Behind the Lens: Meet some of D.C.’s leading style professionals.

Clay Blackmore, Jodi King, Tim Coburn, Len Depas, Abby Greenawalt, Joseph Allen, Gary Landsman. Photo by Jeffrey Medford on location at Contemporaria.

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Discover some of D.C.’s hottest performers.

Washington Ballet Artistic Director Septime Webre. (Photo by Tim Coburn.)

Who says a recession has to dictate our dance as well as our dollars? As the Washington Ballet launches its 2009-2010 season titled “Connect,” the word of the day is extravagance. This winter, the company’s artistic director, Septime Webre, will be re-connecting Washingtonians to the splendor and frivolity of the Roaring Twenties with his premiere of “The Great Gatsby,” based on the great American novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Fringe, flappers, fouettés en tournants, and a roaring score by Billy Novick, what’s not to love?

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Washington is a city about secrets. Everyone has one. Well, we are letting one of them out of the bag – We are the District of Creativity

By Michael Clements

iStrategyLabs' Peter Corbett in Dupont Circle. (Photo by Anchyi Wei)

Washington secrets aren’t just hidden in the delete boxes of Hill staffers. They are right in front of you each day: the artist whose opening you passed while heading to dinner; the interior designer who selected the oh-so- hip light glowing above the table; the cast of the performance you have tickets for tonight; the writer of the review that got you to buy the tickets in the first place; and the event planner who is putting together the party after the show.

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Meet some of the DMV’s leading music pros and get an inside look at a historic photo shoot featuring the area’s rising Hip Hop players.

Historic DMV Hip Hop photoshoot at the Lincoln Theater on U Street. Photo by Anchyi Wei.

HISTORICAL HOP: The best and brightest hip-hop players in the DMV (that’s the District, Maryland, and Virginia for the uninitiated) gathered outside the legendary Lincoln Theatre recently to spread the gospel of Washington’s hip-hop artists and producers. Local up-and-comers are making national waves (did you catch Wale on MTV’s VMAs this fall?) and putting the spotlight on what many consider to be a hip-hop renaissance in the nation’s capital. The photo shoot was organized by local producer Judah, who has been involved in the DMV hip hop scene’s renaissance.  Some noteworthy names to remember: Phil Ade, Tabi Boney, Raheem Devaughn, Don Juan, Lyriciss, RAtheMC, Kingpin Slim, Wale,and X.O. (Photo by Anchyi Wei)

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Introducing D.C.’s 24 hour party people. They promise to breathe the life and soul into any event.

David Stark at the Meridian ball (Photo by Tony Powell)

MASTER EVENT PLANNER: DAVID STARK was recruited to design this year’s Meridian ball by his friend, Democratic fundraiser and hostess Beth Dozoretz. Whether he’s turning discarded film reels into centerpieces for the Film Society of Lincoln Center or collecting logs in maine to accent an elegant wedding, he will always end up doing the unexpected. In the ball’s afterglow, Gwen Moore Holliday interviewed the New York designer.

How does Washington compare to other cities where you hav worked? Washingtonians really push me to break new ground creativity. I always walk away from a party here feeling that we have done some of our best work, and I thank our clients and friends for pushing us to do that.

What cultures have influenced you? I love to travel and find just about any place interesting. Drop me in Bayonne, New Jersey, and I will find something cool! Our new collection of holiday decorating items for West Elm was initially inspired by a trip to the Dominican Republic.

What adjustments have people made due to the recent economic challenges? We focus on coming up with interesting new ideas that are all about ingenuity and less about the cash register ringing. People should walk into a party and say, “Wow!” They should not be thinking at all about the cost. The value of a good idea is priceless!

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Never underestimate the power of the pen: Meet some of Washington’s leading creative writers.

Novelist Katherine Neville (Photograph by Joseph Allen)

Katherine Nevelle’s The Fire is a long-awaited sequel to The Eight, her best-selling 1988 mystery novel about a centuries-long quest for a mystical chess set once owned by Charlemagne.

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All with an eye for the unusual: introducing a cadre of influential metro area visual artists.

Maggie Michael and husband Dan Steinhilber (Photograph by Joseph Allen)

Maggie Michael (whose work has been described as “sculptural painting”), and her husband Dan Steinhilber (who they say creates “painterly sculpture”) are the current glamdarlings of the Washington art scene. Michael is a recipient of the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors Grant and an Artist Fellowship from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. She was a resident artist in the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden’s Artist at Work program in 2006-07. During 2008, Michael was awarded an Artist Research Fellowship at the Smithsonian and received the Trawick Prize from the Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards. Both artists have shown at G Fine Art. Steinhilber’s show there, received excellent reviews.

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Go Ahead, Google Them.  Meet some of the D.C.’s leading New Media professionals.

Peter Corbett (Photo by Anchyi Wei)

DUPONT VALLEY: Meet Peter Corbett (@corbett3000) founder of iStrategyLabs (ISL) . “Follow” him and you’ll find he is known for co-creating D.C.’s Apps for Democracy and co-founding Government 2.0 Club, Government 2.0 Camp, and Transparency Camp. Recently NASDAQ OMX hired ISL to launch its first global social media marketing campaign and the Army tapped them to create a contest encouraging military technologists to build new web and mobile apps. Somehow he still finds time to Tweet like 20 times a day.

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Artistry with an Edge: Meet some of the capital’s most inventive food and wine experts.

Raise a glass (and a chair) to Ashok Bajaj (seated), who "feeds the in-crowd" at seven of Washington's top restaurants. Left to right: executive chefs Adam Longworth (701 Restaurant), Tony Conte (The Oval Room), Nilesh Singhvi (The Bombay Club), Vikram Sunderam (Rasika) Nicholas Stefanelli (Bibiana), and Alex McWilliams (Ardeo and Bardeo) (Photo by James R. Brantley).

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Designs for Living Well.  Meet some of the D.C.’s leading interior design professionals.

Ernesto Santalla, (Photo by Joseph Allen).

Cuban-born architect, interior designer, photographer, and man-about-town Ernesto Santalla is the owner of Studio Santalla in Georgetown. He is known for his clean, modern, and ec0-conscious designs as well as his keen ability to bring the personality of his clients into his work. Recently, he put his stamp on this year’s CharityWorks GreenHouse when he designed its spa retreat using all sustainable resources. LEED accredited, Santalla designs with the intent of minimizing use of virgin resources while still building beautiful spaces. His recent projects are in and around Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and Southern France.

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Smile for the Cameras. Meet some of the metro region’s leading film, television, and video professionals.

Abby Greensfelder and Sean Gallagher. (Photo by Anchyi Wei)

AMERICAN GOTHIC REALITY: Meet the co-owners and executive producers of the Bethesda-based Half Yard Productions: Abby Greensfelder and Sean Gallagher. Before they headed out on their own, the two ex-Discovery Channelers were some of the brains behind “Deadliest Catch,” “Dirty Jobs,” and “Miami Ink” (TLC), to name only a few of their projects. “We felt like the time was right to be on the other side of the table,” Gallagher says. Why are they relevant? Half Yard was tapped by Bravo to bring “The Real Housewives of D.C.” to life. We like to think politicians have all the control in Washington, but in reality TV, the editors and producers have ultimate authority. Currently, no production team has more power to mold the image of both housewives and our city than Abby and Sean. That is the reality of today’s American Gothic.

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