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New York/East Coast Belly Dance Legacy

topic posted Thu, December 8, 2005 - 6:03 AM by  Barb aka Fik... 		Share/Save/Bookmark
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Can anyone tell me how to research early happenings and roots of belly dance on the east coast? I have found Rhea and Jamaila's articles about the west coast scene very interesting but I just haven't stumbled upon any writings about the east coast history.
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Barb aka Fikriyyah
offline Barb aka Fikriyyah
Pennsylvania
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  • Aisha
    Aisha
    offline 54

    Re: New York/East Coast Belly Dance Legacy

    Thu, December 8, 2005 - 7:52 AM
    I would try to find some copies of Arabesque magazine, which was edited by Bobby Farrah, who was profoundly influential on the East Coast.
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    • Alexia
      Alexia
      offline 167

      Re: New York/East Coast Belly Dance Legacy

      Thu, December 8, 2005 - 8:38 AM
      indeed! There was a hot, hot, hot ethnic music and dance scene in NYC in the 50's, 60's and faded (or morphed) in the 70's.

      There was a 12 block radius on 8th Ave that had a huge number of ethnic clubs. (This was pre- Bobby Farrah)
      The Egyptain Gardens
      The Round Table
      were a few

      in the Village the Feenjon cafe had late night music jams with the best of the best from all of the 8th ave clubs. Everyone would head over after their gig and jam way into the next morning. This impromptu gathering spawned the Famed Feenjon Group (who's albulms evry belly dancer had in the 70's!)
      Menachim Dworman (guitarist and owner of the Feenjon) had a vision and assmbled an amazing group of musicians that represented the cultual mix that was present in the clubs at this time
      Ali Hafed (moroccan drummer)
      Avram Pengas (Isreali and Greek styled giutar)
      Eliazar Adaram (sp) Isreali accordian
      Steve Knight (American bass player, played bass for the rock group Mountain, you know....Mississippi Queen!!)
      and many more

      I have film footage of interviews with the musicians and patrons of the Feenjon from their 25th year reunion. Note to self....Need to do something with that.

      Some of the dancers that were popular and got their start here were:
      Saroya Melik
      Jemela Omar
      Sabah Nissan
      Anahid Sofian
      Nejma Ayeshe
      Serena
      Morocco
      Elena Lentini

      Most of the clubs were owned by Greeks but the music and dance reflected Turkish, Armenian, Greek and some Arabic stylings.

      I just throwing things off the top of me head here but a few other names that were prominent from that time were:
      George Mgridigian(sp) oud master
      Sugar Mary (spoons and vocals)

      Take a look at the first few topics posted in this tribe, there is some specific info on some of these greats. Also check the photos.

      I'm bound to post more on this...but I'm at work right now.
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      • Re: New York/East Coast Belly Dance Legacy

        Thu, December 8, 2005 - 11:43 AM
        wrt 8th avenue--Amira Jamal was telling a story in class the other day about how when she and her husband owned a restaurant on Atlantic Avenue, random Arabic speakers would show up on their block all the time. They came to New York without knowing a word of English, but knew through word of mouth that if they went to Atlantic Avenue, they could find people to help them out, give them jobs and get them started in America. It sounded like a very dynamic time and place.
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      • Unsu...
         

        Re: New York/East Coast Belly Dance Legacy

        Thu, August 10, 2006 - 1:53 PM
        Yes there was I grew up in the East Village as my parents performed on 8th street and other areas. I remember being back stage with belly dancers sometimres while my Patents did their show. I rember Estiline the sword swallower too. My dad started me in Ballet and modeling at 3. It must have been the beginning of my ME dance knoweldge now that I think about it. I rember my Dad coming home on break with a belly dancer still in costume having luch with us. Ha ha I knew then I wanted to be a dancer and here I am.

        Yes I started researching the legends I believe my Parents worked with most of them but they wouldnt remember me now lols.
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          Re: New York/East Coast Belly Dance Legacy

          Thu, August 10, 2006 - 3:13 PM
          Hey, in regards to a list below, Avram Grobard was the guitar player/singer at the Feenjon, not Avram Pengas.

