Join us for an evening of traditional music and dance from the Middle East.

Maine Middle Eastern Ensemble performs folk, classical and Sufi music from the Turkish, Arabic and Armenian traditions. Led by oud player, Eric LaPerna, the group also features violinist, Michael Gallant; guitarist, Jeremey Zela; percussionist, Doug Andrews, and upright bass player, Duane Edwards, as well as other talented musicians from Maine’s Middle Eastern music community.

Josie Conte is a dancer and performance artist who continues to be inspired by world dance tradition expressing the Divine Feminine: celebrating and expressing the body through exploration of internal landscapes and sensuality, serpentine curves and moved by the tones and rhythms of the people of the Romany trail. She has been an active artist and teacher in the Portland area since 1993 and founded Baraka! Middle Eastern Ensemble, who have created wonderful spectacle wherever they have been invited.

Heléna Melone has been teaching and performing dance for over 25 years. She has trained extensively, both in many styles of “belly” dance, Turkish Roman, as well as in Flamenco, studying throughout the U.S. and in Egypt, Turkey and Spain. Interviewed for her knowledge of flamenco for the novel “Flamenco Academy,” as well as for Oprah magazine, she is an arts educator and the former dance instructor at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, NH.