Bloombars

03/29/2025

It’s the 5th annual BloomBars’ partnership with the to present a day of BloomBars’ featured musicians TODAY! Hope you can join us!

02/27/2025

Join tomorrow night!! (+every 4th Friday at BloomBars) as she teaches Salsa and Bachata (Alternating months, staring with Salsa Feb. 28th and Bachata in March 28th, and so on...). Doors open at 7:30pm. Class starts at 8pm. Open dance and social starts at 9pm.

Yoii’s core focus is salsa and bachata, however her background also extends from hip hop to heels, ballroom, and all other latin dances. She loves working with individuals from diverse paths of life. Aside from teaching beginners and intermediate-level dancers, She also coach performance teams, and work with weddings, charities, and corporations. Yoii especially enjoys working with children of all ages, including those with special needs. She is the founder and choreographer of three salsa performance teams: La Femme (ladies), Son Caleño (Colombian), and Salsa Fusion. Through her teaching she tries to spread awareness of issues particularly close to her heart such as domestic violence, health, and substance abuse. She is a a native Spanish and english speaker, and can also communicate in French. In her free time, Yoii love photography, reading, and being in nature!

02/26/2025

& are excited to host Essie Chambers , an award-winning author and producer, for a book talk/reading/signing. Her bestselling debut novel, Swift River (a June Read With Jenna book club pick), was longlisted for the 2024 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize; it was a finalist for the Barnes & Noble Book of the Year and was nominated for an NAACP Image Award; it won the 2024 Barnes & Noble Discover Prize. Swift River was named a best book of 2024 by The Washington Post, NPR, The Boston Globe, and ELLE magazine, amongst others. Swift River will be for sale courtesy of our co-presenter, + feel free to bring your own copies to be signed.
 
Essie started her career as a television executive and filmmaker, and was a producer on the Oscar-shortlisted documentary “Descendant,” which was released by the Obamas’ Higher Ground production company and Netflix in 2022.
 
Essie earned her MFA in creative writing from Columbia University and has received fellowships from MacDowell, Vermont Studio Center, and Baldwin for the Arts. She lives in Brooklyn, NY.

A screening of Descendant will follow the book portion of the night!

“Powerful. . . . Funny and poignant.”—The New Yorker

“A sparkling debut about a young girl you’ll never forget. . . . [Essie] Chambers has produced a rare and rewarding thing: a fast-moving novel that you want to slow down and savor.”
—Carole V. Bell, Washington Post

“Astonishing. . . . In Swift River, Chambers illuminates how the sprawling, twisted branches of our family trees traverse both gene- alogy and time—tracing not just ancestral lineages but history writ large.” —Kali Holloway, The Nation

02/25/2025

Join us this Sunday, March 2nd, for the People’s Music Network, DC Chapter’s Monthly Song Circle!

What to bring:
*Bring a song to share, your voice, or an instrument.
*Vegan snacks to share welcome
*If you have a song in mind and can send us the lyrics by Friday 12/27, and we’ll be glad to print and bring copies.

02/22/2025

Do you believe we can change this world in a day?

Listen all the way through and you’ll know what to do. Ayanna and Free take it to a higher level at ‘s Soul Liberation on ...

02/20/2025

Africa World Now Project and BloomBars present: “Descendant” by Margaret Brown. Essie Chambers, a producer on the film, will be present for a post-screening Q & A.

Descendants of the survivors from the Clotilda celebrate their heritage and take command of their legacy, as the discovery of the remains of the last-known slave ship to arrive in the United States offers them a tangible link to their ancestors.

The film premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, where it was picked up for wider distribution by Higher Ground Productions and Netflix. It received a theatrical release on October 21, 2022.

02/09/2025

.garcia leading Tintas - A Latine Writer’s Group this afternoon at Bloom. Behold, the power of the pen!!!

02/07/2025

Join every 4th Friday at BloomBars as she teaches Salsa and Bachata (Alternating months, staring with Salsa Feb. 28th and Bachata in March 28th, and so on...). Yoii will be accompanied by one of the DMV’s newest and hottest salsa bands, Orquesta Manplesa | Doors open at 7:30pm. Class starts at 8pm. Open dance and social starts at 9pm.

Yoii’s core focus is salsa and bachata, however her background also extends from hip hop to heels, ballroom, and all other latin dances. She loves working with individuals from diverse paths of life. Aside from teaching beginners and intermediate-level dancers, She also coach performance teams, and work with weddings, charities, and corporations. Yoii especially enjoys working with children of all ages, including those with special needs. She is the founder and choreographer of three salsa performance teams: La Femme (ladies), Son Caleño (Colombian), and Salsa Fusion. Through her teaching she tries to spread awareness of issues particularly close to her heart such as domestic violence, health, and substance abuse. She is a a native Spanish and english speaker, and can also communicate in French. In her free time, Yoii love photography, reading, and being in nature!

