Bat Mitzvah
Big Time Portland Bat Mitzvah Dance Party
DJ Rich Ellis had the opportunity to perform at Anita’s Bat Mitzvah Dance Party on Saturday, July 1, 2017 at Congregation Beth Israel in Portland, Oregon.
Anita’s dad Ben had the pleasure of selecting the artists for the background music. For cocktails, he wanted an R&B, World, Afro Cuban vibe that included artists: The Indestructible Beat of Soweto, Baba Maal, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Amy Winehouse and more. For dinner, he suggested aoustic rock and mellow pop music, including artists: Nirvana unplugged, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Natalie Merchant, Pink Martini and others.
Before dinner, the plan was for the kids to play some games, but the photo booth and henna tattoos proved too much of a distraction. Following dinner was a slideshow and family toast.
Next, Anita introduced and talked about her family and friends during the candle lighting ceremony and then ‘The Hora’ got everyone out of their chairs immediately to begin what turned out to be a big time Saturday night Bat Mitzvah dance party.
The floor was packed for nearly every song from start to finish and the 200+ guests in attendance brought the energy for big hit songs, ‘Happy,’ ‘Uptown Funk’, ‘Can’t Stop the Feeling’ and more and my scheduled peformance time was not enough, so an extra 30 minutes was added to keep the party going.
Mazel Tov Anita and thank you Lolly and Ben for again choosing PRO DJs. I had the opportunity to perform at sister Ava’s Bat Mitvah in 2015.
Post Event Satisfaction Survey:
“Rich was wonderful to work with. He met our needs thoroughly and was incredibly flexible as the course of our event changed from what we originally thought. He helped us a great deal with
timing of certain things we wanted and also completely went with the flow when needed. He stayed on a bit longer as our guests were fully on the dance floor still at the end of our agreed time! Rich is incredibly professional, super friendly and is an excellent DJ. This is the 2nd time we have hired him to DJ an event and we were very pleased both times. I have since recommended Pro DJ’s and will continue to!” -Lolly Jamerson and Ben Sandler (Anita’s Bat Mitzvah)
- Event Date: Saturday, July 1, 2017
- Event Type: Bat Mitzvah
- Event Location: Congregation Beth Israel
- Event Staff: Rich Ellis
- Quality of Customer Service via Telephone: Excellent
- Quality of Customer Service via Internet: Excellent
- Quality of Customer Service at Event: Excellent
- Friendliness of your Entertainer: Excellent
- Promptness of your Entertainer: Excellent
- Professionalism of your Entertainer: Excellent
- Entertainer’s Performance: Excellent
- Entertainer’s Appearance: Excellent
- System Appearance: Excellent
- Sound Quality: Excellent
- Overall Volume Levels: Excellent
- Music Selection: Excellent
- Incorporation of Your Requests: Excellent
- Lighting Effects: Excellent
- Equipment Appearance: Excellent
- Overall Customer Service: Excellent
- Planning Assistance: Excellent
- Entertainer’s Cooperation with Other Vendors: Excellent
- Overall Performance Rating: Excellent
- Would you recommend this service to others? Yes
Soccer Stars At Rose City Futsal Bat Mitzvah
Ani loves soccer and Rose City Futsal in Northeast Portland, Oregon was the perfect place to hold her Bat Mitzvah party on Saturday, November 26, 2016.
The family reserved the entire venue. This meant 2 full turf futsal fields to play soccer and other fun activities.
There is also a third hardwood floor and this is where I setup my sound system for music, games and dancing. The adults gathered upstairs in Clive’s Public House located on the mezzanine level.
The play fields provided stiff competition to dancing, but the music carried nicely throughout the venue and added another level of energy to the fun both kids and adults had playing soccer and other sports.
The dance floor became a little more popular when everyone gathered for the traditional chair raising and dancing to ‘The Hora.’
The music mix featured mostly current hit songs, such as ‘Cheap Thrills’ and ‘Side to Side’ plus all of Ani’s favorites, including Justin Timberlake’s ‘Can’t Stop The Feeling,’ ‘Super Bass’ from Nicki Minaj and Walk the Moon’s ‘Shut Up and Dance.’
Mazel Tov Ani and thank you Lisa and Jason for choosing PRO DJs.
Eleanor’s Bat Mitzvah Party At Kennedy School
Eleanor’s memorable Bat Mitzvah party took place at McMenamins Kennedy School in Northeast Portland, Oregon on Saturday, September 10, 2016.
When looking for a DJ for her daughter’s big night, her mom noted the following: “Must engage all the kids so they all feel included; must have “Jewish” feel with The Hora. I’m not interested in a DJ who just blasts music – the DJ must engage directly with the kids and get camp friends interacting with school friends, etc.” I appreciate that I was chosen for this event and it was a pleasure performing for Eleanor and her friends and family.
For arriving guests I played a variety of background music that included requests for ‘Best Day of My Life’ from American Authors, Train’s ‘Hey, Soul Sister’, ‘Graduation (Friends Forever)’ from Vitamin C and the appropriately titled, ‘I Love Eleanor’ by Wes Cunningham.
After the kids had a chance to eat, they had a great time playing games, including a scavenger hunt, Coke & Pepsi and the limbo. Eleanor’s mom Amy was insistent The Hora be danced correctly, so she took a few minutes to demonstrate for everyone before I started the music.
There was a lot of energy and the dance floor was hoppin’ all evening to hot hits such as ‘Uptown Funk’, ‘Billie Jean’, ‘Shut Up and Dance’ and more.
Mazel Tov Eleanor and thank you mom Amy for choosing PRO DJs.
