The Berkeley Balkan Bacchanal Presents
Edessa - 9 pm
Arcana - 11 pm

The May edition of the Berkeley Balkan Bacchanal presents a double bill featuring the rare worldly talent of bay area musicians and dancers. The Berkeley Balkan Bacchanal is a notoriously raucous marathon of music and dance at the Starry Plough Pub on the second Friday of every month.

The Starry Plough Pub
Doors at 8:00pm; Show at 9:00pm
Admission is $10+
21+ after 10pm (as kitchen closes)

Édessa - Balkan Border Music
For many years one of the Bay Area’s premier Balkan dance bands, Édessa is comprised of musicians who have devoted decades to the study and performance of the rich cultural expressions of the southern Balkans. They play with a deep understanding of the connection between dance and music. Using both traditional and modern instruments, they perform in a variety of styles, featuring long sets that interweave melodies, improvisation and a beat with dancers in mind. The music comes from Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Armenia, and Turkey, and Balkan Roma (Gypsy). The group and its members have long participated in and taught at Balkan camps across the country, and Édessa was the first band to take Balkan music to Japan. Édessa is George Chittenden on clarinet, gaida (bagpipe), zurna (shawm), and guitar; Lise Liepman on santouri (hammered dulcimer) and accordion; violinist Ari Langer; bassist Paul Brown; and percussionist Sean Tergis.

Arcana - Music and Dance

Arcana is a live music & belly dance troupe directed by Danielle Elizabeth, Paul Evans, Gregory Masaki Jenkins, and Shanti Bardot. This performance will feature dancers Shanti Bardot and Laura Elizabeth and Kendra Michelle plus musicians saxophonist Joey Friedman, percussionist Faisal Zedan, clarinetist Travis Hendrix and Berkeley Balkan Bacchanal producer Peter Bonos on trumpet.

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