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what is tribal?
Our dance style is based on American Tribal
Style (or ATS) bellydance, which was born in California in the 1980s -
Carolena Nericcio's Fat Chance Bellydance
troupe is the mother of the form. People often define ATS as what it's
not - it's not the cabaret and Mid-East/North African folk dances we
think of when bellydance comes to mind.
But what is it? A combination of modern dance aesthetics, Turkish and
Egyptian "bellydance", Indian, Romani and Spanish dance formats, ATS is
also uniquely and unapologetically American. As a performance, ATS is
characterized by its improvisational choreography (that is, while there
is a set vocabulary of movement, the order of movements and patterns on
stage are determined in the moment), its focus on group performance and
cohesion, a leader-follower format, its earthy costumes influenced by
the many cultures from which the style pulls, and its powerful, open
stage presence.
Fusion dance further explores the core ideas of ATS - like
experimentation, group focus, and feminine power - by folding in
contemporary dance (like hip hop and the goth club scene), other
folkloric dances from a variety of cultures, and the performers' own
artistic license. Fusion gives us the ability to craft new ideas from
our wide array of other movement training. Unlike ATS, which is always
improvised and almost always done as a group, our fusion performances
will often be choreographed and feature individual dancers.
We perform both ATS and fusion style, but our current focus is on
developing the tribe through our ATS practice and training. American
Tribal Style improvisation fosters a strong sense of community and
unity that we hope to share with our students and audience.
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learn more about tribal
If tribal style intrigues you, there are tons of ways to learn more.
Check out our links page for information on Virginia, Carolina and DC troupes. The DC Tribal
collective in particular is a great resource if you'd like to
experience different styles of tribal bellydance. Their monthly Tribal
Cafe showcases DC-area performers, and they host excellent workshops
throughout the year.
Other useful resources for learning:
Sharon Moore's www.tribalbellydance.org is a concise collection of essays about tribal style, including some of its history.
The Tribal Bible, though out of print, is filled with history if you can find a copy.
Back issues of Fat Chance Bellydance's "Tribal Talk" newsletter are sold on their website, and are fabulous for watching the evolution of dance as it happened.
A ton of tribal festivals happen each year around the country. Tribal Fest, Tribal Quest, TribalCon, you name it.
Finally, we can't say enough about Tribe.net
- it's a social networking site like MySpace - and it's become the
gathering place for dancers and musicians alike to talk about our art.
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