ARTISTS:
¥ INSTRUMENTS - ud, electric ud, cümbüs,
and saz (Middle Eastern fretless stringed instruments), darbuka (hourglass
shaped hand drum), riqq (classical tambourine), frame drums, voice.
¥ CONCERTS IN FLORIDA (COMPOSER/PERFORMER) - with Bailes Ferrer,
Ballet Flamenco La Rosa, Rosita Segovia Baile Español, Mary Street
Dance Theater, Florida Dance Festival, Mideastern Dance Exchange, and
Harmonic Motion (Music Director)
¥ CONCERTS OUTSIDE FLORIDA- include New York - Riverside Theater,
TOMI Theater, Town Hall; Greece - Festival of Greek Music from the Diaspora
in Thessalonika; Los Angeles - Festival of Sacred Music.
¥ MUSICIANS WITH WHOM HE HAS PERFORMED - Abbey Rader, Dave
Liebman, Kenny Millions, Satoshi Takeishi, Tommy Lee (FL), Richard Brookens,
Arto Tunçboyaciyan, O. Faruk Tekbilek, Gary Kelly, Bobby Thomas
Jr., Myriam Eli, Taksim Band from New York City, and popular Middle Eastern
and Armenian ensembles in Boston
¥ AWARDS - 2004-06 FLORIDA STATE TOURING PROGRAM, Florida Department
of State, Division of Cultural Affairs; 2000 Florida Folk Heritage Award,
Florida Department of State, Division of Historical Resources; 3 Individual
Artist Fellowships ('89-'90, '95-'96, ‘02-’03), 3 Honorable
Mentions ('94-'95, '00-'01, '01-'02), Florida Department of State, Division
of Cultural Affairs; New Forms Florida grant, National Endowment for the
Arts ('94); 2 Artistic Achievement Awards ('95, ‘02), Broward Cultural
Affairs Council; Broward Cultural Affairs Council and Florida Department
of State mini-grant for Harmonic Motion
¥ TOURING - U.S.A., Greece, Costa Rica, Colombia, Puerto Rico,
Bahamas, Turkey, and Japan.
¥ RECORDINGS (some sold nationally at Borders Books and Music
and featured on Amazon.com) - Friendship, Gypsy Fever, Casting Nine, Ararat
Maiden, Southern Arrival, Rom-Anadolu Session, Danse Orientale Project,
Full Circle, Café Makam, Whispers of Ellis Island, Ruby Mantra,
Line Out, and for Sony Music/Estefan Enterprises, Gloria Estefan's Destiny
and Shakira's Ojos Así (Dónde están los ladrones)
and Eyes Like These (Laundry Service); recorded with Azucar Moreno and
Siudy Garrido; Space Between Worlds with Florida Free World Ensemble;
Stephan Tischler's Sultan in Oman; Abbey Rader's Suite Rhythms; Tom Alexander's
Flying Against the Time Zones with Thomas Lee, Yanni Zervas, and Myriam
Eli.
¥ TEACHING UD AND SCALE THEORY - privately in Florida; Fieldston
School of Performing Arts, New York; Near East Music and Dance Camps,
Mendocino (CA), Honolulu (HI), Chicago (IL), and Cape Cod (MA); Turkey,
Japan.
¥ TEACHING DARBUKA - regularly in Florida; Turkey, Japan.
¥ with SONY MUSIC, ESTEFAN ENTERPRISES, GLORIA ESTEFAN, SHAKIRA:
~ Recorded on ud and saz with Gloria Estefan for her CD Destiny
on the title cut - 1996
~ Recorded on ud with Shakira for her CD Dónde están
los ladrones on the multiple-award winning song Ojos Así
- 1998.
~ Recording sessions with Jon Secada and Ana Gabriel - 2000
~ Performed on electric ud with Shakira at the Sony Music Entertainment
Marketing Meeting at the Fontainebleau Hilton, Miami Beach - 1998.
~ Recorded on ud and percussion with Gloria Estefan for the radio
version of the song You Can’t Walk Away. The movie version
appeared in the film Original Sin with Antonio Banderas and Angelique
Jolie - 2000.
