Journey for Peace: Benefit for Gaza

featuring the Nava Dance Collective and the Middle Eastern Qadim Ensemble

Sunday, October 26, 7:00PM

Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley, 510-525-5054

$15

https://www.facebook.com/events/1487461181516825

http://www.eventbrite.com/e/journey-for-peace-benefit-for-gaza-tickets-13636205257

http://www.ashkenaz.com

http://www.eliyahusills.com/qadim

http://www.miriamdance.com

http://rebuildingalliance.org

http://www.madre.org/index/meet-madre-1/our-partners-6/palestine-midwives-for-peace–palestinian-medical-relief-society-41.html#pmrs

“A wide-ranging lineup of Bay Area-based world musicians and dancers pitch in for the cause in this fundraiser for medical and other supplies for families in Gaza. A Musical Journey for Peace (which ties in to the founding manifesto of our community center), this benefit features a traditional Persian group, the Nava Dance Collective, a Balkan all-star band, and the Middle Eastern Qadim Ensemble.

Traditional Persian music is offered for dancing by the unique trio – all Iranian-born – of Amir Abbas Etemadzadeh on the daf (frame drum); Neema Hekmat, director of Zaryab Ensemble, on santur; and Aydin Kiasat on kamancheh (the Persian violin).

A one-time-only supergroup, the Balkan Allstars, is made of musicians from an array of Balkan and Middle Eastern bands, joining together for tonight’s cause. The Allstars are an ever-growing crew of music masters including accordionists Dan Cantrell and Diana Strong, plus Calvin Lai on zurna, Middle Eastern drummer Sean Tergis, violinist Briana De Mara, tupan player Marco Peris, and others to be announced.

Qadim is a word found in both Arabic and Hebrew meaning ‘ancient’ as well as ‘that which will come.’ The San Francisco-based Qadim Ensemble’s repertoire includes Arabic, Jewish, Turkish Sufi, Hebrew-Yemenite, Armenian, Greek, Ladino, and Moroccan music, celebrating the common musical and spiritual heritage of the region’s cultures while honoring the great diversity found within them. Qadim’s most recent CD, Eastern Wind, received rave reviews worldwide, reaching #7 on Billboard’s World Music charts. The group features founder-leader Eliyahu Sills on flutes and oud, lead vocalist Rachel Valfer Sills, oud and Turkish saz player Gari Hegedus, and Bouchaib Abdelhadi (a native of Casablanca) on doumbek, violin, and oud. Abdelhadi also sings in French and Arabic.

Under the direction of master dancer Miriam Peretz, Nava Dance Collective is a group of dancers devoted to cross-cultural dialogue and artistic collaboration through traditional, sacred, and ethno-contemporary dance forms. Tonight they offer the premiere of new works from the Bustan Project. The dancers are immersed in the unique movement language developed by Peretz, a style that draws mainly on dances from the Silk Road, but is also heavily infused with contemporary aesthetics and devotional themes. The group’s name is symbolic of its mission. Nava is a word shared by the Hebrew, Farsi, and Turkish languages. In Farsi and Turkish, Nava means sound or tune. It is also the name of one the main Dastgah (musical modes) in the Persian and Turkish Classical music traditions. In the Hebrew language, Nava means pleasant, graceful, beautiful and is a common girls’ name. Also, in Hindi, Nava means young or new.

Funds raised tonight will help purchase medical, clothing, and other supplies in Gaza through the organizations Rebuilding Alliance and the medical relief unit of Madre.”