          And my mother Johanna in the recent pictures on this Tribe worked every club in Greektown steadily for over a decade, The Brittania, Grecian Palace, Port Said, Egyptian Gardens, the Istanbul, etc. A lot of people came and went but she was one of the core group along with Serena and Morocco, etc who stayed. I am planning a seminar tour soon, but ahead of that, if you care to contact Johanna, you can do so by e-mailing me at: zizidancer@yahoo.com. I also had the pleasure of working with a lot of the Greektown dancers at other clubs in NYC when I was a little belly dancer. They were great friends and I had a great childhood raised by belly dancers and nightclub owners, waiters, musicians, etc. Our studio apartment on West 57th St. hosted many a lively discussion over Turkish coffee with all of these folks.

          She worked with all the great musicians in Greektown as well as for private events like Tayoun's Mahrajan in NJ and the Waldorf Astoria Ball of the Year. She also worked Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn as far back as the early sixties and we had many friends there when I was growing up. She also worked Greek clubs in Astoria in Queens and other cities in the U.S.

          We are currently working on a book. Good luck with all your searching. There is some misinformation about what the clubs were like. They were family oriented and the Turkish dancers were very lady like. I assure every one, none of them were from "whorehouses." This is crap! Don't listen to this! Love, Aziza

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          • Sabah
            Sabah
            offline 3

            Re: New York/East Coast Belly Dance Legacy

            Tue, November 14, 2006 - 5:18 AM
            Avram Grobard was the first ACCORDIAN player with the Feenjon Group, Eleazar Adoram came later, and Avram Pengas, came much later. Avram Pengas plays guitar and came to New York when Avram Grobard opened his club called "El Avram". Avram Pengas played there first and later joined the Feenjon Group , later had a club called Noga, and now plays every Wednesday evening at The Cupping Room with his group in New York City.

            I saw Avram Grobard at George Mgrdichian's memorial concert. Avram sang and I have to say, he still has a magnificent voice that could fill a football stadium.




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              Re: New York/East Coast Belly Dance Legacy

              Wed, November 15, 2006 - 3:18 PM
              Well, guess what? Avram Grobard was inadvertantly responsible for my dance career. Here's my story ("And I'm sticking to it"):

              My mother Johanna and another belly dancer named Suzanne Sherman (AKA "Turkan") shared an apartment for a while because they were both in the same boat, single mothers because of mistakes with musicians, ha ha! Suzanne/Turkan was performing at the El-Avram when I was ten months old and on her off night, Suzanne took my mother and I to the El-Avram along with her infant son Peter (not much older than I) and his cousin Denise (maybe 5 years old at the time). I was a quiet kid in Greek clubs, ever so much the "little lady," but Peter and Denise were loud and raising hell until Avram Grobard had had enough. He told Suzanne to get the hell out of there with those rotten kids (something to that effect!) and we left and the party moved to another place, (I believe, a few doors down), that featured a lovely black man playing Calypso on a guitar bathed in a blue spotlight on a little stage. (I would call him the "Blue Man" whenever I remembered this story in the future).

              This man saw me dancing in the chair to his music and he loved it so much he asked my mother to put me on the stage with him. He told Suzanne he didn't want anyone else up there with him but me. I danced in the "blue spotlight" with him.

              Two months later at age one, I was ready for action, when my Mother was dancing at the Parthenon in Houston, TX. The babysitter brought me in to see Johanna rehearse with the band and I crawled up there and went into my thing. The owner convinced my mother to make me a costume and I became a solo performer in diapers! I got my first gifts from fans when a Houston area jeweler told my mother to bring me in to his store so he could outfit me with gold baby jewelry. I received a necklace, a bracelet and a birthstone ring.

              I'd like to thank Avram Grobard for throwing me out of the El-Avram club that night. It's been great (most of the time) ever since!

