Electric Vardo Feb. 2012 Newsletter

2 new albums released by G.S. Sachdev – Available on CD or Download                 Website and Graphic Design by Calamity Sam 
Calamity Sam‘s New Necklaces – Coming soon on Etsy (Check her Etsy Page on Monday)

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Sat. Feb.11 NON STOP BHANGRA
*New Location: Public Works SF, 2nd Saturdays*
East Coast Bhangra lands in SF with Basement Bhangra’s DJ Rekha,
joining NSB for the First Time Ever!
Plus the usual crew with special guests. Amar on visuals.

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Sunday Feb. 19 DUB MISSION
- Sundays at Elbo Room, SF -
presents Zion Train featuring Neil Perch with Rocker T plus DJ Sep

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March 29 ZULU LOUNGE LA
*New Location: King King, Hollywood
Featuring MARDI LOVE, DJ Amar, LA’s favorite dancers & more.

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April 11 JET SET
Luka’s Taproom & Lounge, Oakland
Guest DJ Amar & resident DJ Santero

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May 5 G.S. SACHDEV
Concert at Palace of Fine Arts, SF
Classical Indian ragas with Bansuri Maestro G.S. Sachdev,
joined by Tabla Virtuoso Swapan Chaudhuri.
Don’t miss this opportunity to see these two masters in one of the Bay Area’s Premiere venues.
Presented by CIIS – Tickets on sale now. Book early for best seating.
*2 New Albums by G.S. Sachdev available on CD. Click HERE to order.

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May 18-19 Cosmik Casbah TRIBAL FEST AFTER-PARTY
2 nights at The Hopmonk Tavern, Sebastopol, CA
Featuring
Beatbox Guitar wth Pete List (Djinn) from Brooklyn, NY
Cheb i Sabbah (1002 Nights, Six Degrees)
DJ Sep (dub mission)
Dulce Vita (Opulent Temple)
DJ Amar (Electric Vardo, Surya Dub)
The Mata Hari Hustle
& a Top Notch selection of performances each night with Surprise Guests.
Full lineup and Tickets at cosmikcasbah.wordpress.com

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Summer so far:

June 1-3
Cairo Caravan, aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA.
Amar teaches “Mastering Your Mix” – Music Mixing workshop for dancers
and DJs at the Saturday night Gala show.

June 29-July 1
DANCE FROM WITHIN
Yoga and Belly Dance Retreat in the Santa Cruz Mountains with
Amy Sigil, Kami Liddle, Ashley Lopez, DJ Amar.
Amar teaches “Mastering Your Mix”  workshop
and DJs Saturday night.

July 27-29
FUSION FEST
Boise, ID
One of my Favorite Fusion Belly Dance festivals in the world, in the lil town of Boise, Idaho.
Friday Night show, Saturday Competition, Show + Afterparty with DJ Amar, Workshops all weekend.
Lineups, Workshop Instructors and details will be announced in the springtime.

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That’s all for now!

Thank you for your support – Amar.

DJ Amar and Calamity Sam bring Electric Vardo to EUROPE!

Calamity Sam and DJ Amar are embarking on what we might call the Surprise 2nd leg of their 2011 European tour, thanks to Nuria Gallego for inviting us to VLC Tribal Fest, to Tjarda and Renate of the Uzume for inviting us back to Beyond Bellydance, and to Hilde Cannoodt for hosting us in Brighton, England.

We start in Valencia, Spain for VLC Tribal Fest 2 on halloween weekend.
http://www.vlc-tribalfest.es/?lang=en

After a few days vacationing in Southern Spain, we head to London en route to Brighton, where Amar and Sam will both teach workshops and partake in a show hosted by Hilde and featuring Top Shelf Jazz.
http://www.hildebellydance.co.uk/about/samandamar.shtml

We close the trip in Utrecht, Den Haag (the Hague) and Amsterdam for a return to Beyond Bellydance IV.
http://www.tjarda.nu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21&Itemid=8

Calamity Sam will be Teaching 2 workshops and performing at VLC Tribal Fest (Oct 28-Nov 1), in Brighton (Nov 11-12) and at Beyond Bellydance (Nov 16-20).

Amar will be DJing at VLC Tribal Fest on Halloween with performances by Olivia Kissel and Calamity Sam. He will be teaching his Mastering Your Mix workshop and DJing in Brighton and at Beyond Bellydance.

VALENCIA (Spain)
VLC Tribal Fest
Oct 28-Nov 1

http://www.vlc-tribalfest.es/?lang=en

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=255160391173126&ref=ts

BRIGHTON (UK)
Nov 11-12
http://www.hildebellydance.co.uk/about/samandamar.shtml

Top Shelf Jazz and DJ Amar – Nov 11
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=218988061487730

Calamity Sam and DJ Amar workshops – Nov 12
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=240778745963168

AMSTERDAM, UTRECHT, DEN HAAG (Netherlands)
Beyond Bellydance IV
Nov 16-20

http://www.tjarda.nu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21&Itemid=8

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=135270036556949

Visit Amar and Sam’s facebook pages for updates on workshops and shows.

Calamity Sam
http://www.facebook.com/TheCalamitySam

DJ Amar
http://www.facebook.com/solunamar

Electric Vardo Show June 18 at Club Six – Workshops June 19 in Oakland with Sherri & Amar

Electric Vardo presents

SHERRI aka CHERCHEZ LA FEMME

for a special night and a weekend of workshops.

