Djam NYC AirWaves Album Release Party w/ Rob Mastrianni + Dancers

Join us for Rob Mastrianni's AirWaves album release party. It's a night where mixed movement and music unite to create an unforgettable journey for all who attend.

MUSIC

• Rob Mastrianni

SOLOISTS

• Debbie Despina - Belly Dance
• Han Luckybee - Fusion Belly Dance
• Irina Akulenko - Cross-Cultural Fusion Dance
• Kaeshi Chai - World Dance + Contemporary
• Marisa Ballaro - Modern Dance (Birthday Gal!)
• Michael Taylor - Native American Dance
• Patricia Gonzalez - Ballet + Belly Dance

GROUPS

• Debbie Despina's Students
• Irina Akulenko's Students

WHERE

Secret Room New York, 707 8th Ave, downstairs, New York, NY 10036, between W 44th and W 45th St, New York, NY

SCHEDULE:

6:30-7:00pm: Doors Open

7:00-9:30pm: Show

SHOW COST

$20 / $25 at the Door / $30 VIP Seat at a Front Row Table

Plus 1 drink or food item if seated at the bar, or 2 drinks or food items if seated at a table

* Drinks and food are NOT included in the ticket price

Tickets are non-refundable

TABLE RESERVATIONS

Text TBA with your name, ticket tier and number of people you want seated at your table

MENU

https://www.secretroomnyc.com/Menu

Check out other upcoming Djam NYC events!

https://bellyqueen.com/djam-nyc

...................................................................................................

Detailed Biographies (Listed Alphabetically)

...................................................................................................

Debbie Despina's bio is coming

...................................................................................................

Han Luckybee is a New York based performer and dance instructor that is fluent in Chinese, Spanish and English. She is passionate about culture, movement and expression. Her dance journey first began when she fell in love with belly dance while training at the Bellyqueen School of Dance. Han completed the 40 hour Bellyqueen Teacher Training course in 2017 and 200 hr yoga teacher training in 2019 in India. She continues to grow her passion for dance by exploring different styles such as Traditional Chinese dance, West African, Contemporary Indian, Ballet, Street Jazz and Reggaeton.She is featured regularly at "Casa La Femme", an Egyptian restaurant in the west village. Other notable performances include dancing in Bellyqueen's "Journey along the Silk Road' in Milan, Italy, Brooklyn Ballet's "Nutcracker", with the band "Beats Antique" at Brooklyn Steel, and "Ravens Night" at the Birchmere in Washington DC.She believes in the power of dance and music to connect with oneself, nature, and with others. She loves sharing the joy that dance brings her by guiding her students in movement explorations.

...................................................................................................

Debbie Despina is an innovative instructor and performer, is deeply passionate about belly dance. Her Greek upbringing and exposure to belly dancers in Greek nightclubs ignited her obsession with the art form. She started her dance journey in 2005 with Fat Chance Belly Dance Style and later discovered the prestigious Salimpour Institute while studying under Irina Wen. Despina further refined her skills by joining classes led by world renowned choreographer Dalia Carella.

...................................................................................................

Irina Akulenko is a New York City-based performer, teacher and choreographer with a burning passion for arts of all genres. Although she discovered Middle Eastern dance purely by chance, her interest in expression started at an early age and was channeled into ballet training, in addition to piano and voice lessons as well as drawing. Since 2001, Irina explored Egyptian Cabaret and American Tribal style belly dance, Flamenco and Classical Indian dances (focusing mainly on Odissi) and now enjoys fusing these styles as well as everything in between. Today, Irina performs on various New York stages and tours nationally and internationally as a soloist and as member of various stellar projects. She released three instructional DVDs with World Dance New York and has two instructional series of videos with the popular website “Howcast.com”. Furthermore, she holds a Bachelors degree in Political Science, and has a strong interest in women's issues and visual arts. www.DanceIrina.com

...................................................................................................