Orquesta Manplesa is Washington, DC’s youngest salsa band, dedicated to keeping the Golden Age of Salsa alive for new generations. Founded by alumni from top conservatories, this dynamic 10-piece ensemble blends salsa and jazz with infectious rhythms and powerful vocals. With bass, percussion, piano, trombone, trumpet, and bilingual singers, they light up the dance floor like no other.

02/04/2025

We’re excited to present a special Valentine’s Day Concert featuring: Snehesh Nag (Sitar) & Hasan Imam Hamdani (Guitar). Presented by BloomBars & Multicultural Community Service (MCS), the concert promises a night of soulful and dynamic interplay of guitar and sitar as Imam and Snehesh present a unique performance bridging musical traditions from India to West Africa. There will be two 90min sets at 7pm (Doors at 6:15) and 9:15pm (Doors at 8:45) to accommodate pre/post dinner crowds. Tix on zeffy (see above QR).

Snehesh Nag is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and educator who primarily plays the sitar, exploring Hindustani classical music, and produces music incorporating other genres such as western classical and electronic music. He has performed extensively in India, the US, and Canada garnering wide acclaim, and is the recipient of multiple accolades such as the National Scholarship, Government of India and the Acharya Allauddin Khan Memorial Award. As a sitarist, he has trained with his father Pandit Sugato Nag and legend of sarod Pandit Buddhadev Dasgupta, and plays a unique blend of two gharanas (school of music), namely the Senia Shahjahanpore and
Enayatkhani gharana . As a composer and improvisor, he collaborates with a variety of musicians where he enjoys discovering and improvising based on the common musical language shared between them. Known for his soulfulness, dynamism, and versatility, Snehesh holds a master’s degree in music technology from the Georgia Institute of Technology and was an artist-in-residence at Strathmore, class of 2024.

Hasan Imam Hamdani, a Pakistani – American composer and guitar player is the driving force behind the collaborative global music ensemble, Imam Collective. In 2022, Imam Collective released its debut E.P , “Solitude,” under the Australian label ‘Worlds Within Worlds,’ exploring the richness of West African and Indian Classical Music.

dcmusicscene

01/30/2025

is coming to the Stage this Friday (2 Sets), for a night of comedy! Pedro Gonzalez is a Colombian American comedian based out of NYC. Besides touring the country as a stand up, Pedro is a staff writer on Freevee’s hit show Primo, based on the life of NY Times best seller Shea Serrano. He was a finalist on Stand Up NBC and New York Funniest, and also has the honor of being the first Latin American immigrant comedian to appear on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. DM for ticket availability.

01/29/2025

💜💜💜💜

01/28/2025

Samba Dance Party & Brazilian Cultural Experience For Kids & Families is NOW a MONTLY event! (And yes, we’re adding an extra on this month for Fat Tuesday, Feb 18th). You and your little ones will experience a taste the magical celebration of carnival in Brazil, the Caribbean Islands, and New Orleans with former (São Paulo) carnival queen Illeuma Zezeh Brazil as your guide. Costumes encourage and some will be available for use. Wear your dancing shoes! Beads, music, light show, and instruments provided!

$10 per person, suggested donation. Tickets available on EventBrite

01/26/2025

It’s not magic if it’s divine truth…

01/25/2025

Africa World Now Project and BloomBars present: “WE RISE FOR OUR LAND” by Kurt Otabenga Orderson. 

WE RISE FOR OUR LAND explores the complexities and contentions of land struggles in three countries in Southern Africa: Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland), Mozambique, and Zambia. In the film, the protagonists are women activists, rural women who work the land and mobilize for laws to be reviewed, with rural women at the center. (50 min)

Suggested Donation: $10. Proceeds support both the Africa World Now Project and BloomBars.

01/22/2025

Founded in 1977 by Pete Seeger, Charlie King, and several others pictured (in both photos!), The People’s Music Network for is a nonprofit that serves as a network of musicians, activists, songwriters, concert producers, sound engineers, and others, who use music and culture to promote progressive ideas and values. The DC chapter of PMN meets at BloomBars on the last Sunday of the month from 3-5pm.

The People’s Music Network is a diverse community of singers, artists, activists and allies that cultivates music and cultural work as catalysts for a just and peaceful world.

We use music and culture to promote progressive ideas and values. We’re committed to working with and supporting grassroots and community organizations, to explore and present the diversity of people’s culture. We learn from our communities and each other and we have fun doing it!