What is TRIBAL. .. belly dancing.. speaking?

Question:

What is TRIBAL. .. belly dancing.. speaking?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Not sure what your question is exactly but I'll try to explain a little bit about tribal bellydance. A previous poster was correct that it originated with Jamila Salimpour in the 60's in CA. However even what Jamila did was not quite what we reffer to as tribal bellydance. Tribal bellydance really took off with Fat Chance Bellydance and Gypsy Caravan This style developed into what is now reffered to as "tribal style." The more accurate name is American Tribal Style (ATS) bellydance. American was added because the style has broadened into it's own offshoots in various parts of the world especially if a workshop featuring tribal had done there. ATS has also broadened in the US. There are now distinct differences between east coast and west coast tribal styles. The term tribal style is sometimes used as a blanket term to cover not only ATS but also folkloric and fusion styles however this is a little too inaccurate and many dancer like to keep traditional folkloric styles associate with a specific caberet style such as saeedi, balad, melaya leff, etc... are all part of egyptian style not ATS. I too prefer this grouping since it is more appropriate. ATS is actually more or less afusion of middle eastern dances as well as indian, afghani, pakistani, etc... The movements are largely based in bellydance though. ATS is more well known for it's group aspect than it solo's. In ATS a group of women all do the same thing while one dancer at a time gets to be in the lead. Using usually, arm positions/movements to signal the transition to a new move. The lead dancer gets a few moves and then another dancer rotates into the lead position and does the same thing cueing her "sisters" to certain moves which she wishes to do. Generally the moves are done rather slow in comparison to a caberet style and the music is also often slower. The music generally is a slow and steady drum with few rhythym variations. Tribal dancers often retain a certain seriousness in their facial expressions but there are plenty of performers who smile especially since it's fun. Often those who prefer ATS over caberet are more attracted to it because of the close sisterhood aspect that forms. Since caberet styles are generally women's solos there is less bonding but it can occur especially in shared classes and/or by joining or forming a troupe. Their costuming tends to be a full circle skirt made out of a cotton or other natural fiber sometimes brocade or tpestry fabrics. Often the skirt is black with another overskirt that is in a brighter color. They generally wear a pair of harem pants underneath their skirts as well. The top usually consists of an indian choli top and/or kuchi decorated bra. There is usually a turban as a headpiece. This is the charicature of a west coast tribal style dancer. East coast dancers vary a little and newer offshoots vary considerably.