FESTIVAL STAGE PROGRAM

Batalá Washington is an all-women Afro-Brazilian band that plays Samba-Reggae rhythms. As a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, all proceeds go towards providing instruments and costumes to members, all of whom are volunteers. Batalá Washington’s mission is to empower women through drumming and expose people to Brazil’s dynamic Afro Bahian culture and Samba Reggae music. Joining Batalá is free of charge to all women regardless of race, religion, income, sexual orientation or musical experience.

Carolina Hernández is a professional dancer from Colombia, she has ten years of experience, and she has performed in countries, such as Venezuela and Ecuador with DanzAgher dance company from Medellin, Colombia, where she and her sister Sandra Hernández are the founders and the directors. She has studied with dancers like Randa Kamel, Tamalyn Dallal and Tito Seif. Today she will perform a belly dancing choreography to a percussion peace and Kolbasti, an urban dance from Turkey. https://www.facebook.com/carolinahernandez123

Catherine Ayla and JJ Shaban are both dancers, performers, and instructors in the DC area. They have each been honing their craft for over a decade. JJ is the founder of the Abu Dhabi Salsa Festival and Catherine is an accomplished ballroom and latin dancer who teaches private and group lessons and also teaches lessons for the DC nonprofit, Dreams for Kids. They are excited to be part of the Turkish Festival this year!

Dj Turk is one of the most sought after DJ’s and one of the best at programing his radio mix shows. He currently mixes music for most major radio stations around the country as well as owns a mobile Dj entertainment company serving Virginia, D.C and Maryland. Visit Dj Turk’s webstite to download some of his music mixes at djturk.com

Group Rosslyn was established in February 2018 in the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area by Busra Kayi Tarhan and Serkan Uve Uzun. The group’s passion for modern and classical Turkish music made them popular in the DC area quickly. This is the first time they will be performing at the DC Turkish Festival.

Hacettepe University Children and Youth Folk Dance Ensemble Founded in 1996 Ankara Hacettepe University Children and Youth Folk Dance Ensemble has won many national and international competitions including in Romania (2000), Ukraine (2006), Ukraine (2008). In 2012 they won the World Championship in the International Folk Dance and Music Competition in Belarus which is the “Gran Prix” of folk dance. They participated in many international festivals around the world including United States, Germany, India, Oman, China, Taiwan, Yakutia, Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Bulgaria, Belarus, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Finland, Macedonia, Romania, Hungary, Serbia, Croatia, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. The Ensemble, is currently directed by experienced instructors Murat Ozkan and Dr. Bahar Ozkan, has approximately 170 members and performs traditional and contemporary dances from many regions of Turkey. http://hacettepechildrenfolkdance.com

Kardelen Turkish Dance Ensemble is a group of dancers dedicated to promoting the culture of Turkey through dances from the region. Kardelen Dance Ensemble takes its name from a resilient Anatolian mountain flower that survives under hardship and severe weather circumstances. The group members are committed to helping underprivileged children in developing countries who survive under difficult circumstances, just like the Kardelen flower, and therefore donate a portion of revenues to organizations that are engaged in the education and health of children. For more information visit: www.kardelendance.com

New York Gypsy All Stars – Comprised of classically-trained virtuosi coming from the world’s most prestigious music conservatories, the New York Gypsy All-Stars feel equally at home in traditional concert halls, jazz clubs and on festival stages. The quintet of musicians is celebrated for their sophisticated and high-octane mix of music ranging from swinging salsa to pulsing bhangra which never loses its sharp musical focus and astounding technical abilities embodying the true spirit of their Gypsy namesakes. With their unique blend of virtuosity and showmanship, the New York Gypsy All-stars perform everything from traditional world music to their own compositions and arrangements which highlight their diverse cultural backgrounds. Performing together in what can only be described as chamber music making of the highest order, the group has performed hundreds of concerts in presentations as varied as their genre-bending artistry. The New York Gypsy All-Stars appear regularly in North and South America, Asia, Australia and throughout Europe at the invitation of prestigious concert halls and festivals such as Daniel Barenboim’s new Boulez Saal in Berlin, Konzerthaus Dortmund, MecklenburgVorpommern Festival, Odeon Ankara, Balkan Trafik Festival Brussels, Music Meeting Nijmegen, Masala Weltbeat Festival Hannover, Sommer in Lesmona, and many more. The All-Stars also appear with symphony orchestras and made their symphonic debut with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, one of Europe’s leading orchestras. Since then, a significant part of their touring calendar is on the concert stage with symphony orchestras all around the world. The band is comprised of Ismail Lumanowski, clarinet; Tamer Pinarbasi, kanun; Panagiotis Andreou, bass; Engin Günaydin, drums; and Jason Lindner, keyboards. “Lumanovski is a brilliant, fearless young clarinetist” (The New York Times) – “Eclectic and full of inquisitiveness” (The Huffington Post) – “Breathtaking vibrancy is a trademark of their music-making” (Hannoversche Allgemeine) http://www.nygypsyallstars.com

