The 'T' Word: What is Tribal Bellydance?
It's a big subject. And it's a fraught subject, too... I noted in my last newsletter essay that, although we are
inclined to joke around about the "Bellydance Police", there's a painful little nub of truth in that idea; we're
them, to each other, and often none too nice about it.
Firstly, about what is and what is not bellydance: if it is based on core isolations expressing shimmies,
undulations and bumps of various kinds, it's bellydance. I'd rather not see mine combined with hip-hop, ballet,
Pilates, yoga, African dance or Mexican skirt dance, but that is my personal preference. I should state right
here that I'm an American Tribal Style teacher/performer/Fat Chance Belly Dance Sister Studio, so that's
where I'm coming from. I should also state that I have great respect for my sisters in the dance, as anybody
who's been to one of my events will have seen; I am not the Bellydance Police, I just know which artistic vision
is the one that works for me. I love to watch all the styles, and see what people bring to them.
It's the naming thing that's the bugbear here. I know from experience that dancers will give you a name for their
style if you ask. Sometimes it's a name they got from the dancer who taught them, sometimes it's a new thing
that they've coined. I'm not implying criticism of the new thing... dance is an evolving art form, always. It's just
that, like any other art, some of it is good and some not so good. I work with a well-established format and
mentor because I find the form to have integrity and beauty. I have a lot to learn, and not much to contribute as
of yet, though I do hope to get there with hard work and humility.
The bugbear mentioned above consists in trying to attach a clear meaning to 'tribal' in this context. It's
become the 'T' word.
What does it mean to you? Spooky sexy Gothic dark dance? Gorgeous pop/lock isolation work a la Rachel
Brice, Zoe Jakes et al? Troupe work with rotating leaders or soloists? Is it a look; tattoos, spikes, and
piercings? What about improv, is it improv or choreographed? Short choreographies, or whole song? What
about props? And while we are at it, who decides?
Bellydance as a whole suffers from a surfeit of MSU (making stuff up) and fakelore. We already have trouble
being taken seriously as artists; we dig a deeper hole by a.) not knowing what we're talking about and b.)
making stuff up.
I've been chewing over the 'tribal' problem for quite a while now. It's my problem: I'm an ATS dancer, and that's
ur-tribal, old school. I came up dancing tribal fusion improv, learning my chops in a group that made up new
steps and cues and borrowed freely from other styles. My trip back to ATS roots has sharpened my
understanding of what the term 'tribal' means and what it's meant in the past, but I do see a lot of confusion out
there.
I do not claim expertise on other styles of bellydance. I can give you critique based on general performance
quality, but I know very little of what makes a specific movement good and correct in those other styles. I'm not
the Bellydance Police, Morocco, Artemis, Kajira, Suhaila, or even Shira.net. If you dance Turkish style, you
know its hallmarks yourself... so do your fellow practitioners. Complicating matters further are music and
costuming, which might or might not connect to the style as it is understood by those who dance it.
So, to sort things out a bit... in its vaguest sense, the ephemeral trendy one, 'tribal' is a lot of Nots; Not
Egyptian, Not Turkish, Not Cabaret, nor any of their variations. It might also mean Not Pastel or Not in Bedlah,
and No Drum Solo while we are about it. In fact, no solo if we are going to be picky.
If we are going to be picky, it means cued group improvisation, and there are recognized formats for this that
allow for freedom within the discipline that makes choreography unnecessary. You can recognize cued improv
by the way the dancers watch their lead dancer, in order to catch her changes. The tribe in this sense of 'tribal'
is the group of dancers who are riffing off each other and the music. It's very much like playing jazz. There's a
meeting of the minds that is all about trust and playfulness, and it's a real high to perform.
When we aren't being picky, 'tribal' has become the catch-all word meaning Other, Under Development,
Experimental... I was recently at a tribal event that included many soloists, veil work, choreographed pieces
and cued improv of a singular troupe-derived origin. It was all interesting, and some of it was lovely, but I had
some trouble figuring out what the acts had in common; what was tribal about them? Well... see above: no
bedlah, no pastels, no Egyptian or cabaret or Turkish...
And the variety of looks was also puzzling; does 'tribal' necessitate some version of Melodia's pants as seen on
Rachel Brice in the first BDSS tour? If I'm wearing a 24-yard skirt, am I tribal? How about the awesome hair
garden or wild dreadfalls- is that tribal? The Fat Chance tribal look has been popular for years among all sorts
of dancers- I suspect mostly because it is flattering to absolutely everybody- but in the end it's only clothes.
Just clothes.
As for music: in my format we try to maintain a connection to the roots of the dance form, using some Middle
Eastern pop, folkloric music from around the Mediterranean, Balkan music, sometime Indian or Mahgrebi
music; Mizmar Welcome Here. But I've seen dancers classed with tribal come out to circus music, American
pop, European pop, you name it, quite a grab bag. I've done some of that as a soloist (just to clarify, I am not
really dancing ATS when I solo; it's tribal fusion, and I can do pretty much whatever I want).
Carolena says that if you are adding your own stuff and using 'out-there' music, making up whole new looks,
etc., that what you are doing is tribal fusion, not ATS. ATS is hers by right, history and lineage making that a
legitimate claim. Some tribal fusion dancers call their style ITS, Improv Tribal Style, which makes sense. I'm not
sure what something that uses signature ATS moves adapted to choreography should be called; I guess you'd
have to ask the people doing it. Soloists are soloists. Rachel et al are definitely doing tribal fusion, and I think
Rachel would support that- she's been working on her own format for years.
Ah, but plain old 'tribal', what does that mean? I think I'll stick with 'Other'.