Acknowledge Me

One of many events I’m sure I would enjoy if i didn’t have little kids who would find it boring. Its being billed as “a celebration of all things indie” in Austin.

A Bit of Belly Dance

Belly dance, like most things, comes in a variety of styles. Most people who don’t take classes or attend shows tend to think of the Egyptian or cabaret style as what belly dance is. That style is generally considered ‘traditional’ belly dance, but there are others. One style that has gotten quite popular is American Tribal Style (ATS), sometimes called tribal fusion (although I consider ATS a subset of tribal fusion).

I’m not an expert on different belly dance styles by any means, but the way I understand it is that ATS can be characterized fundamentally as group improvisation based on cuing. As far as I can tell, the costuming is always tribal but wouldn’t necessarily have to be. The movement may or may not incorporate other dance styles (hence, fusion). Its the group improv and shared cuing system that seems to be the defining characteristic of ATS. Its a neat idea, but the ATS performances I’ve seen have been pretty dull – very basic, repetitive movement. Maybe if I saw Fat Chance Belly Dance I would have a different opinion.

Tribal costuming I’ve seen has either been mostly folkloric or else what I think of as Modern Primitive/Goth. I prefer the latter to the former, but I like dancers who bring some creativity to their costuming and at this point the neo-goth tribal look is pretty standard.

I am a big fan of fusing in other styles. My teacher is a fusion dancer so it could be that’s just what I’ve learned. But its interesting to see what a dancer can pull in from other dance styles while still showing you something that is clearly belly dance. I choreographed and performed a belly dance/hip-hop fusion piece this past year for the Austin Bellydance Association’s Year and A Day of Bellydance project. (Yes, I have it on DVD and no, I am not posting it here.) It was my first real attempt at choreography, which was its own unique challenge, and my exposure to hip-hop is limited but some of the ways the two styles approach movement are similar so it was an interesting exercise.

I saw The Indigo in September when their Serpent Rouge tour brought them to Austin. I loved them. They are tribal fusion but their costuming and music pushed past what I’ve seen of that style (I certainly haven’t seen so much that I can presume I’ve seen it all, but new to me is good enough). They also incorporate different dance styles and yoga. The show was sort of vaudeville vintage, a fun change from the typical Arabian Nights or Turkish Gypsy themes you often see at belly dance shows.

This is a clip of Mardi, then Zoe and then Rachel dancing to a song called Opa Cupa. Zoe did a great solo and the Tobias/Rachel drum solo piece just about brought the house down. Very fun.