Find Your Voice: MEDE Members Pay Tribute

The MEDE 21st Anniversary event on Sunday was a huge success. Touring and traveling artists took a brief break to honor the founder of the Mid Eastern Dance Exchange. There was performance, vintage film clips and a panel discussion. The most important thing I walked away with that night was how giving the founder was, wanting her students to find their own unique voice in dance and how supportive of them she was leaving the nest to create their own dance networks. Of the performances that night there were no "soldier dancers" as Aireen put it, everyone was very different. It is like the painter, at first their early student work will be like that of their teacher or the other artists they are studying until they start to develop their style. Singers and musicians too, I love the story of Johnny Cash who was about to cut a record with his band when after hearing them play, the producer advised him to think that this was his once in a lifetime chance, so he started to play something from deep within that his band members had never heard before so they kept up with him on their instruments and the rest is history. Find your voice.

Left to right: Jihan Jammal, Tamalyn Dallal, Hanan, Amar Gamal, Mustafa, Bozenka, Virginia, Aireen and Alexandria.


Below is an excerpt from Tamalyn Dallal it gives the history and lineage of the Mid Eastern Dance Exchange in Miami.

MidEastern Dance Exchange (non-Profit organization for the cultural arts)



Tamalyn Dallal - Founder and Director



The Mid Eastern Dance Exchange was conceived on a train in Egypt. I was floating on air after seeing all the big names of my formative belly dance years perform; Nagwa Fouad, Souhair Zaki, Fifi Abdo, and Azza Sharif. Not looking forward to going back to a steady diet of bellygrams and birthday parties in Miami, I announced to my traveling companion "I'm going to start the Mid Eastern Dance Exchange (MEDE)." "What's that? He asked. I had no idea what the MEDE would become but such an authoritative name would surely raise the perception of our art form. I thought it might become a publication, an agency, or maybe a dance school.



The original studio had two floors and became something of a community center, with children’s classes after school. In the evening it was home to a multitude of movement forms: Belly dance, Kathak, Tai Chi, Yoga, African dance, Haitian, Afro Cuban, Jamaican, Ballet, Jazz, Modern, Tap, Hip Hop, and Acting. In 1993, Lincoln Road became prohibitively expensive and we moved to an upper floor of an office building. Belly dance was quite marginalized and I was told numerous times that we would never get funding. Thanks to Hanan (now the president/director of the MEDE), when she was a new dancer in the troupe in 1997, she wrote and secured our first grant.



The MEDE was the first in Miami to produce a full scale theatrical production (Emerald Dreams) in 1997, followed by numerous other theatre productions: Ghazal, Sawah, Infinito, and 40 Days and 1001 Nights, Dancing Across the Lines. In 2001 we had the privilege of joining forces with New York's World Music Institute to bring the 28-member show "Gypsy Caravan," showcasing authentic Roma culture from four countries, to Miami's Gusman Theater.The original troupe consisted of Mona Mandall, Amar Gamal, and Katia Yasmina (Now known as Maja). This was the troupe from 1991-1995. Mona was in the troupe until 1998 and on the board of directors for 10 years.



The original bellydance teachers at MEDE were; Tamalyn (then known as "Dallal"), Scheherezade, Jihan Jamal, and Myriam Eli (who stayed a short time due to the driving distance.)



pre MEDE

• Ylsa - was the teacher with the most years- 17 years with MEDE then 3 more years at Bozenkas.

• Kathy Lamis

• Jihan Jammal (taught for 3 years)

• Maria Jammal ( taught for 5 years)

• Scheherezade (taught for 2 years)

• Mustafa – Musician

• Fathe – Tunisia – Musician, Music and Dance teacher

• Mariano Parra - Flamenco teacher



1st Generation MEDE Dancers

• Amar Gamal

• August

• Carlos Danaan

• Charlan

• Elizabeth

• Maja

• Marisol

• Mona

• Yasmina (Rocio)



2nd Generation MEDE Dancers

• Aireen

• Barbara Brandt - Sabah

• Big Barbara Arrchevarelta

• Bozenka

• Brenda

• Faride

• Feiruz

• Hanan

• Helena

• Leslie

• Little Barbara Torrez

• Luz

• Marta

• Misha (Hawaii)

• Moki

• Patricia

• Samay

• Shahar

• Thaedra

• Virginia Mendez

• Yasmina (Jessie)



3rd Generation MEDE Dancers

• Alexandra

• Andrea

• Elisa Niederer

• Jennifer

• Jeri

• Kalinka

• Karen Tijerino

• Montserrat Saar

• Moran

• Wild Flower



4rd Generation MEDE Dancers

• Amalia

• Ana

• Francesca

• Joy

• Marilyn

• Roshana Nofret

• Xiomara



MEDE Guest Teacher

• Ahmet Luleci – 2007 - Turkey

• Amani – Lebanon – 1997

• Amel Tafsout – 2000 & 2004 - Algeria

• Amir Thaleb – 1998,1999 & 2000 - Argentina

• Ansuya – 2003 - California

• BellyQueen –2001, 2002, 2003 & 2004

• Dondi – 2001-California

• Dunia – 1992 – New Mexico (currently lives in New York)

• Fajwa (Morocco)

• Ghazal – 1998 – Iran

• Gypsy Caravan – 2001-(Concert 28 gypsys from India, Spain, Romania, Macedonia)

• Hassan El Banna – Egypt – 1992

• Helene Eriksen – 2006 – Germany (Seattle)

• Indian Kathak teacher – Nandu – Santur player

• Issam – 2006 – Lebanon (Bellydance Superstars)

• Jillina – 2006 – California (BellyDance Superstars)

• Karim Nagi – 2006 - Boston

• Kashi – 2005

• Louchia – 2005 - Russian

• Mohammed Shahin – 2007 - Egypt

• Noura – 2001 & 2003 – New York

• Pasha – 2005 - China

• Queen Harish Kumar – 2002 - India

• Ramzi El EDLibi – Lebanon (lived in New York ) 1993

• Raqia Hassan – 1995,1996 (Egypt)

• Richard Khuzami – many times throughout the 90s - from New York

• Saida guest dancer – 1999&2000-Argentina

• Sarat guest dancer – 1999-Argentina

• Sevedije Lika-2007 - Tampa

• Youkta – 1990