{"id":5696,"date":"2017-04-24T07:21:17","date_gmt":"2017-04-24T14:21:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/?p=5696"},"modified":"2022-11-12T18:21:51","modified_gmt":"2022-11-13T01:21:51","slug":"noora-life-was-a-cabaret-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/2017\/04\/24\/noora-life-was-a-cabaret-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Life was a Cabaret"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"Noora
\nNoora dances at Molfetas<\/h6>\n<\/div>\n

My Memorable New York Club Years:
\nPart 3- Beyond Manhattan<\/h2>\n

by Noora-Aphrodite<\/a>
\nposted April 24, 2017<\/span><\/h3>\n

I sometimes think how fortunate I was to have been a dancer in the 80s and 90s. We were the last generation to enjoy the club years, in the tradition not unlike that of the 50s through the 70s. Our music was live with some of the finest musicians and singers around, who played and sang songs that touched your heart and made you jump with joy; and dancers that flavored their shows with their own inimitable style.
\nThis is part 3 of my story.<\/p>\n

Beyond Manhattan<\/p>\n

New York City was \u201cclub city\u201d back in the early 1980\u2019s, besides the Middle Eastern night clubs you had entertainment from around the world. Flamenco was alive at the Chateau Madrid<\/span>, and you could see a Hawaiian revue at the Hawaii Kai<\/span> on West 50th Street. When Ibis closed for the second renovation, all the dancers went scrambling around looking for another steady place to dance in. One club in particular where I got 6 nights a week of work was at Le Palais<\/span> in Brooklyn. It was not a favorite of the dancers and one girl even gave me her nights because she was not happy with the music. Well, dancing was my bread and butter and even though it was definitely not my cup of tea I bit the bullet, made the money and learned quite a few things from that experience. Le Palais was an international club owned by Israelis with an Israeli and international clientele. I learned a lot of new music there, like songs they didn\u2019t play in the Arabic clubs. I also danced to regular trap drums instead of the tabla. I had befriended the star singer, a woman who sang in about ten languages. She was an amazing performer, helpful and very sweet.<\/p>\n

In the beginning it felt like a culture shock, learning how the foreign male mind thinks. Even though they were different, they were alike in many ways. But, I learned how to be diplomatic and polite while handling sticky situations like getting paid on time, and dealing with unruly male customers while still getting the job done.<\/p>\n

Actually, I started learning all this from day one at the Ibis, but this was new territory and it required a certain finesse. In Queens there was a Persian restaurant called Patogh<\/span> that had just opened, it was more family oriented. The owner was nice and I didn\u2019t have to struggle to get my tips or get paid. There were several clubs and restaurants across the river in New Jersey too with quite a few worthwhile places to dance in.<\/p>\n

Molfetas<\/p>\n

I worked the Greek scene at Molfetas<\/span> in Hackensack, NJ and the Turkish crowds at Istanbul Taverna<\/span> right off of Route 1-9 and the Lincoln tunnel in Jersey City, NJ. Sometimes I worked both places in one night and talk about an international bouillabaisse!<\/p>\n

The interesting thing was that you could only dance to Greek music at Molfetas and there was no tabla! My experience from Le Palais served me well. Molfetas was owned and operated by Jerry Molfetas<\/span> and his brother. It was a beautiful spacious nightclub with a striking Greek d\u00e9cor and two levels of seating. Besides the belly dancers, Molfetas featured seven or more musicians, a Greek and an international singer and also including a house photographer and a flower girl who sold carnations. The custom was the customers bought the flowers tore them apart and threw them at the dancer instead of money and that counted as tips! Everyone made money at Molfetas with all of us sharing in the pot including the house; it was really amazing that we all left with a nice amount in our pockets! Working at Molfetas were very long nights for me because at that time I didn\u2019t have a car and I had to wait for one of the musicians or singer to ride back to the city (Manhattan) with, but I was working, dancing and I was making a living! \"Istanbul<\/p>\n

Istanbul Taverna<\/p>\n

The first time Istanbul Taverna (in North Bergen, New Jersey) opened and called me to work I was picked up by the owner\u2019s teenage son and worked there as the house dancer for more than twelve years. Most things at Istanbul Taverna were on a smaller scale when compared to the other clubs. They stuck with only a couple of dancers the whole time I worked there. There were three of us as far as I can remember and we alternated working mostly on the weekends. It too was a roomy nightclub, but with a simple and plain d\u00e9cor. It was family owned and managed and everyone in the family worked there. The owner, Mohammed<\/span>, and his wife were always present and mingling with the customers. Their daughter Cindy<\/span> handled the tables and later Ray<\/span>, the son, tended bar when he became of age. They started out in the beginning with a well-known Turkish band called The Sultans<\/span> which the dancers got to work with, but soon that was cut and the dancer had to use tapes. After awhile I got used to it and the great thing is the owners didn\u2019t care what you danced to (whether Arabic, Greek or Turkish) as long as you did a good job and the customers were happy. Besides the local singers they occasionally booked major singers from Istanbul for major parties and events.<\/p>\n

\"Istanbul<\/div>\n

Atlantic Antics Festival<\/p>\n\n\n\n