Aswan Dancers with the Caravan Band and Joweh Dance Troupe

The Magic Carpet is a Middle Eastern Dance and Musical Adventure. The musical carpet will transport you to various countries across the deserts of North Africa, through Egypt, the Middle East and onto the Saudi Arabian Peninsula. We want you to sit back and enjoy the ride and let the drums, the music and the dance take you to the Arabian Nights of our dreams when magic and fantasy was foremost and stimulated all the senses. Performed by The Caravan Band, The Aswan Dancers and Joweh Dance Troupe.

ARTIST BIOS

The Aswan Dancers established in 1975 are a San Francisco nonprofit dance company dedicated to entertaining and educating the general public about Middle Eastern culture through music and dance. They have traveled throughout the U.S. and also performed in Egypt. They perform in and host many shows, produce many dance and cultural workshops and events.

Amina Goodyear has been performing, teaching and choreographing Egyptian Dance for The Aswan Dancers for over 4 decades. She also has started and is currently in a number of Middle Eastern Bands as a percussionist. dedicated to entertaining and educating the public about Middle Eastern, Arabic and Egyptian culture through Music and Dance.

Susu Pampanin is an established and well-known Arabic percussionist. She has travelled the world performing and teaching workshops. Besides performing regularly in many local Arabic bands, she also has taught and performed at many esteemed events such as the SF Ethnic Dance Festival, Mendocino Middle Eastern Music Camp, Born to Drum Camp, the World Drum Festival. She has recorded many albums and in 2013 she recorded a CD in Egypt with the world renowned Safaa Farid Egyptian Band. Performing with Susu is Mohini Rustagi.

Caravan Band: The Caravan Band was formally established by Amina Goodyear and Susu Pampanin in 2015 , however members of the musical group have worked together continuously in various configurations and locations for more than 20 years. They have played together in San Francisco from small salon house concerts, cultural centers such as La Pena and festivals at the Palace of Fine Arts and have travelled together to perform at various destinations including as far as Washington D.C. and even Cairo, Egypt. Their primary mission is to present traditional Middle Eastern music to Eastern and Western audiences for fun, pleasure and/or education. The musicians playing today are Nazir Latouf, vocals and oud and Khader Keileh, Arabic keyboard.

Joweh was formed in 1996 by director TerriAnne Gutierrez. They have performed around the world and make their home in the beautiful wine country of Sonoma County CA. They have been voted best performing dance company by Sonoma County for 3 years in a row, and have won multiple awards in competitions around the United States.