The Gypsy Caravan Dance Collective represents a community of gifted, accomplished, and dynamic tribal belly dancers who share a vision for the feminine energy and power their dance creates. The splendor of their improvisational dance style draws on artistic and cultural traditions from the Middle East, Spain, Africa, and India. The performing troupe embraces various contemporary influences for their fresh, elegant, and ever-changing vision of feminine artistry and the community aspect this style of dance revels in. The troupe honors women of all ages, sizes, and backgrounds with the diversity of its dancers and the global audiences they perform for! Under the direction of Carol Vance, with Paulette Rees-Denis, both of Gypsy Caravan Dance Company, the Caravan Dance Collective has created a unique style through dance, music, and costuming that celebrates joy, spontaneity, wisdom, beauty, and grace. http://www.gypsycaravan.us

Bug Toast
Our music is world-influenced, with flavors from Mediterranean, Celtic, middle-eastern, and eastern European cultures along with American pop and jazz --eclectic and genre-bending for sure!  We are comprised of two families playing music together, with accordion, Irish bouzouki, guitar, violin, bass, and percussion, with vocals on about half of our tunes (the rest are instrumental compositions).
http://www.myspace.com/bugtoast

Leonid Nosov will play his bayan, a type of accordian, or the harmoshka, a concertina he learned while growing up in the Ukraine. His repertoire includes Ukrainian, Russian, and Moldavian dance and music.  He trained from an early age in traditional music and dance and later performed throughout the Soviet Union. He has been teaching folk dance classes for many years, and currently coaches dance groups for children and adults.

Virtuoso fiddler Lisa Ornstein is a former member of Quebec’s premier traditional music band, La Bottine Souriante. Her blend of red-hot fiddling and impeccable tune choice has inspired a generation of Quebecois musicians and fans of French-Canadian fiddling around the world.

Guitarist Dan Compton has been active in the Pacific Northwest traditional music scene for years, and has appeared at concerts and festivals in Ireland, Canada, and the U.S. His innovative and incisive DADGAD guitar takes Quebecois music to amazing new places.

Mariano DeOrbegoso, an excellent guitarist, complements the group with the necessary harmony and counterpoint, he does it with the technical skill and sensitivity demanded by these musical styles, his playing radiates great passion and warmth within his soul and his versatility and accuracy makes him one of the best rhythm guitarist in Latin America and the USA.
http://marianodeorbegoso.us

Born in Tokyo, Japan, Toshi Onizuka traded in his college textbooks for a Spanish guitar. He left his family at the age of 20 and moved to Spain to immerse himself in that country’s music scene. Today, he calls Portland, OR his home and makes a living performing his very unique, “fusion” style of Spanish music.
www.toshionizuka.com

"Guardia Civil" Flamenco guitars celebrated in Spain are combined with oud (parent of the lute, guitar & mandolin), ney, percussion and voice for a sound that fuses popular Spanish, North African and Latino music into a moving tapestry of cultures and rhythms.  Flamenco, Arabic, Moroccan, Latin and Jazz gel to form a moving tapestry of cultures and rhythms where Corrida de Toros (Bullfight songs) PasoDobles, Cha Cha Cha's, Argentinian Tangos & Rumba's, all performed with a freshness and originality legendary of the Al-Andalus
Ensemble.
http://www.andalus.com

Masumi Timson with Fumino Ando and Noriko Dozono The koto is one of the traditional and official national musical instruments of Japan. It is a harp-like zither which is about six feet long and has thirteen strings. Masumi Timson, who holds a master's certificate in koto music from one of the most prestigious schools of traditional Japanese music in Japan, will play and sing the evocative classical music of Japan, as well as the contemporary works. Fumino Ando was born in Japan, and began to study violin at the age of four. She played with the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, and had chamber music concerts in Miami, Boston and Los Angels. She served as the assistant concertmaster in the Oklahoma City Philharmonic in the 2001~2002 season. In 2002, she joined the Oregon Symphony in Portland. Since 2003, she performs and coaches as the assistant instructor at Zephyr Music Festival in Courmayour, Italy during the summer. Noriko Dozono has performed with Masumi at the Portland Art Museum, the Oregon State Capitol, the Asian celebration in Eugene, Japanese festivals at Roseburg and Grants Pass, and at special events sponsored by the Consulate General of Japan in Portland and the Japan-America Society in Oregon. She received her certificate of koto teaching from Seiha Koto School in Japan in 1998. Noriko lives in Oak Grove, Oregon and teaches koto. www.masumi-koto.com

An award-winning fingerstyle blues guitarist and lap slide player who tours and teaches internationally, Mary Flower offers an introspective look at the diversity of American Roots music. With grace and texture Mary delivers acoustic magic.  She is one of those rare artists who manages to create a blend of the aged authentic with the freshly original.
www.maryflower.com

Mangalacharan.
Mangalacharan is the traditional invocatory item of the Odissi Repertoire, which begins with bhoomi pranam. In this dance the dancer offers obedience to the deity for an auspicious beginning.
This Mangalacharan is based on Lord Ganesh and is based on raag Bhimpalashi and taal Ektaal.