Kaeshi Chai is a dancer, choreographer, designer, producer and director. Her life mission is to serve our precious planet and empower others through the vehicle of art. She co-founded PURE Globe, an international community focused on healing and social change, the Bellyqueen company and school, as well as Djam NYC shows featuring live music and dance. She has taught / performed in 48 states and 39 countries and is an alumni member of the Bellydance Superstars, Bellydance Evolution, Bella Gaia (Beautiful Earth) and Spector Dance. As a producer, Kaeshi has organized over 600 events (shows, tours, conferences). Kaeshi holds multiple certifications in movement (dance, fitness, pilates, yoga), created the Bellyqueen Teacher Training program and graduated with honors in a degree in Design from the University of Technology, Sydney. She meditates daily and practices NVC (Non Violent Communication). www.kaeshi.com | www.pureglobe.org | www.bellyqueen.com

...................................................................................................

A proud Buffalonian, Marisa f. Ballaro is Founding Artistic Director of NYC-based Ballaro Dance. Passionate about bringing sensory-rich dance experiences to new audiences and first-time MOVERS, she values community-based and collaborative projects at the core of her artistic vision.

Marisa received her Master of Fine Arts in Dance from Montclair State University (2022) while selected to be the Convocation Speaker for the College of the Arts; she graduated summa cum laude from SUNY Brockport with dual degrees in Dance and Interdisciplinary Arts for Children. Marisa taught at The Brearley School in Manhattan for 12 years and was recognized as an Outstanding Educator by The University of Chicago in October 2019. She is the recipient of two honors awarded by The Brearley School: The Margaret Riker Harding Lower School Fellowship and The Serena Marshall Weld Award. She traveled to Barcelona, Spain in April of 2022 becoming a certified practitioner of Level 1: Simonson Teacher Training.

...................................................................................................

Michael Taylor always knew he was Choctaw, but it wasn’t until he was in his 30s—after years of working in postmodern dance and improv—that he began training in Native American dance styles, eventually joining the Thunderbird American Indian Dancers.

In his youth, he trained under postmodern dance pioneer Rudy Perez in Los Angeles, and later moved to New York City, where he studied under Lynn Simonson and Phyllis Rose and helped artists and choreographers showcase their work. “A few choreographers and I would organize performances for artists not in major companies,” Taylor says. “We would make just enough money to pay the theater and the choreographers.”

During this time, Taylor sought out other Native people living in the New York City area, and met the director of the Thunderbird American Indian Dancers, Louis Mofsie, who became the first person to teach him Native American dances.

...................................................................................................

Graduating from The National Ballet School of Cuba and the University of Arts of Cuba, Patricia Gonzalez had the opportunity to dance professionally with renowned companies such as The National Ballet of Cuba, the Contemporary Dance Company of Cuba, and AcostaDanza, among others. She has also developed a pedagogical role in imparting the Cuban Ballet Method at the Cuban National Ballet School Fernando Alonso, where she worked for over four years, training future generations of ballet professionals.

...................................................................................................

Rob Mastrianni is a Brooklyn-born guitarist, composer, recording artist and performer. His innovative compositions and guitar style are inspired by psychedelic rock, punk rock, Flamenco and percussive finger-style techniques. He also utilizes a unique 19-string electric harp guitar, the Coral electric sitar, to create a range of exotic melodies and rhythms.

He is a founder of the musical duo Beatbox Guitar with Pete List and collaborates and tours with dancers across Europe, North America. He performs regularly in NYC as a solo act and in collaboration with other artists such as Nepali vocalist Varsha Thapa, Kat Cunning, recording artist/vocalist Mina Caputo , Thunderbird American Indian Dancers and the Baroque Burlesque Dance Theater Troupe Company XIV. Rob can be heard on albums by Beatbox Guitar, soundtracks for network TV shows, 42 Carmine Street Guitars Short Film, Bellydance instructional videos and the Showtime series,” The L Word”. When not performing Mastrianni works as an Environmental Educator and specializes in rescuing birds of prey.

Host or Publisher Djam NYC