Ode to Fazil’s
In 2017, I directed Ode to Fazil’s, a documentary about gentrification and my childhood in New York City through the storied Fazil’s Dance Center.
Fazil's Dance Center, located in New York City, was considered sacred ground for flamenco, tap, hip hop and Middle Eastern dancers often unwelcome at other studios. In 2008, after nearly forty years in operation, Fazil's was torn down and replaced by a luxury high-rise hotel. My personal film brings together stories of a magical place that no longer physically exists, yet lives on in the memories of dancers who continue to cherish it. Through archival footage and present-day interviews, Ode to Fazil's tells the story of this lost New York landmark, and the displacement of artists in a rapidly transforming city.
My mother, G. Rosa Rey and guitarist Arturo Martinez at Fazil’s in the 1980s. Photograph by Elaine Norman.