledge of her artform came over in waves, as she said of go-go dancing, which has a rich history in D.C.: “Go-go ain’t nothing but shake dancing!”
L’Enfant Gallery’s 2025 exhibition “Wall of Women: Art as Resistance,” an homage to a famous Guerrilla Girls poster. Photo by Oleks Yaroshynskyi.
The warm, relaxed and laughter-filled discussion featured live jazz led by saxophonist and Duke Ellington School of the Arts alumnus Herb Scott, a D.C. native who has performed with trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and pianist Herbie Hancock. Colin Chambers was on piano.
Second-half burlesque performances were by Bardeaux, Luvit and Ganja Kitty.
After the show, the performers and guests enjoyed a signature L’Enfant Gallery “Dinner in the Window,” dining on Southern comfort food from Puddin’ by local female chef Toyin Alli.
On Friday, March 6, L’Enfant Gallery hosted Counterpoint Concerts for an evening of music shaped by “composers who defied convention, faced adversity and stayed true to their artistic voices.”
“Each piece is a testament to resilience and artistic conviction, wrapped in the beauty of the French song,” explained Dr. Natalia Kazaryan, founder of Counterpoint Concerts and assistant professor of piano at Howard University.
Dedicated to preserving the timeless masterpieces of classical music, Counterpoint Concerts presents them in fresh and dynamic ways, venturing into uncharted musical territories and showcasing the brilliance of contemporary talents. The organization also aims to rediscover hidden gems from composers of the past.
L’Enfant Gallery’s new collection of American paintings includes the pastel “Head of Mme Albert D’Arleux,” c. 1906, by Mary Cassatt. Photo by Kristian Whipple.
The March 6 performance starred Grammy-winning mezzo-soprano Chrystal E. Williams, praised by Opera News as “fiery and gorgeous.” She has current and upcoming engagements with LA Opera, English National Opera and Chicago Opera Theater, among other major companies and orchestras.
Williams was accompanied by Brazilian composer and accordionist Felipe Hostins and Kazaryan, who has been praised by the New York Sun for her “prodigious ability,” creating “an atmosphere of strength and confidence” at her performances. A passionate advocate for innovative programming in classical music, Kazaryan is dedicated to giving equal prominence to historically overlooked composers.
L’Enfant Gallery is looking forward to hosting more local performing artists. “We are opening up our gallery space to a wider interpretation of art, so my collection can be a backdrop to other artists’ creations, music and performance,” said owner Peter Colasante. “All are welcome.”
Last weekend’s curated, celebratory evenings reflect L’Enfant Gallery’s commitment to promoting local creative talent and amplifying gestures of equality. It builds on the gallery’s 2025 exhibition for International Women’s Day titled “The Wall of Women,” which hung together female portraits from the gallery’s permanent collection. Depicting many women — mostly naked, mostly white, mostly painted by men — the wall became a powerful statement on the underrepresentation of women and diversity in the art world.
Housed in a three-story mansion on the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and P Street, L’Enfant Gallery, established in 1973, has become a Georgetown institution. New management and a renovation have brought a fresh perspective to Colasante’s historic collection.
“The new team has brought a new life and new ideas,” he said. “It is now a dynamic space for music and performance, as well as for art and storytelling.”
The audience at “Shake Dancing: Performance as Living Legacy,” presented by L’Enfant Gallery on March 7. Photo by Mariah Miranda.
The gallery recently acquired a significant collection of American paintings previously owned by a former Smithsonian Regent. Highlighting the breadth of American Impressionism, it includes work by key female artists of the period. The recent performances played out in front of a backdrop of works by artists such as Mary Cassatt, Martha Walter and Harriet Randall Lumis.
Cassatt’s work is the focus of the National Gallery of Art’s current exhibition, “An American in Paris.” On Saturday, March 28, art historian and licensed professional tour guide Tosca Ruggieri will lead “Her Brush, Her Story,” a small, in-person tour honoring the extraordinary women who shaped the history of art, notably Cassatt. More information is available at artwithtosca.com.
L’Enfant Gallery
1442 Wisconsin Ave. NW
Wednesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
