Tribal Belly Dance - information on tribal belly dancing
Tribal Belly Dance Many styles of belly dancing exist in the world today and some of them include the tribal belly dance style. Belly dancing is the art of dancing that includes elaborate costumes, seductive music, along with a seductive dance that Middle Easterners are accustomed to. In fact, belly dancing originated from the Arabic world and much of what anyone knows about belly dancing can be traced from Egypt and the Arabic world. However, some contemporary and modern styles of belly dancing include the tribal belly dance. As you will soon find out, the tribal belly dance is not at all close to the original form of belly dance as was performed in the Middle East and sometimes does not adhere to the practices whatsoever. So what exactly is the tribal belly dance? For Westerners in the United States, Canada, and a few other countries who may not place emphasis on the true forms of belly dancing, the tribal belly dance is a form of dance that can only hope to emulate and copy the other forms of belly dancing throughout the world. In other words, the tribal belly dance style does not study the true form of belly dancing at all, but mainly choreographs the moves and belly dance so that it looks like it may have looked like many years ago in Arabic form. There are many reasons, however, why some people want to continue the practice of performing the tribal belly dance. For starters, the tribal belly dance allows the dancer to be able to go with the flow and coordinate their own belly dancing styles. Even though these styles and techniques may not go along with the original form of belly dancing, or any other form for that matter, the tribal belly dance is more concerned with the look and feel of the belly dance instead of adhering to the true practices of the belly dance art forms. Another reason why tribal belly dancing is popular in the United States is because it allows women to choose their own costumes and clothing styles. This allows more flexibility rather than adhering to the strict costume of the baring midriff blouse, original pantaloons, and hip belt. Altogether, aside from being able to choose one's own costume, the tribal belly dance allows all sorts of music styles and genres, clothing styles, and dance movement for the typical tribal belly dancer. However, even though many Westerners enjoy the art form of the tribal belly dance, many Middle Eastern belly dancers cannot understand why the tribal belly dance is so popular. In fact, many of the tribal belly dance forms are looked down upon in other cultures simply because they only seek to act as a copycat of other, truer forms of originally belly dancing. Nevertheless, though, tribal belly dancing has attracted many women to the field of belly dancing and the tribal belly dance will probably only continue to grow throughout the United States and the whole Western world simply because of the unique styles and attributes that the tribal belly dance brings to the art of belly dancing. ------------------------------------------------------- "This is the way it was explained to me. Tribal belly dance recreates what might have been. But there were many different tribes, mostly nomadic, and there is no documentation (no photographs or paintings or even much written) as to what really existed. So you take your best guess and play around with that. Tribal Belly Dance has ethnic elements, certainly, but there just isn't enough real information to recreate exactly what went on in many diverse tribes throughout the middle-east/northern africa/mediterranian areas. American Tribal Style Belly Dance has been made most famous by Caroline Nericcio and Fat Chance of San Francisco California. Basically, the style is a fusion of Egyptian hip work with Flamenco arm positions and Turkic torso undulations / stomach movements. Dances are usually done as Group dances in a highly structured improvisation. Costuming is a strange fusion of Central Asian and Anatolian folk dance costume elements (silver jewelry and cotton or wool tassels) with East Indian Choli tops and full skirts with wide shalwar. It is a lovely style that requires much skill, but it is not an "authentic" dance form. Tribal Style mixes many authentic elements in a modern fantasy fusion. Since we seem to be interested in origins of Tribal belly dance, I would like to add that from Jamila Samimpour came a break-away student with design and creative talent who had a long time troupe in San Francisco and who created much of the current look (including the turbans and tatoos) and some of the initial mechanics of "Tribal". That student was Masha Archer who eventually left dance to become a successful clothing and jewelry designer in S.F. and N.Y., leaving her San Francisco troupe leaderless. That is when Masha's student, Carolena Nericcio, created her "Fat Chance" troupe. (I ran into Masha at a museum celebration at the Palace of the Legion of Honor in S. F. about five years ago and she still looks astonishing-- artistic in hair and make-up, clothing and jewelry.) Masha should not be left out of the loop of tribal belly dance history for she was a talented innovator in her own way and set the course for breaking away from Jamila's Rennaisance Faire dance-troupe style. Music for tribal belly dance can include a wide range of sounds but is often heavy on the percussion. Some contemporary musicians producing useful music are Solace and Helm, as well as some traditional musicians such as Musicians of the Nile.
Tribal Belly Dance Thursdays 6-7 pm Feb. 2nd - Mar. 9th. DKT Studio, 8530 Oak Street $15 drop in Want to get in shape and have fun too? 肚子舞会在很多人中间是流行的。
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