About Us

March of The Gypsies
DANYAVAAD AND THE SHIMMY SISTERS

An unexpected musical revolution is taking place in Southern California. Just as Seattle launched grunge, or Detroit was the home of Motown, San Diego is making its mark on the world bellydance scene with Danyavaad and The Shimmy Sisters leading the way.

Danyavaad plays live original Middle Eastern flavored music featuring the electric sitar and tribal drum beats. They create an atmosphere of Middle Eastern lounge mixed with Indian vibes and rock. The unique songs are originals by vocalist/sitarist Greg Vaughan, percussionist Gabriel Penix, and DJ/bassist Sandy Bagri.

The Shimmy Sisters (Leilainia and Adelaide) embellish aspects of creativity and art in their inspiring bellydance performances. Their diverse show may include snakes, swords, candles, fire fingers, isis wings, glow hula hoops, and traditional bellydance props such as veils and zils. They were born into a culture of creativity by their bellydancing mother and artist/musician father.

Greg Vaughan met Gabriel and Leilainia Penix on Friday May 28th, 2005 at their old loft apartment in downtown San Diego. Singer/Songwriter Marie Haddad had asked Greg to play a show with her at Twiggs Coffeshop downtown. She said that if he did the gig she would take him to a party with lots of bellydancers afterward. Five minutes after Greg met Leilainia and told her that he had been playing professionally for years, taught guitar, won a local guitar contest called Guitarmageddon in March, and bought an electric sitar a week earlier... she informed him they would be working together. A few months later her sister Adelaide Marcus moved to San Diego from Texas and Danyavaad and The Shimmy Sisters sparked into creation.

shimmy sisters Their first real show was on Saturday Jan 28th, 2006 at the downtown loft. There were approximately 100 people there. Gabriel and Greg had planned on performing four songs while Leilainia and Adelaide danced - Energy, My Serpent Kiss, The Summit, and an unnamed song. While on stage, Greg asked Gabriel to name the mystery song, "Perhaps some word you heard while travelling in the east," Greg said. Gabriel replied “Danyavaad.” Greg immediately incorporated the title into the song. Later that evening they decided that Danyavaad would be a perfect name for the group. Danyavaad means “Thank You” in Hindi.

The audience response to that first show was so overwhelmingly positive that the group decided to start a club night to perform on a regular basis. The first step to making this happen was finding a DJ that played Middle Eastern flavored dance music, and would be open to working with live musicians. While Gabriel was getting a haircut from local bellydancer Sabrina Fox, he mentioned that he was looking for a DJ. After he described exactly what the group needed she said she had the perfect guy. She was right! After the first conversation Gabriel had with Sandy Bagri (DJ Sandbag), a meeting was scheduled to plan an event. They all agreed that their show should be founded on 3 basic principles. 1) Create a complete experience, 2) Be positive, 3) Be inclusive.

Their first event with all 5 members was in March 2006 at the Kava Lounge. The night was called Ishtar Rising. They managed to pack the house on a Sunday night. In addition to Danyavaad, The Shimmy Sisters, and DJ Sandbag, the event featured yoga contortionists and a psychic. The club was decorated with exotic tapestries, candles, flame bowls, and fog to give the event a mystical atmosphere. The energy of the performance and the positive audience response inspired the group to perform once more at the Kava Lounge two months later. They continued to fine tune their show for several months at a local San Diego restaurant, Rosey & Joe’s. At the final Rosey & Joe’s show in October of 2006, Sandy made his debut as bassist with the group. As luck would have it, the perfect DJ was also a skilled musician.

In November of 2006 the group began their monthly residence at Portugalia in Ocean Beach, San Diego. The Brazilian/Portuguese restaurant provided a great atmosphere and location for their new club called NOMADS. The Thursday event was a big success from the start! Word that there was an amazing Middle Eastern show with bellydancers spread quickly through the beach community. It was the perfect environment for a show where the audience is encouraged to join in as drummers and dancers at the end of the show.

In June 2007 Danyavaad and the Shimmy Sisters had the honor of being chosen for the cover of Vision Magazine for an article titled "Modern Day Gods And Goddesses". The article covered the various artistic, intellectual, and spiritual aspects of the festival scene in Southern California. Sandy and his promotion company Sandcastle Events, co-founded with DJ Blue, were mentioned in the article for their many ‘Burning Man’ inspired events.

In addition to their monthly residence at Portugalia, Danyavaad and the Shimmy Sisters have performed at many private parties, corporate events, and outdoor festivals around Southern California and Northern Mexico. Danyavaad did their first bellydance convention performance at Tribal Cafe in San Bernadino in August of 2007. Not only did the crowd love the music the band provided for the Shimmy Sisters, but the next dancer in the show told the MC she would rather improvise to Danyavaad than do choreography to her CD tracks. So the band ended up playing 2 extra songs for the enthusiastic crowd.

In January 2008 Danyavaad released a 3 song EP CD containing the tracks – “Eastern Road”, “Danyavaad” and “Fairuza”. The group is currently finishing up a 10 song album. The CD package will also include a DVD featuring music videos, and instructional segments for bellydance, sitar, dumbek, and bass. They plan on having a large CD release show sometime this summer, which will be followed by a tour.

The diverse backgrounds and achievements of each member contributes to the already unique character of the group. The Shimmy Sisters were Ultimate Troupe Winners of Hips Of Fury 2006 and People’s Choice for Bellydancer of the Universe 2007. Gabriel and Leilainia run the company Nomad Artz, which imports exotic costumes, jewelry, and instruments. In addition, Nomad Artz is an entertainment agency and production company employing many unique performers. Gabriel enjoys singing and playing guitar and frequently performs as a stiltwalker. Before establishing herself as an innovative businesswoman in the bellydance community, Leilainia worked as a journalist with PBS and freelanced with NPR. She expressed her creativity through painting and managing an art gallery in El Paso, Texas. Following in the footsteps of her older sister, Adelaide has proven to be a prolific and skilled artist. Sandy provides all the graphic design, websites, and internet marketing for Danyavaad, in addition to building a successful web design company, Binary Jungle, which has kept him busy for the last 10 years. Greg channels his interest in martial arts and Eastern philosophy into his teaching approach at his school the Temple Of The Sacred String. He has also been lucky enough to study and perform with legendary Scorpions guitarist Uli Jon Roth at his Sky Academy in Los Angeles.

Danyavaad and the Shimmy Sisters are always creating new ideas to make their live show more exciting, and the band has already started working on several songs for a second album. The atmosphere of freedom and innovation continue to thrive as they look forward to a bright and adventurous future!