              Love, Aziza

              And P.S. if you are Sabah Nissan you better e-mail me, Lady! I remember you well and Johanna and I still speak of you. We are in NC, stuck in a Southern Baptist hellhole right now, (you know the messes we get in!) but if we ever climb outta dis joint you'll see us in NYC again soon).

              Love, Aziza
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      • kalamat
        kalamat
        offline 0

        Re: New York/East Coast Belly Dance Legacy

        Fri, August 25, 2006 - 5:05 PM
        Greetings!...

        Does anyone know where these iconic belly dancers are today?

        Are there any pictures or even video clips from the distant past one could view of Jemela, Saroya, Marocco, and all those talented ladies as they performed their craft and skill in those famous and now legendary Greek/Oriental Nightclubs of the 60's located throughout the vicinity of downtown 8th Avenue New York City?

        Thank you!! ;- )

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          Re: New York/East Coast Belly Dance Legacy

          Sat, August 26, 2006 - 9:35 AM
          Well, Johanna lives with me in NC and was filmed three years ago performing "Shish Kebab" at a party. Also, MGM filmed her "Johanna's Oasis Dancers" at the Tayyoun Mahrajan in Marlton, NJ for a documentary that played in 50 major cities across the U.S. My mother would like to know how she can get a copy as she never got to see it. Also, I am so dissapointed that the producers of the old "Turkish Voice" t.v. show shown in NY, NJ, PA and Ankara, Turkey had the policy of taping over old shows. When I made my final appearance at age 13 they did a retrospective of my past appearances, but my first at age six was already gone. Myself, my mother Johanna, Siri, Jemile Biljin, and other Greeektown dancers and singers like Princess Cihan Isik were regulars over the years. The loss of these tapes is tragic.

          Aziza
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          • kalamat
            kalamat
            offline 0

            Re: New York/East Coast Belly Dance Legacy

            Wed, November 15, 2006 - 4:17 PM
            I honestly do not know how this forum? works. I see postings all over with different dates.

            Anyway, if your response was intended for my question... thanks!

            I have a B&W publicity glossy picture back from the early 60's... I believe it is Johanna.

            I also have other pictures from various New York City 'Casbahs' with singers, musicians and belly dancers on stage including one with a very young Morocco back from the days of Grecian Palace.

            I just luv to go through them!
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  • Ayana
    Ayana
    offline 140

    Re: New York/East Coast Belly Dance Legacy

    Wed, August 16, 2006 - 5:12 AM
    Morocco has great articles on her website - one in particular "In Loving Remembrance" tells about her start in Oriental Dance in New York, and the club scene in the 60's and beyond.

    She, along with Bobby Farrah, has been one of the most influential East Coast teachers.
    www.casbahdance.org/
    There's some great reading out there - go to the Articles link. :-)
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  • Norma
    Norma
    offline 67

    Re: New York/East Coast Belly Dance Legacy

    Sat, August 26, 2006 - 3:47 PM
    Then of course there was the scene in Detroit/Dearborn which was the hotbed of Arabic entertainment as the area contained the largest percentage of Arabs during that time period. Many wealthy Saudi's, Iraqi's and Lebanese, descended to Detroit to get an education. The nightclubs flourished as a result. Unfortunately, it was so commonplace and popular, it was taken for granted.
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      Re: New York/East Coast Belly Dance Legacy

      Tue, August 29, 2006 - 9:31 AM
      Back to Bobby Farrah, he saw my mother's dance company "Johanna's Oasis Dancers" photographs when the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia Dance department did a special museum showing and tribute to her company (which was the first oriental dance company founded by an East Coast dancer and maybe both coasts). She was lauded for her "important work" in this field. Bobby told us that seeing "Turhan" showed him that a man could make it in the Middle Eastern Biz and that it inspired him to go forward with his interest in the dances of his heritage. (Men didn't belly dance in Greektown in those days). Later, Bobby founded his company and he was always thrilled to see Johanna, one memorable occasion was a concert we attended at Lincoln Center. And years before that, my Mom and Eddie Kochack went back a long ways, too. We used to see him at his office in NYC when I was a kid.
      Aziza
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