Greetings!

I'm glad to have found this tribe. I publish a magazine and Web site (www.bellydancenewengland.com) for the New England Middle-Eastern music and dance community. I've always been interested in our local history - George Abdo, Mike Sarkissian, Morocco (not the one from NYC!), Artie Barsamian - it's a rich history indeed.

I'm collaborating on a documentary about this very subject with a Cambride-based media company, Interlock Media (www.interlockmedia.com). A summary of the film:

"Aziza!" is a new documentary profiling the history of belly dance in the Boston area as it has evolved and thrived over the past century within various local ethnic groups including the Armenian, Lebanese, and Greek communities that have settled here since the early 1900s. This documentary presents a unique perspective on how music and dance has played a crucial role in the immigrant experience of these communities, and how belly dance - a fringe ethnic art form - eventually gained popularity in mainstream America.

This tribe might be the right place to put out this request. We are in the pre-production phase and are just beginning our research. We are looking for historical material on the Boston belly dance scene - photos, film and video footage, articles, show recordings - from the 1950s - 80s. We are especially interested in talking with anyone who was a regular club goer in those days, to get the audience perspective. If anyone here has such material, or knows of someone who might be able to help, please email me at info@bellydancenewengland.com.

I'll also just put it out there - while we're going for grant money, we need seed money for the next 4-5 months to bring the production staff on board. If anyone might be interested in donating or investing, please email me at info@bellydancenewengland.com.

Thanks so much! I'll post periodic updates here, if anyone is interested.

Amy
Publisher/Webmaster, Middle-Eastern Dance in New England