Electric Vardo September 28, 2006

A night of Global Beats and Eastern Dance with DJs, Dance Performances & Live Percussion featuring:
Never-before-seen Duet
by widely loved Bay Area dancers ELIZABETH STRONG and MIRA BETZ
Original Tribal Belly Dance Performances by FAT CHANCE BELLY DANCE
Tribal Remixed Belly Dance by FRÉDÉRIQUE
A long awaited reunion of
Electric Vardo DJs founding members
DJ DRAGONFLY, DJ SEP and DJ AMAR
Live Middle Eastern percussion with SOOOZHYQ
and a special dance performance by FREYJA

9pm - 2am (performances start early and DJ sets go late)
in the DARK ROOM at CLUB SIX
60 Sixth Street in San francisco

$6 advance
$8 at the door

21+

ELIZABETH STRONG
Elizabeth Strong grew up in a tradition of dance and music. As a young girl she was inspired by the music and dancing of the Middle East and Eastern Europe. A life-long dancer, Elizabeth formally began performing Middle Eastern dance in 1996. Her love for Middle Eastern dance has compelled her to seek the source in North Africa, Eastern Europe and Turkey, and she travels internationally whenever she can. Elizabeth currently makes her living performing and teaching dance throughout the United States. Her current passion includes working with professionals from multiple disciplines to create pieces that are heart-felt and uniquely styled.

MIRA BETZ
Mira Betz began her training in Middle Eastern dance in her early teens. As a founding member, choreographer, and solo performer of Aywah! Ethnic Dance Company for 10 years, she developed a solid foundation of contemporary, traditional, and ritualistic dance forms. She is currently in collaboration with the talented Elizabeth Strong, and a guest choreographer for Jill Parker and Ultra Gypsy, together launching the "Barbary Coast Shakedown" a touring seminar. Mira has performed at the Hollywood Bowl, The Fillmore in SF, The Knitting Factory in NYC and many other prestigious venues. Her dance background includes training in Salsa, Modern, Jazz, and Flamenco.

FAT CHANCE BELLY DANCE
Since the creation of FatChanceBellyDance by Carolena Nericcio in1987, the troupe has fascinated audiences worldwide with their original improvisational technique called American Tribal Style bellydance. Through their participation in dance festivals, collaborative productions with other artists, and benefit shows for community events, as well as private performances, FCBD has established a strong professional reputation in and out of the Bay Area.

FREDERIQUE (Electric Vardo, Belly Groove)
Frederique began studying American Tribal Style belly dance in February of 1997 with Jill Parker of Ultra Gypsy. After performing as a core member of Ultra Gypsy for almost 3 years, she founded Romani Urban Tribal Belly Dance in 2000. Romani pioneered and popularized the underground electronic Middle-Eastern / Indian flavored music used by most tribal belly dancers today. In December of 2003, Frederique formed the dance collaborative ‘Belly Groove’, while regularly performing and teaching workshops around the US. She is known for her unique style and innovation as well as and her music editing and mixing skills. She has performed for Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, Salma Hayek, Edward Norton, and the Mayor of San Francisco.

DJ SEP (Electric Vardo, Dub Mission)
DJ Sep is the founder of Dub Mission, the long-running Sunday night Dub & Roots party at the Elbo Room, and co-founder of Electric Vardo. Her current radio program, "Off The Beaten Path," an eclectic mix of many forms of electronic music, airs on Monday nights on KPFA. She has been nominated for an SF Weekly Music Award in the best DJ category, and has spun at venues and clubs throughout the Bay Area, as well as in London, New York, Los Angeles, and Miami. With her eclectic world/electronic sets, DJ Sep has opened for a wide array of artists including The Wailers, Les Nubians, Rachid Taha, AfroCelt Sound System, Transglobal Underground, Angelique Kidjo, The Cinematic Orchestra, Kruder & Dorfmeister, Nortec Collective, and more.

DJ AMAR (Electric Vardo, Dhamaal, Nonstop Bhangra)
DJ Amar’s musical selections lead dancefloors into a hypnotic sway, mixing sounds from the Middle East and Africa with rhythms of the Asian underground and electric gypsy vibes. As a DJ and promoter he has collaborated and shared the bill with some of the Bay Area's & world's most innovative Musicians, DJs and dance troupes including Janaka Selekta, Cheb i Sabbah, Ultra Gypsy, Urban Tribal, Dhol Rhythms, Nitin Sawhney, Lorin, Midival Punditz, Beats Without Borders, State of Bengal and Karsh Kale. Amar regularly performs at SFs hottest venues including Club Six, DNA Lounge and Mighty with Dhamaal, Nonstop Bhangra, Triple Power & the Groove Garden, plus other ongoing and special events & festivals in CA, Oregon and Hawaii.

DJ DRAGONFLY (Electric Vardo, Groove Garden)
DJ Dragonfly is the creator of numerous gatherings from Sonoma to Santa Cruz, including his monthly dance-tribal gathering, the Groove Garden. He has hosted and performed with all from emerging local to globally renowned artists. His events consistently reflect a personal mission statement of offering dance as a celebration of self, spirit and community. Fusing that concept to the masses is his self-defined genre of “Gaiatronic Grooves”, a signature mix combining funky breaks and tribal house with a decidedly global influence of sounds from India to Africa by way of multiple sonic sources including electronic percussion and didgeridoo. His dancefloor adventures are quite possibly the outgrowth of the hedonistic “ lost years” where he squandered his youth, money and mind while aimlessly globetrotting through some 37 countries.

Official Website: http://www.electricvardo.com