~ Recorded on ud with Shakira for her crossover CD Laundry Service
/ Servicio de lavandería on the cut Eyes Like Yours / Ojos
Así - 2001.
~ Recorded for Estefan Enterprises for Middle Eastern influenced
pieces Rapture and Illusions - 2001.
~ Performed with Shakira on Saturday Night Live - 2001.
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photos: Sharon Swift
¥ DANCE COMPANIES - Florida - Harmonic Motion,
Executive and Dance Director; Oudansquerade, Dance Director; Ballet Flamenco
La Rosa; New York City - Ahmed Hussein Dance Company; Anahid Sofian Near
Eastern Dance; Morocco and the Casbah Dance Experience; Serena Dance Theater;
Zeeba and Myriam; Boston Flamenco Ballet.
¥ TRADITIONAL AND CROSS-CULTURAL CHOREOGRAPHY AND PERFORMANCES
- Harmonic Motion, Bailes Ferrer, Ballet Flamenco La Rosa, modern dancer
Barbara Sloan, Florida Dance Festival, University of South Florida, Florida
International University Department of Theater and Dance, Florida Atlantic
University Theater Department, American Dance Guild, National Foundation
for Advancement in the Arts, University Center for the Performing Arts,
Estefan Enterprises/Sony Music’s Latin Pop Rock singer Shakira (MTV,
Latin Grammy, various TV appearances, world tour), La Mystique Dance Company.
¥ CONCERT APPEARANCES - NEW YORK - Riverside Theater
Dance Festival, Cami Hall, New York University, American Museum of Natural
History, Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center; MIAMI - Colony Theater,
New World School of the Arts, FIU, FAU; FT. LAUDERDALE - Broward
County Main Library Theater, Sunrise Civic Center.
¥ AWARDS - 2007 FOLK/DANCE FELLOWSHIP, Florida Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs; 2005 ARTIST ENHANCEMENT GRANT, Florida Department
of State, South Florida Cultural Consortium; 2004-06 FLORIDA STATE TOURING
PROGRAM, Florida Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs; 2004
FOLKLIFE APPRENTICESHIP Award as MASTER TEACHER of Middle Eastern dance
from the Florida Department of State, Division of Historical Resources;
2000 DANCE FELLOWSHIP from the Florida Department of State, Division of
Cultural Affairs; Broward County ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT Award 2000; ARTISTIC
ACHIEVEMENT Through Choreography and Performance from the American Academy
of Middle Eastern Dance ('96); Broward Cultural Affairs Council and Florida
Department of State MINI-GRANTS for Harmonic Motion
¥ TOURING - U.S.A., Puerto Rico, Bahamas, Turkey, and Japan
with Harmonic Motion; worldwide with Shakira (see below).
¥ TEACHING DANCE - FLORIDA - University Center
for the Performing Arts, Ballet Flamenco La Rosa, Ambrosia, Mideastern
Dance Exchange, Florida Dance Festival (University of South Florida, New
World School of the Arts), Mary Street Dance Theater, National Foundation
for Advancement in the Arts, Florida International University, Dreyfoos
High School of the Arts, Palm Beach Middle School of the Arts, Broward
County Arts in Education and Parks and Recreation, Children's Services
Council, Goddess Store; NEW YORK - United Nations, Morocco Dance
Studio, Serena Studio, Anahid Sofian Dance Studio; PUERTO RICO
- Soma Esthetic, Zayda Varas School of Dance; and TOURING (see
above).
¥ PERCUSSION - Instruments - darbuka, riqq, zils (finger cymbals),
bendir (frame drum);
¥ MUSICIANS WITH WHOM SHE HAS PERFORMED ON PERCUSSION - Joe
Zeytoonian, Souren Baronian, George Stathos, Mike Gregian, Seido Salifosky,
O. Faruk Tekbilek, Mimi Spencer, Susan Raphael, Satoshi Takeishi, Abbey
Rader, Kenny Millions, Tom Lee, Ara Topouzian, Jim Stoyanoff, and Gary
Kelly; Shakira’s Band.
