The Center’s Four Decades at a Glance

• 1968—Center gets its start as the Balkan Arts Center, focusing on uniting Balkan dance and music lovers with traditional performers.
• 1969-present—Greek Community Cultural Initiative: Exploration of little-known Greek regional repertoire leads to tours in the 1980s.
• 1974-present—Albanian Community Cultural Initiative: Center works with new immigrants in Bronx to establish Festival Shqiptar, now in its 18^th year and still going strong.
• 1975-present—Jewish Community Cultural Initiative: Working with clarinetist David Tarras, Center’s project sparks a new wave of interest in klezmer and sparks an international revival.
• 1976-present—Macedonian Roma Community Cultural Initiative: Center brings together Romany, Albanian, and Greek musicians for groundbreaking, cross-cultural programs.
• 1978-1990—Irish Community Cultural Initiative: Amazed by the wonderful young female artists emerging from the community, the Center helps launch Cherish The Ladies, now an internationally acclaimed group.
• 1981-1994—Italian Community Cultural Initiative: Work in New York’s Italian communities leads to three national tours and a concert series highlighting Italy’s diverse regional traditions.
• 1984-1998—Arab Community Cultural Initiative: Working closely with oud player Simon Shaheen, Center helped launch Maharajan al Fan Arab World Culture Festival which served as a catalyst for the creation of the annual Arab American Arts Institute at Mt. Holyoke College.
• 1984-present—Former Soviet Jewish Cultural Initiative: Center helps spur interest in Bessarabian klezmer and produces two national tours of Central Asian ensemble, Shashmaqam.
• 1985-1994—Puerto Rican Community Cultural Initiative: The Center’s work significantly boosts public awareness of bomba and plena and helps the ensemble Los Pleneros de la 21 become cultural ambassadors internationally for New York’s large Puerto Rican community.
• 1996—Asian-Indian Community Cultural Initiative: Center produced Dance India Festival showcasing a variety of regional music and dance, and presented bhangra to a general U.S. audience for the first time, featuring DJ Rekha.
• 1996-2000—West African Community Cultural Initiative: Center worked with local artists to present annual Badenya Festival and found non-profit cultural organization.
• 1996-present—Dominican Community Cultural Initiative: Center founded the Quisquenya en el Hudson Festival in Upper Manhattan and helped the Allianza Dominicana strengthen their cultural program.
• 1997-2001—Indo-Caribbean Community Cultural Initiative: Center worked with Rajkumari Cultural Center to produce the annual Kitchrie Festival in Queens and started dance instruction to develop community artists.
• 2000-2003—Filipino Community Cultural Initiative: Center produced a series of major concerts of Filipino music and dance.
• 2000-present—Mexican Community Cultural Initiative: Center founded two organizations, including the East Coast’s first mariachi academy for youth.
• 2001-present—Peruvian Community Cultural Initiative: Center founded Pachamama Peruvian Arts, the only school providing free instruction for youth in Peru’s traditional arts in North America.
• 2006-present—Chinese Community Cultural Initiative: With support from community organizations, the Center provides lessons for youth in Chinese music.  Presents a concert series of sizhu (silk and bamboo) music featuring leading New York-based ensembles.
• 2006-present—Yiddish Dance Initiative: Center is working to encourage the revival of Yiddish dance through research, instruction, and regular dance workshops.  In partnership with New York University, presents the first-ever Yiddish Dance Research Symposium.
• 2007-present—Ukrainian Community Initiative: Center is collaborating with Ukrainian artists and organizations to present concerts, dance workshops and instruction for youth in traditional instruments.

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