Basant Palavi
 A Pallavi is a pure dance item or nrittya in which a raga is elaborated through eye movements, body postures & intricate footwork. A Pallavi means to elaborate. This particular pallavi starts with a sloka which describes
Basant or the the Spring Season. Basant Pallavi is based on raag basant and taal ektaal.

Kalabharathi School of Dance
The type of dance that is being performed is called bharathanatyam, a 2000yr old rich and traditional dance style of South India. It  is one of the five major classical dance styles of India.
BHA-is for bhava or expression
RA-is for ragam or melody
THA- is for tala or rhythm
Bharathanatyam is the embodiment of music in its visual form, a ceremony, an act of devotion.  The movements of the dancer resemble the movements of a dancing flame.  Performances will include the junior and senior dancers of the Kalabharathi School of Dance. Here both the story telling and the pure dance aspects of this form of dancing will be performed.

Nuestro Canto (Nelda Reyes from Mexico and Gerardo Calderon from Mexicois) is a touring duet that embodies traditional and contemporary music from a wide variety of countries such as Mexico, Cuba, Argentina, Brazil,etc. And their performances offer different of styles and rhythms such as corridos, rancheras, boleros, bossa nova, sambas, valses,etc. The sound of Nuestro Canto is the result of the unique combination of the artistic experiences of its members. http://www.myspace.com/nuestrocantopdx

This introduction to Turkish and Arabic music and dance will be presented with a variety of traditional Middle Eastern instruments performed by musicians and dancers from around the Portland community. Featured styles will be the uncommon Turkish Roman(gypsy) music and dance which use many complex 9/8 rhythms, as well as the popular Arabic style of Raqs Sharki(bellydance). The group is led by David Reihs who has spent the last four years in Istanbul, Turkey, learning these traditional arts.
http://www.dhavir.com

Nojeen will sing in his native language and play Nigeria talking drum with percussion.

TooLoose Cajun Band
Infectious Louisiana Dance Music.
Band members;
Bobby Hartley  In from the Right Coast, Bobby has been picking guitar for 20 years. He grew up listening to the Country and Western jukeboxes of Rhode Island.  Mr. Hartley once toured New England in the 70's with a southern rock ban called the "Free Wheels", and now plays the six string in the band.            
Tim Shaughnessy was raised by orcas in Puget Sound, and discovered there by fur traders in 1873. The preserving effects of fine whiskey have kept him young all this time. Needless to say, after 125 years at it he's a darn good bass player..
Lefty Head, a native of Portland, started playing old time American music on the mandolin in the year 1977. He went on to find traditional French and Cape Breton music with the band Cour des Miracles. He later plied his carpenter skills on the fiddle with the legendary Willamette Valley band Blackfish. He now works his downtuned fiddle and the frattoir with TooLoose.
Rick Obbink  Influenced early on by his accordion playing German grandmother, Rick played the piano accordion at the family house parties. Adept at boogie-woogie piano and the guitar, he has worked the single row Cajun accordion for several years.  He has been known to get delusional when singing and playing the tunes of Lefty Frizell, Hank Williams, Merle Haggard and others. 
Robert Lee's true grit fiddle playing combines the reverence of an old-timer with the polish and irreverence of a big city kid. Mr. Lee grew up in New York City in the 50's and 60's. When he left the east coast for San Francisco, he worked his way first through folk guitar and then to bluegrass banjo. Not so recently, at the ripe age of 37, he became a fiddler. He now pays tribute to the musical roots and fiddle kings of Louisiana
T. Bedard Aschoff  Acadian by modest Quebecois descendants, T came West from the Jersey shore to discover the American roots music of jazz, punk, old timey and traditional Cajun.  Often caught with a mandolin or upright bass in his hands, TBA hits the skins, plays the 'tit fer and frottoir, and sings in the band

http://www.tooloosecajunzydeco.com

Portland Largest Irish Session
Irish traditional music sessions are mostly-informal gatherings at which people play Irish traditional music.  The session will be anchored by musicians.Mikey Beglan and Nancy Conescu.