¥ RECORDINGS - Joe Zeytoonian's Rom-Anadolu Session, Danse
Orientale Project, Café Makam, Casting Nine, Southern Arrival;
Shakira's Dónde están los ladrones, Shakira Unplugged, and
Laundry Service/Servicio de lavandería, Shakira's Washed and Dried
- Laundry Service Limited Edition (SONY 2002, IMPORT 2003), Shakira's
Laundry Service Japan (SONY 2004); Tom Alexander's Flying Against the
Time Zones with Thomas Lee, Yanni Zervas, and.
¥ TEACHING PERCUSSION- Puerto Rico, U.S.A., Turkey, Japan.
¥ with SHAKIRA, SONY MUSIC, ESTEFAN ENTERPRISES - dance and
percussion:
~ Recorded on darbuka, riqq, zills, and zaghareet with Shakira
for her CD Dónde están los ladrones on the
multiple-award winning song Ojos Así - 1998.
~ Gave private Middle Eastern dance lessons to Shakira - 1998.
~ Performed on darbuka with Shakira at the Sony Music Entertainment
Marketing Meeting at the Fontainebleau Hilton, Miami Beach - 1998.
~ Gave private lessons to Shakira and choreographed for Shakira’s
Ojos Así live performance for Sony Music Entertainment Marketing
Meeting at the Fontainebleau Hilton, Miami Beach - 1998.
~ Performed on Middle Eastern percussion with Shakira, arranged rhythm
changes and darbuka solo in Ojos Así, and taught and choreographed
Shakira’s dance to Ojos Así on her MTV Latino Unplugged
Special - 1999.
~ Recorded with Shakira on her multiple-award winning MTV Unplugged
CD, which includes a darbuka solo and rhythm arrangements by Myriam in
Ojos Así - 1999.
~ Toured with Shakira to Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, England, and Spain,
including TV appearances, performing on darbuka and creating choreography
- 1999.
~ Performed on darbuka with and taught and choreographed for Shakira for
her 2000 Latin Grammy appearance of Ojos Así - 2000.
~ Recorded on riqq, darbuka, and zills with Shakira on her crossover CD
Laundry Service / Servicio de lavandería in the cuts Eyes
Like Yours / Ojos Así and Whenever, Wherever / Suerte
- 2001.
~ Appeared on English and Spanish language Pepsi commercials with
Shakira, shown world wide - 2001 - 2002.
~ Recorded for Estefan Enterprises on Middle Eastern influenced
pieces Rapture and Illusions - 2001.
~ Gave private lessons to and choreographed for Shakira's crossover song
Whenever, Wherever/Suerte.
~ Performed on darbuka with and choreographed for Shakira for her CD Release
in Roseland, New York City - 2001.
~ Performed on darbuka with and choreographed for Shakira’s performance
at Y-100’s Jingle Ball, American Airlines Arena in Miami -
2001
~ Performed on darbuka with and choreographed for Shakira for U.S.A. TV
appearances on Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,
MTV -TRL , Rosie O’Donnell Show, The Today Show - 2001- 2002.
~ Performed on darbuka with and choreographed for Shakira for Tower
Records show in Los Angeles - 2001.
~ Toured with Shakira to perform on darbuka and choreographed for CD releases
in Madrid, Tokyo, Toronto where she also appeared on TV’s
Much Music Video Awards, and Montreal, where she also appeared
on TV’s Musique Plus - 2002.
~ Toured with Shakira to perform on darbuka & choreographed for Q-13’s
Concert at the Tweeter Center in Philadelphia, Z-100’s concert
at Giants’ Stadium in New Jersey, KISS Concert in Boston
- 2002.
~ Shakira's Washed and Dried - Laundry Service Limited Edition
(SONY 2002, IMPORT 2003).
~ Shakira's Laundry Service Japan (SONY 2004).
~ Choreographed Middle Eastern dance and created darbuka solos for Shakira’s
World Tour of the Mongoose 2003-2004, at Casa de Campo, La Romana,
Dominican Republic.
~ Recorded and served as rhythm consultant in Miami, FL on Nov. 2004 for
Shakira's CD's Oral Fixation/Fijación oral.
~ May 2006 - Served as consultant for veil dance and music for Shakira's
Oral Fixation World Tour.
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photos: left - Joe Zeytoonian, right - Sharon Swift