District of Columbia Arts Center
The Arts Center has a an art gallery with rotating high-quality shows by local artists, as well as a very cool black box theater, and regular and special events like avant garde poetry nights.
The Jam Cellar
Swing dancing in a 1920s marble-filled mansion that once housed the Brazilian and Hungarian Embassies. It's a really amazing thing. While the weekly event attracts a lot of read: all dedicated swing dancers from the area, there are always a couple world class instructors around to get beginners started for free. If we're going to be honest here, this is the best place in the country, and hence the world, to go swing dancingâand that's even in spite of the no A/C in the summer. BYOB!.
Meridian Hill Drum Circle
The weekly Drum Circle has been going on for nearly half a century, and is one of the coolest events in the city, with the most diverse section of drummers, acrobats, dancers, and what have you in the city. Come to hang out and enjoy the vibe, or bring your drum and join in the jam session!
Tivoli Theatre
GALA stands for Grupo de Artistas LatinoAmericanas, and their residency at the Tivoli Theatre is the jewel in the crown of revitalized Columbia Heights. The Tivoli Theatre was the grandest of D.C.'s early twentieth century movie palaces, built in ornate Italianate Renaissance style for a whopping one million dollars in 1921. Today the theatre is mixed use, with the important use being the small stage for GALA. Most of GALA's performances are in Spanish, with English surtitles, and range from classical Spanish drama to contemporary Latino theater. They also put on frequent non-dramatic performances of dance, music, etc.