Post Event Satisfaction Survey:
“Rich Ellis was amazing both before the event with all the planning and during the event. He did a fabulous job getting the kids playing games and dancing. They were on the dance floor the entire evening and everyone (kids and adults) had a wonderful time. Rich really made the party a huge success!!!” -Amy Blumenberg (Eleanor’s Bat Mitzvah)
- Event Date: Saturday, September 10, 2016
- Event Type: Bat Mitzvah
- Event Location: Kennedy School, Portland, OR
- Event Staff: Rich Ellis
- Quality of Customer Service via Telephone: Excellent
- Quality of Customer Service via Internet: Excellent
- Quality of Customer Service at Event: Excellent
- Friendliness of your Entertainer: Excellent
- Promptness of your Entertainer: Excellent
- Professionalism of your Entertainer: Excellent
- Entertainer’s Performance: Excellent
- Entertainer’s Appearance: Excellent
- System Appearance: Excellent
- Sound Quality: Excellent
- Overall Volume Levels: Excellent
- Music Selection: Excellent
- Incorporation of Your Requests: Excellent
- Lighting Effects: N/A
- Equipment Appearance: Excellent
- Overall Customer Service: Excellent
- Planning Assistance: Excellent
- Entertainer’s Cooperation with Other Vendors: Excellent
- Overall Performance Rating: Excellent
- Would you recommend this service to others? Yes
DJ Revs Up Bat Mitzvah At The Circus Project
Zoe and her friends had a great time at her Bat Mitzvah celebration held at The Circus Project in Northwest Portland on Saturday, July 23, 2016.
The Circus Project is Portland’s training center for contemporary circus arts and this was the first private party ever to take place there. With that in mind, there were several contortionists performing on tables throughout the venue, showcasing their skills of extreme physical flexibility.
While the parents engaged in conversation and dined downstairs, the kids had the entire upstairs to themselves and they had a great time playing games, such as the scavenger hunt, dancing to their favorite hit songs and doing the limbo.
Mazel Tov Zoe and thank you Susan and David for choosing PRO DJs.
Post Event Satisfaction Survey:
“Rich was great!” -Susan Greenberg (Zoe’s Bat Mitzvah)
- Event Date: Saturday, July 23, 2016
- Event Type: Bat Mitzvah
- Event Location: The Circus Project
- Event Staff: Rich Ellis
- Quality of Customer Service via Telephone: Excellent
- Quality of Customer Service via Internet: Excellent
- Quality of Customer Service at Event: Excellent
- Friendliness of your Entertainer: Excellent
- Promptness of your Entertainer: Excellent
- Professionalism of your Entertainer: Excellent
- Entertainer’s Performance: Good
- Entertainer’s Appearance: Excellent
- System Appearance: Excellent
- Sound Quality: Excellent
- Overall Volume Levels: Excellent
- Music Selection: Excellent
- Incorporation of Your Requests: Excellent
- Lighting Effects: N/A
- Equipment Appearance: Good
- Overall Customer Service: Good
- Planning Assistance: Excellent
- Entertainer’s Cooperation with Other Vendors: Good
- Overall Performance Rating: Excellent
- Would you recommend this service to others? Yes
Zoe’s Rocking Bat Mitzvah Party At Beth Israel
Zoe’s rocking Bat Mitzvah party took place at Congregation Beth Israel in Northwest Portland, Oregon on Saturday, May 28, 2016.
Zoe was loaded with energy and had no fear of public speaking as she asked for my microphone to announce dinner. She also worked the room by making the rounds to reveal the table raffle winners of some her favorite books. If she ever decides to be a DJ, I told her “she’s hired” 🙂
Following dinner, the guest of honor’s parents toasted their daughter. I then led the kids in a rousing two rounds of the scavenger hunt before opening the dance floor to everyone with ‘The Hora’ and chair-raising.
After spinning a few older songs for the adults, the dance floor became jam packed for ‘Uptown Funk,’ ‘Party Rock Anthem’ and more.
Zoe and her friends really love pop rock songs from the last decade such as tracks from Fall Out Boy, Green Day and Panic at the Disco. I was playing the music loud for the dance floor, but the kids were singing so loud, it wasn’t loud enough. They sounded great and had a lot of fun belting out their favorites.
As we neared the end, they brought nearly every balloon bouquet in the room to the dance floor that made this wild night look even more festive.
Mazel Tov Zoe and thank you mom Jaime for choosing PRO DJs.
Post Event Satisfaction Survey:
“Rich did a wonderful job–so pleasant, easy to work with, nice. He was very accommodating letting my daughter have the microphone! The kids loved the scavenger hunt game. Kids were on the dance floor until the event ended. Great music choices.” -Jaime Kean (Zoe’s Bat Mitzvah)
- Event Date: Saturday, May 28, 2016
- Event Type: Bat Mitzvah
- Event Location: Congregation Beth Israel
- Event Staff: Rich Ellis
- Quality of Customer Service via Telephone: Excellent
- Quality of Customer Service via Internet: Excellent
- Quality of Customer Service at Event: Excellent
- Friendliness of your Entertainer: Excellent
- Promptness of your Entertainer: Excellent
- Professionalism of your Entertainer: Excellent
- Entertainer’s Performance: Excellent
- Entertainer’s Appearance: Excellent
- System Appearance: Excellent
- Sound Quality: Excellent
- Overall Volume Levels: Excellent
- Music Selection: Excellent
- Incorporation of Your Requests: Excellent
- Lighting Effects: N/A
- Equipment Appearance: Excellent
- Overall Customer Service: Excellent
- Planning Assistance: Excellent
- Entertainer’s Cooperation with Other Vendors: Excellent
- Overall Performance Rating: Excellent
- Would you recommend this service to others? Yes