SHOW: Friday June 18 at Club Six ( in the Dark Room) in SF.

Doors 9pm.

DJ sets by SURYA DUB DJS
AMAR & RIPLEY

Dance Performances by

ARIELLAH & Deshret Dance Company

SHERRI aka Cherchez La Femme

FREYJA

AUBERON

Calamity Sam

Mitara

blackhoodygrrl

Full details tba

SPECIAL WORKSHOP + SHOW PACKAGE – $75
includes the following ($20 savings – Free show entry and Free mix CD)

Oakland workshop with Sherri
Oakland Workshop with Amar
Show entrance
Mix CD by DJ Amar

Individual ticket prices:

Oakland 3 hour workshop with Sherri – $45
Oakland 2 hour Workshop with Amar – $30
Show entrance – $10 advance / $15 door)
Mix CD by DJ Amar – $10

Workshops:

Saturday JUNE 19 in OAKLAND

DJ Amar - Mastering Your Mix
(music mixing workshop for dancers)
10am-12pm

Learn how to make an impressive sounding mix for your next performance using industry standard state of the art software that you can download free. With a few simple steps you can adjust bass, midrange and treble frequencies; cross-fade one track into the next or edit a track down to just the portions you need; adjust the volume on one song if it is noticeably lower or higher than another; add layers using beats and ambient melodies from other songs. This workshop will give an overview of key features and shortcuts to get yourself started, show you how to edit a track, use the fade in and out feature, add a second track, and make a mix using 3 songs with one piece of music overlayed on another so you can learn how to mix a continuous set with smooth transitions for your performances.

Sherri Wheatley – Combos and Transitions
1pm-4pm

Combos and Transitions: Learn interesting new combinations that really emphasize the “fusion” in tribal fusion bellydance. Develop techniques to make your combinations and choreography less predictable by utilizing different planes of space and exploring varied staging options. Strong emphasis is also placed on creating interesting transitions between combinations to make choreography more varied. Mini “workshop within the workshop” will consist of several exercises that will help dancers connect to their inner muses and learn effective techniques to generate new choreography. Workshop will conclude with a choreography composed of the various combinations and transitions we will learn in class.

Workshops, Hosted by ARIELLAH, will be held at Ariellah’s studio in Oakland.

Electric Vardo – A mystical journey into far out eastern gypsy culture

Electric Vardo began in March 2005, exploring eastern gypsy culture through music, dance, visual & culinary art. The collective includes partners DJ Sep, Ultra Gypsy, DJ Dragonfly, Frederique, Freyja, Sooozhyq and DJ Amar. Electric Vardo extended family members include Dhamaal, Sila & the Afrofunk Experience, Tabla Rasa, Rena Jones, Boom Boom Bollywood, Dhol Rhythms, Triple Power, Lumin, Kitundu, Soulsalaam, Cheb i Sabbah, Sub Swara, Atash Maya, SooozhyQ, Beats without Borders, the Nekyia, Clandestine… and the list goes on.

On June 30th 2006 we hosted “Midsummernight Breaks” – a smashing reunion of the original Dhamaal DJs (Janaka Selekta, Maneesh the Twister, Dhruva) combined with a live set by Sub Swara (Dhruva, Sunder, Haj), joined by Kush Arora with Bellydance performances by Frederique & Haven, and an opening set with Amar. We’ll be planning another one this year.

In April 06 we had a special night at Club Six feauring DJ SEP & CHEB i SABBAH & AMAR with FREDERIQUE &,Special guest HAVEN, & a unique performance by AMAR+ FREDERIQUE+SOOOZHYQ, the closing night of Dhamaal’s 3rd annual Sights & Sounds festival.

Our first monthly event:
11.March.05 – ELECTRIC VARDO
DAS COLLECTIVE = DJ Dragonfly (gatheringforgood.com) + DJ Sep(KPFA/Dub Mission) + DJ Amar (Bansuri.net) bring you an unique Global experience featuring Live Music, DJs, Dance, Visual Art and Culinary Delights. The focus of this opening night will be on the East: South Asia and Beyond, enticing the crowd with infusions of Ragas from the streets of Calcutta complemented by the spicy flavors of Bengal, moving into rhythmic motion with Bhangra dancers, Live Percussion and DJs spinning Tribal Breaks, Exotic House, Global Chill, Middle Eastern Drum & Bass, and rhythms & melodies from the far off saffron scented lands.
Artists for the night included: the DAS Collective (DJs Dragonfly-Amar-Sep), Live Asian percussion ensemble TABLA RASA, Live middle eastern drum & bass masters LUMIN, Guest DJs SOULSALAAM, JIMMY LOVE and members of the DHAMAAL Collective, Dance performance with DHOL RHYTHMS Bhangra Dance Troupe and FREDERIQUE of Belly Groove, plus a special evening Dinner Lounge with live performances by KITUNDU + SUKHADIA on Phonoharp and tabla, and TEED ROCKWELL performing Hindustani Ragas on Chapman Stick. Visuals by DAS Collective Residents, Art installations by JIMMY LOVE, Guest Chef AMAR, and in house Chef STERLING with Liquid Diva SALIE behind the bar.

Details of upcoming shows will be posted on new website: www.electricvardo.com