Features: A film documenting a trailblazing TV show

While filming her eight-year project on the 1960s-era African-American teen dance show "Teenarama," producer Beverly Lindsay-Johnson interviewed the Godfather of Soul, James Brown. "Teenarama" began its seven-year run on the air in 1963 on Washington, D.C.'s WOOK-TV. The show gave black teens a televised dance platform and featured performances by stars such as Brown, Smokey Robinson and Aretha Franklin.

In her documentary "Dance Party: The Teenarama Story," Lindsay-Johnson and co-producer Herb Grimes explore the "Teenarama" sensation and the racial segregation of many teen- dance shows, including Philadelphia's legendary "Bandstand."

Q. Why did you feel the "Teenarama" story needed to be told?
A. A lot of this came from a documentary that I had done 10 years ago called "Swing, Bop & Hand Dance." When I was talking to people in the D.C. area, the subject of "Teenarama" came up and I saw how people would just light up. They would almost lose their minds when they would start talking about this show. After I finished that documentary I said, "You know what? This is a story that needs to be of its own."

Q. How do you think "Teenarama" contributed to the African-American public image in the 1960s?
A. It provided a mechanism in which positive images could be seen on television at a time when there were very few black images on the small screen.

Q. What effect did the show have on its participants?
A. One of the things that I had heard so much was that they received a lot of guidance from that show. It wasn't just a show for them but it was a place to be where they could continue that guidance, where they could dance. They had a host who took an interest in them. He helped to guide them in their careers and in their lives.

Q. In what way did the show contribute to the integration of the black and white communities?
A. The show was segregated. You're kind of talking about segregated on the other side. The station did not want to upset the masses. There were white teenagers who wanted to go on that show, but at the time America was not ready for integration. In terms of social dancing, that still was not quite acceptable.