It is the end of an era
for the local organization in Los Angeles known as MECDA – The Middle Eastern
Culture and Dance Association has closed its doors – so to speak – as of April
1, 2014.
I was there when the
organization was formed back in 1977.
(Scroll to bottom to view an application form circa 1978)
I don’t know that it was the first belly
dance organization, but it was one of the first. The original name of the
club – and the one most of us preferred - was Middle Eastern Cabaret Dancers
Association. It was formed originally as a union for working dancers. I remember well the belly dancers such
as Feiruz picketing with signs in hand outside nightclubs in Hollywood. The
membership at the beginning was limited to working nightclub dancers, but that
soon changed and membership was open to all.
Quickly the club started
to present workshops and the festival, later known as Cairo Carnival. Every year we looked forward to hanging
out with our belly dancer friends, performing and shopping at our own local
festival here in L.A.
The other great benefit
from MECDA was the Cymbal magazine and the monthly Happenings. The Happenings
kept us informed of any workshops and events for that month.
As the organization grew,
it started local chapters. I
belonged to one of the first ones: The High Desert Chapter. I never did live in the high desert, (I
lived in the San Fernando Valley) but the dancer who ran it – Sue Turner - was
looking for members and I guess she considered the San Fernando Valley was
close enough. Soon I was a board member for the chapter and I attended the
monthly board meetings for years. We sometimes had a booth at Cairo Carnival.
I became much less active
in MECDA when I formed IAMED in 1996, as that took up all my time, spare and
otherwise. I was there as a
regular vendor at Cairo Carnival starting in 1997 promoting all things
IAMED.
About 5-6 years ago I sat
down with some of the board members of MECDA. It had been more than a decade
since I had attended one of their meetings. I can’t remember if I was invited
or I just invited myself to the meeting.
At that time they were looking at folding it up. They were experiencing some problems including
the fact that some board members were burnt out after volunteering much of
their spare time for many, many years to MECDA. They were short on quality people who wanted to keep it
going. I can’t remember some of
the other issues, but I went to the meeting to help with solutions so that
MECDA would continue to function and hold events, etc.
Well, it did keep going,
as least for several more years, but the problems unfortunately multiplied,
mainly mismanagement by a new leader.
(They should have
listened to me.)
For me personally, I
think it will take me a couple of years to believe that MECDA is gone. It was
big part of my life for decades. I
find the demise of MECDA incredibly sad. I do have my pictures and memories of
the good times. I only hope in the coming years a new and exciting version of
MECDA will form in Los Angeles.
And don’t worry about
IAMED. As long as I’m still
breathing we’ll be here annoying you for years to come.
Suzy Evans BellyDance.org
*****
Or just read it here
below:
Dear Dancers
and MECDA Supporters,
This is a
really hard letter to write, but we believe we owe it to you to be as
transparent as possible about MECDA, an organization you have long supported.
As an organization that was founded in the 1970s, it has had a storied history
promoting and sharing Middle Eastern dance culture for over four decades. MECDA
has touched and inspired many of us to start dancing and performing.
In 2013, MECDA
underwent a massive leadership shift in a strong attempt to reinvigorate the
organization. Previous longrunning financial mismanagement, poor
organizational leadership and lack of adherence to norms of nonprofit
management led to a perfect storm: MECDA had become a nonprofit organization
serving a dance community that had long lost its faith in it.
It is a body
blow that few nonprofits can recover from, even though the newly constituted
Central Board, a small, committed group of people, worked long hours putting
their time, energy and financial health on the line to bring MECDA back from
the brink.
But sometimes
when something is broken, it is really broken and can’t be fixed. The new Board
has tried over the past twelve months to right wrongs, pay people back, develop
better financial and business organization, rebuild our online community and
plan a better Cairo Caravan. However, in December, MECDA was notified by the
IRS that due to a lack of tax filings since 2010, MECDA had lost its
taxexempt—and therefore nonprofit—status. We stared into the abyss and it
stared back.
We realized it
would take $20,000 MECDA didn’t have to run Cairo Caravan with no guarantee
that we would break even this year whilst working through a heavy backlog of
debts accumulated under the previous leadership. In a constrained economic
climate, dance festival attendance is dropping across the board. MECDA
membership has been dropping precipitously in recent years, and the hollowed
out membership base has made the organization’s position untenable.
We knew a year
ago that Cairo Caravan would be the event that would either herald a new start
for MECDA or the moment where we reevaluated MECDA’s continued existence. As
the Central Board, we have to do what is most responsible for the organization
and for the community. Therefore, we are canceling Cairo Caravan and are
folding MECDA, effective April 1, 2014.
MECDA may not
have been well managed in the past few years, but we are determined to wind it
down in the most responsible way we can. With the cash we have on hand, we will
pay back people who invested Cairo Caravan most heavily, starting with workshop
ticket holders and gala ticket holders, instructors and vendors. The details of
how we will rectify the financial picture will be communicated individually.
MECDA Chapters will be responsible for disbursing what is remaining in their
local coffers in a locally appropriate manner, whether it is donating to a
local good cause, reinvesting it into a community event, or paying off any remaining
debts. We are doing this because you deserved better, whether you were a MECDA
member, previous festival attendee, or a member of the dance community. You
deserve a Middle Eastern dance nonprofit organization that was as relevant and
meaningful to you in 2014 as MECDA was in 1977, and you deserve nonprofit
leadership that is accountable and responsive.
If you have
questions, please contact president@mecda.org and the entire Central Board will
read and discuss your concerns and may be addressed publicly.
We know that
this is a difficult time for all of us, but we appreciate your patience and
consideration as we try to set things as right as we wind down MECDA.
See you on the horizon, Rom, Tim,
Barbara and Rosa
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| MECDA Application Form |
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| MECDA Application Form |