The Tir Eoghain Ceili Dancers
The Tír Eoghain group started in 1978 with Brother Eugene from Co. Tyrone, Ireland and Mary Rose Kerg of the All-Ireland Social Club which is now the All-Ireland Cultural Society of Oregon.  The dances they do are primarily Céilí (KAY-LEE).They are group, social dances that are from Ireland.

Tir Eoghain Irish Dancers have performed at the Rose Festival, World Beat Festival, different Highland Games and to people in retirement, rest homes that are not as fortunate as us to get up and out to different Irish events around the area.
www.oregonirishclub.org
Sam Keator, organizer and teacher
http://www.SandAIrishEntertainment.com

SHABAVA is a trio with members trained in Iran, Morocco 
and India.  They combine their backgrounds in classical Persian, 
Arabic and Hindustani music to deliver fresh presentations of 
traditional pieces and create original compositions with a unique 
voice.  Shabava features Nat Hulskamp on Arabic oud, Bobak Salehi 
on Persian kamancheh and sehtar and Chaz Hastings on Deepayan 
www.shabava.com

Brongaene Griffin and Three Colours Ginger
Bronnie first started performing at age 8 with her father accompanying her on guitar, frequently at Portland's Saturday Market, local dances, grange halls and whatever other events her dad came across through friends and colleagues.  A Portland native, Bronnie (Brongaene) Griffin placed first in nearly every Old-Time fiddle contest she entered, winning the NW Regional Championship twice and placing third in the nation at the American National Old-Time Fiddle Contest in Weiser.  After meeting her mentor and teacher Kevin Burke, Bronnie now plays predominantly Irish traditional music she is known for generating energy and excitement in her performances as a dynamic fiddler.
 Maldon Meehan is a performer, teacher and scholar of Irish sean-nos and set dance.  Maldon holds a BA in Irish Studies/ Theater Arts from Evergreen State College and an MA in Ethnochoreology from the University of Limerick, Ireland. She has been teaching since 1994.  She is 2008 Regional Arts and Cultures grant recipient.  As a sean-nós dancer Maldon has appeared on the nationally televised 2005 Oireachtas at the Cork Opera House in Cork City (TG4) as well as on Connemara Community Radio and Raidió na Gaeltachta (RTÉ). Maldon placed 3rd in the 2005 Comórtas Chóilín Sheáin Dharach, a sean-nós jig competition held annually in Connemara. In 2005 Maldon and Ronan Regan released an instructional DVD of sean-nós dance. Today the DVD has been sold in more than 17 countries.
Cary Novotny was raised in Stevenson WA., and has been playing guitar and singing professionally in the Portland area for two decades. Novotny posesses a powerful musical style, with strong rhythm and a sure sense of harmony and tone. He has recorded and performed with many great bands in the world of Irish music, including Cul An Ti, Kevin Burke, Hanz Araki, and The Bridies.
http://brongaenegriffin.vpweb.com/default.html
http://www.maldonmeehan.com/

Continued from 3 pm show.

Vocalist Nancy Curtin is joined by Brazilian pianist Weber Iago and violinist Eddie Parente. Their repertoire includes beautiful bossa nova  songs as well as original compositions by Iago and Parente.
http://www.nancycurtin.net

Connie Bieberach & Armonia Latina Quartet
Connie creates a brilliant blend of high quality Latin sounds.  She  is a folklorist who specializes in traditional Spanish music, like Mariachi from Mexico,  Andean music from Peru, Bolivia, Colombian, Argentina, Venezuelan and a touch of Flamenco. Connie Bieberach is a winner of four international awards and an outstanding interpreter.  She creates an atmosphere of charm from her lovely vocal skill and her mastery of expressive movement.  She will performing with Mariano de Orbegoso. rhythm guitar, Masud Tahmassbi  (lead guitar) & Bernardo Gomez (acoustic bass).
www.conniebeiberach.com

Singer Jessie Marquez conveys feeling with beautiful vocals, musicality, and warmth.Marquez, whose father grew up in Havana, was raised on her grandmother's Cuban cooking and on family stories about life on the island. She first visited Cuba in 1996. “Right away, there was something very familiar about it—the way people spoke, their gestures, their attitudes.  I felt at home.”  In 2003, members of the Afro-Cuban Allstars heard her sing in Havana and offered to produce her first CD. “Sana Locura,” recorded in a haphazard home studio between power outages, reached the top of the salsa and Latin jazz charts in Europe and the United States.  In 2005 and 2006, the Cuban Department of Culture sponsored her to sing in the country's International Bolero Festival.  She performed in theaters and clubs throughout the island with Cuban greats Omara Portuondo, Ela Calvo and many others. 
www.jessiemarquez.com