An Evening of Experimental Middle Eastern Dance (EEMED) was conceived in the Winter of 1999 by a group of dancers wanting a space in which to perform their controversial works.

Though the greater Los Angeles area is home to one of the largest and stylistically varied populations of professional Middle Eastern dancers, there were almost no venues in which these innovative dancers could perform.

Since the Fall of 2000, EEMED has offered Middle Eastern dancers the opportunity to perform their works over several nights, allowing them to fully explore and experience their pieces and characters.

The concert is also unique with its extensive lighting design, fixed stage space, and option for scenery; things rarely available to Middle Eastern dancers.

In order to assure quality, each work, often at least a year in the planning, must go through an audition process. Such nurturing and attention opens up new and exciting avenues of expression.

In 2001, EEMED concerts became available on video, allowing national and international audiences to appreciate and participate in this unique body of work.

Increasingly EEMED receives more and more attention in the Middle Eastern dance community and the greater Los Angeles media. Numerous reviews have been written commending the show’s originality, thought-provoking nature, and deep emotional impressions.

EEMED has also had the honor of being LA Weekly’s "Dance Pick of the Week" (2005), cover story for The Argonaut (2004), and LA Beat’s dance pick in "7 Days in LA" (2003).

Dancers continue to produce cutting edge works exclusively for EEMED. Their pieces, based in the Middle Eastern dance idiom, make traditional borders, edges, and standard representations visible by playing in-between and pushing past them into a new fringe space.