On July 11, 2015, the Diplomats of Dance Society arranged a private, docent-led tour of the National Portrait Gallery's new exhibition "Eye Pop: The Celebrity Gaze", which features among its familiar faces DC's very own mainstay choreographer Dana Tai Soon Burgess (in a portrait by CYJO).
Lucky RSVP-ers to the very intimate occasion enjoyed a full précis of the famous faces on display, which included Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama, Brad Pitt and - across from Dana's portrait - Britney Spears and Peter Dinklage. The unique approach that the Smithsonian museum has taken with this special exhibit (on view through July 10, 2016) is evident, and the selected works are diverse in subject as well as medium. From the Smithsonian:
"This exhibition features 53 portraits of luminaries who have been at the top of their fields. See them in drawings, paintings, video portraits, photographs, sculpture, and prints. Many of these works of art have never been publicly displayed and all recent additions to the museum's collection. Taken together, these portraits allow us to question celebrity and peel back its layers."After the tour, attendees enjoyed refreshments in the Portrait Gallery's beautiful Kogod Courtyard, and Dana chatted with everyone about his upcoming Kennedy Center show in September, which will include a new dance work that is a result of a collaboration with NASA!
