I am the producer of the documentary, Dance Party: The Teenarama Story. This special documentary, made for PBS, examines the popularity of teen television dance shows of the 1950s and 60s, and how these shows ushered in American popular culture with shows such as American Bandstand, The Buddy Deane Show (the inspiration for the hit movie and play "Hairspray"), and the Allen Freed Show. But racial segregation did not provide equal opportunities for African American teenagers and many were not given the opportunity to dance and have fun on television like their white counterparts. In Washington, DC, black teens were given their own day once a week to dance absent of white teens. That day was called "black Tuesday" by the teens. However, a television station took the mantle and created a dance show just for black teens. That show was the Teenarama Dance Party, which aired from 1963-1970 on the nation's first TV station to program for the "Negro Audience", WOOK-TV, Ch. 14 in Washington, DC. Teenarama was the jewel of the African American community and showcased some of the best teen dancers in the nation's capitol.
Dance Party: The Teenarama Story is narrated by the legendary Martha Reeves of the Motown group, Martha and The Vandellas. The stories are told in the words of the original Teenarama dancers, now adults, with special stories told by The Godfather of Soul, James Brown and The Iceman, Jerry Butler.
It took 8 years to complete production of this documentary, as this was an independent production. Funding was a major reason for the 8 long years. Open doors…closed doors. Some funding sources wanted me to revise the concept of the documentary and I refused. There were tears and there were cheers. But the community whose story is being told, as well as industry professionals, believed in this project (and many professionals provided me with in-kind services).
One of the major success stories of the documentary is a recreation of the original Teenarama Dance Party. In the absence of original footage which was lost when WOOK closed, I decided to have inner city hip-hop youth instructed in “old school” DC Hand Dancing (then known as “fast dancing” or “jitterbug”) and free-style dances of the 1960’s such as the Monkey, the Cha Cha Cha and the Boog-a-loo. These youth were not professional dancers. For the filming, the teenagers dressed in period clothing and adopted hair-do’s from the era. It was phenomenal. It wasn't an easy process, but in the end, they mastered the dances and became the Teenarama Dance Party.
After 8 years, the documentary made its initial film festival debut at the DC Film Fest ‘06 and was the highest grossing film, and the most anticipated film in the history of the 20 year festival.
In June 2006, the documentary made its PBS debut in Washington, DC (WHUT-TV Howard University Television). In February of 2007, it was picked up by 94 PBS stations.
In December, 2006, Dance Party: The Teenarama Story was given to Disc Makers, who worked with me in creating DVDs of this special documentary. Disc Makers provided professional service, manufactured and packaged a great product.
In May 2007, Dance Party: The Teenarama Story was nominated for an Emmy.
On June 16, 2007, Dance Party: The Teenarama Story received the National Capitol Chesapeake Bay National Academy of Television Arts and Science Emmy Award for Best Cultural Documentary.
I changed careers in mid-life and became a television producer. Receiving an Emmy has been a dream for me. I was nominated for an Emmy in 1998 but did not receive it. It took 9 years of additional work in a profession that I love, in order to receive the highest award in television for a documentary. A documentary, which I remained loyal in telling about a little known black history fact that is no longer "little known."
