So What is Tribal Belly Dance anyway?

To answer that question, it's important to know that "belly dance" is an umbrella term.  In the homelands of belly dance, there are so many cultures in North Africa, Western Asia, and Southern Europe that dance similarly to one another.  Although, one who is not familiar with them may not notice the differences.  Eventually these dances took root in America and developed into a new style of belly dance, American Cabaret.   Much like two isolated populations of the same species, American belly dance began to evolve to meet the demands of the American audience.  It became its own entity that no longer mimicked the dance styles across the Atlantic Ocean.  It continues to evolve because people change.  New styles emerge just like subcultures do within a society.  Therefore, tribal belly dance was inevitable. 

Tribal belly dance branched from American Cabaret around the 1970s with an alternate perspective of the tribal cultures that contributed to the existence of American belly dance.  Although it has a strong folkloric aesthetic, the goal is to never disrespect the tribes for that will lead to cultural appropriation.  Instead, the perspective acknowledges that we are Americans, and we should take ownership and portray our American identity in our belly dance.  Also, the perspective acknowledges that American belly dance has evolved from the styles of tribal cultures. So tribal belly dance strives to respect its roots by showing gratitude.  By integrating the American culture with gratitude for tribal cultures, a new way to belly dance emerged.

Tribal belly dance originated in the California belly dance community.  There were several groups who were influencing each other and experimenting with alternative belly dance styles at the same time, but one group received recognition first, FatChanceBellyDance®, the originators of American Tribal Style® (ATS®).  This particular dance style is unique because it operates more like a language.  Rather than learning a dance routine to a specific song, a student will learn vocabularies of moves and improvisation mechanics to string these moves together.  No matter how many times you dance to the same song, it will never be the same.  This is exactly how we use grammar rules to string words together and form sentences.  ATS® is meant to be danced with others.  A group of dancers learn the same language.  Then when they perform, it looks like choreography, not improvisation.  

The creator Carolena Nericcio-Bohlman, created this dance to be highly standardized in order to maintain consistency among all of the ATS® troupes in the world.  It is true.  ATS® exists on every continent.  Keeping ATS® strictly structured minimizes the evolution of ATS®, allowing a group of people from the different parts of the world to connect together through dance even though they do not speak the same verbal language.  One FatChance® member, Kristine Adams, is doing just that.  She is traveling all over the globe to witness ATS® as a worldwide phenomenon.  You can follow her adventures through her blog, From the Belly of a Traveler.

Even though ATS® has been changing slowly and adapting to its inescapable evolution, tribal belly dance continues to evolve rapidly.  Former students and FatChance® members like Jill Parker sought personal expression and creative exploration while building on top of their ATS® foundation.  Other dancers in the California community who studied from masters like Jamila Samlimpour, John Compton and Katarina Burda continued to experiment with tribal belly dance through their own creative visions.  Then new styles like Tribal Fusion and Improvisational Tribal Style and so many others exploded over the past couple of decades and continue to rapidly change through experimentation.  The rapid evolution does make defining tribal belly dance a challenge; however, even before the dust settles, one can easily recognize tribal belly dance from its fusion of the American culture and the profound respect for tribes around the world.