Alexandra King & Michael Beach Workshop Tour June 9th - 24th Don't miss this rare opportunity to host these Legends of American Belly Dance, renowned percussionist Michael Beach and award-winning belly dancer, Alexandra King! Alexandra King is one of the foremost Middle Eastern Dance artists, instructors, choreographers and producers of Middle Eastern Dance productions and videos in Santa Barbara, the California central coast and the United States. Her services include belly dance classes on campus at UCSB from the beginning to intermediate levels; a professional level performance dance company; instructional and performance videos and dance supplies for the beginning level dancer and dance events and productions. She is the producer of the prestigious Middle Eastern Dance festival, Moon Over Morocco, which brings some of the best belly dancers and Middle Eastern dancers to the Central coast for a weekend of performances and workshops and which is held every two years in the beautiful coastal city of Santa Barbara, CA. She is the founder and director of Santa Barbara most prestigious and only professional Middle Eastern Dance company, Seher, which is the also the UCSB Mid-East Dance Ensemble. And, she is the producer of one of the most popular beginning level instructional video series’ on the market. Accomplishments: In 1985 she produced the popular performance video "A Very Special Evening at the Plaka," featuring herself and both of her teachers, Diana Ferrari and Jenaeni Rathor. In 1986 she produced the four-part instructional / performance video series "The Ancient Art of Oriental Belly" Dancing," which gives instruction in the basics of the dance; hundreds of thousands of these tapes have been sold throughout the United States and Canada. In 1986 she was the featured cover story in Habibi Magazine (Vol. 9, No. 6), the premiere periodical of Middle Eastern Dance and Culture (www.habibimagazine.com). In 1988 she placed first in the Walnut Creek Belly Dancer of the Year Pageant. During 1989 and 1990 Alexandra wrote, choreographed and produced the first full-length Middle Eastern folk ballet titled "Seraglio." She then toured with the show in California and Utah. Later in 1990 she joined Dr. Scott Marcus in forming the first and largest university-based Middle Eastern Ensemble at the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB), in which she is currently the dance director and principal choreographer. In 1998 Alexandra was nominated Best Instructor by the International Academy of Middle Eastern Dance (IAMED), and in 1999 she won IAMED's award for Best Cabaret Dancer. Michael Beach: vocalist, multi-ethnic drummer/percussionist and founder [1975] of Brothers of the Baladi. Based in Portland, Oregon, the Brothers perform both traditional and original Middle Eastern / World Music featuring vocals in seven languages [Arabic, Turkish, Armenian, Farsi, Spanish, French & English] and instruments from around the world. Just Do What's Right CD Release Tour 2008 Michael Beach's Brothers of the Baladi will bring their World Music mix to the UK in support of Just Do What's Right , a new CD that includes Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth," Neil Young's "Rockin' In The Free World" and Chris Rea's "Nothing To Fear," plus six originals and classic Arabic, Persian and Celtic favorites. Those original songs, sung in English, are rich with a positive political message - summed up by the title track "Just Do What's Right." It is a message of hope and change that fills every cut with a new fusion of ancient and contemporary grooves, led by founder/vocalist/percussionist Michael Beach. Just Do What's Right brings together political passion, great songwriting and a very special and unique musical dimension never heard before: a mosaic of vivid lyrics and melodies, it is truly "A sound that knows no borders." (LA Times) For the past thirty years, Brothers of the Baladi have reached out to cross the boundaries of culture and embrace music as true language of world peace and diplomacy. The Brothers of the Baladi were named after the Arabic word, baladi (bah-luh dee), which means country, country folk and people. The band has grown from a duo to a quintet, who tour the US, Canada and Europe and whose market has broadened to include a diverse fan base from the belly dancer to the World music radio aficionado to the college student discovering the wide range of global music for the first time. First known for their traditional Middle-Eastern music, the Brothers of the Baladi now tastefully mix traditional ethnic/acoustic instruments with Western instrumentation, vocals in seven languages and exotic rhythms. Along with Michael Beach the band's lineup includes J. Michael Kearsey (vocals, bass & riq), Geoff George (vocals, quarter-tone keyboards), Mark Giles (vocals & drum set), Daniel Eshoo (oud, saz & hurdy gurdy) and Kerry Movassagh (guitars). The band will also be bringing the best of local British bellydancers to these shows! "The Brothers of the Baladi have been successful because they express their American selves through the music of another culture. You can hear it in the beat, in the phrasing: this is not alien....the longtime Portland group's role as messenger from another world has remained remarkably consistent." (The Oregonian). www.alexandraking.com • www.baladi.com • click here to contact Click on the poster below for a printable handbill/postcard ____________________________ To hear the new album "Just Do What's Right", click here
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