A Middle East Dance and Musical adventure. Let the Genie take you across the deserts of North Africa, through Egypt, the Middle East and the Saudi Arabian Peninsula. Featuring The Caravan Band with Nazir Latouf, oud and vocals, Khader Keileh, Arabic keyboard, Susu Pampanin, Hana Safia, TerriAnne Gutierrez and Amina Goodyear on percussion. Dancing by the Aswan Dancers and the Joweh Dance Troupe.
Nazir, Khader and Susu of the Caravan Band, combine their talents to take you on a Magic Carpet ride of a real and fantasy Middle Eastern music world.
One fine day while flying on her carpet, Lazizi, a Turkish genie was caught in a sandstorm. The carpet was jostled and tossed here and there and finally fell to earth somewhere in the highlands of northern Iraq. This was to be the beginning of her adventures where she would visit many countries. She found that the music and dances of these different lands were not only diverse and different from each other, but somehow they were also uniquely similar and their styles, their costumes, their music and even their language seemed to melt into each other. She felt nomadic, a true Bint Battuta, almost like a bedouin with a tent on her back, flying from country to country on a holy pilgrimage. And she would see and experience how each dance changed ever so slightly while also maintaining a kind of sameness.
Along the way she met Shahrazade, a Persian Princess, looking for a husband and then later she met Ala Eddine, an Egyptian prince who looking for a wife. She knew she needed to grant their wishes so they could one day marry. She took them with her through the Maghreb, the Levant, the Saudi peninsula and the lands of the Pharoahs (not necessarily in that order). They flew and they travelled from country to county but could not land for long - only long enough to sing and dance - because their passports were not always accepted and they had no visas. This was a woeful dilemma.
Come to The Magic Carpet show with music by the Caravan Band and dances by The Aswan Dancers and the Joweh Dance Troupe and see how Lazizi the genie is able to grant their wishes to marry.
This is part of the 2017 San Francisco International Arts Festival, however feel free to contact aminajune@aol.com for ticket or other information.
Location: Fort Mason Center, Gallery 308, San Francisco.
Early bird tickets until March 31. https://sfiaf.org