Turkish Women’s League of America Ataturk School Folk Dance Group – Established in 1958 under the umbrella of the Turkish Women’s League of America in New York, Ataturk School teaches Turkish language and culture to Turkish American kids ages ranging between 4 and 14 in the New York area. The folk dance group of the Ataturk School traveled from New York to perform at the festival. They will perform two dances one from the Black sea region and the other from the Aegean. http://ataturkschool.com

Nomad Dancers is a world dance performance group from Washington, DC, directed by Christel Stevens and Adriane Whalen, specializing in dances of the Middle East, Central Asia and South Asia. They have performed nationally and internationally, including at the Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian Museums, the Istiqlol Palace Theater in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and the White House. Nomad Dancers is a 501©3 educational and cultural organization, with the purpose of creating greater understanding among nations and peoples through the art of traditional dance.  http://nomaddancers.com

Today’s performance also features Raqs Habibi, Teen World Dance Company, directed by Adriane Whalen, bringing the joy of world dance through the eyes of our youth.  These young dancers have the opportunity to learn and perform Middle Eastern, Bollywood, and Central Asian Dances. Through weekly rehearsals and technique classes, they gain the skills and experience to perform historically accurate dances at festivals and educational events in the Washington, DC area.

Silk Road Dance Company. The award-winning Silk Road Dance Company (SRDC) presents women’s dances from the Middle East, Central Asia, South Asia, China and the Caucasus. Founded by Artistic Director Dr. Laurel Victoria Gray in 1995, the ensemble is dedicated to the preservation, promulgation, and evolution of women’s endangered dance forms, traditions, and costumes from cultures along the Great Silk Road trade route linking China with the Mediterranean. Locally, they have performed at prestigious venues including the White House, Kennedy Center and numerous embassies as well as throughout the US and internationally in Uzbekistan, Qatar, Singapore, and Canada. For more info visit:  www.silkroaddance.com

Trio Sefardi – Founded in January 2010, Trio Sefardi is a confluence of three performers who share a love of, and wide-ranging experience with Sephardic music, playing with La Rondinella, the Western Wind, and National Heritage Fellowship honoree Flory Jagoda. Washington Post chief music critic Ann Midgette praised the group’s “lovely and luminous performance of Sephardic songs” and vocalist Susan Gaeta’s voice as “compelling” in a review of a recent performance at the Kennedy Center with the Post-Classical Ensemble. Group members combine a respect for tradition with a creative approach to arranging and scoring dedicated to bringing the vibrant past into the living present. Trio Sefardi has performed twice on the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage, twice at the New York Greek-Jewish Festival, at an International Ladino Day program in New York City, at the Washington Folk Festival, the Takoma Park Folk Festival, the National Gallery of Art, Southern Methodist University, the residence of the Spanish Ambassador, and many other Washington-area venues. In December 2011 they were featured performers in the Washington Revels production, “Andalusian Treasures,” at Lisner Auditorium in Washington, D.C. The trio released its first CD, Sefardic Celebration, in 2011, and their second recording, Kaminos, was released in fall 2016. www.triosefardi.com and on Facebook.

Turkoise was established in 2014 by 4 musicians from Istanbul, Izmit and Cyprus to share Turkish music and culture in America. There are currently 6 members, Zeynep Moore (vocals), Zafer Boybeyi (drums/vocals), Tuna Yildiz (clarinet/ney/vocals), Kaan Çelebi (guitar/vocals), Serdar Çobanoglu (guitar/vocals), and Nejat Sarandal (guitar/vocals), who love playing contemporary and traditional Turkish music with their unique style. Their first performance took place at the Turkish festival in 2014, which was followed by their performance at the Tysons Corner Heritage Festival last year. The group is very excited to be performing at the DC festival once again.  Turkoise performs at college student associations, restaurants, bars, festivals and private events across the country. https://www.facebook.com/turkoiseDC/

Zafire Ladies DC directed by Bebé is an all ladies Latin dance team performing choreographies by Arlette Guerra from the original Zafire ladies team in NY. The DC edition started in 2016 under the direction of Bebe A. Uy and has been a great success. They debuted at the Resolution Jam, one of DMV’s largest social events. This group is rapidly gaining popularity and offers some of the highest level of salsa training in the DC area. Bebe and her teams have many performances lined up and she is sought after to teach in events and venues both locally and world wide. https://www.facebook.com/ZafireDC/