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A
few years ago I decided to produce a Festival that highlighted American
Tribal Style (ATS) Bellydance and its closest relatives, folkloric
Middle Eastern dance, sacred dance interpretations, and new fusion
"cousins" along similar lines as ATS. I mentioned this idea to a
few people to gauge their reactions, and every response I received
was positive. I also heard that people were considering such an
event in the Southwest U.S., so thought I'd procrastinate a few
months to see how it panned out.
Nothing
happened, and my urge grew. I know people are hungry for Tribal
Style events and knowledge across the nation and worldwide. Many
Tribal dancers don't attend other established events that seem to
focus on "cabaret" styles or modern Egyptian. In some ways, though
related of course, these styles have a different feel and so do
the people attracted to them. Tribal enthusiasts wanted a Festival
of their own! One in which this exciting new style would be embraced
and celebrated for the beautiful, healing and inspiring form that
it is. Knowing this, I began pondering how to go about it. I'd sponsored
several workshops and evening concerts in my day and have staffed
retreats and participated in a great many festivals and large events.
But to actually produce a FESTIVAL was new to me! There was so much
to think about.... and so much personal time and finances on the
line to risk.
So,
after much debate, I approached the only experienced bellydance
festival producer in my immediate area, Ellen Cruz of Rose Productions.
I explained my idea and asked if she'd be willing to co-produce
the First Tribal Festival with me. Ellen has produced many successful
festivals and other events for many years, and is a fellow teacher
in my county. We had also worked together as troupe mates in the
original Gypsy Caravan troupe from California. Ellen was one of
our choreographers and our main musician (she's an accomplished
Middle Eastern drummer and is the other half of the Coral Rose Band).
She thought it was a great idea, and that's how The Tribal Fest
was born!
Almost
a year before it was manifested, we began work. First, we settled
on a few dates that would not compete with other established events
on the West Coast, and then set about locating a suitable venue.
After searching fruitlessly in two counties, we ended up at the
Sebastopol Community Center where Ellen holds her annual Festival
Fantasia in Sebastopol, CA. The First Ever American Tribal Festival
and Celebration (a.k.a. Tribal Fest) was held there on May 19 and
20, 2001.
Deciding
who to hire to teach was easy. Most importantly was Carolena Nericcio
of San Francisco's FatChanceBellyDance, as she and the members of
her troupe created the style now known as American Tribal Style
(ATS). Carolena herself does not personally travel outside SF to
teach often anymore, and we were grateful she agreed to teach her
class personally for us. Her class was titled "The Magic of Improvisational
Choreography, Transforming Simple Steps Into Stage Presentation."
Since American Tribal Style Bellydance would not exist in its present
form without Carolena, Ellen and I decided to dedicate this First
Ever Festival celebrating the genre to her. A special tribute to
Carolena that involved a short "speech" and presentation of flower
bouquets to her by Ellen and myself was featured following her performance
on Sunday. Wishing to honor Carolena further, we featured a column
in our program describing how ATS came about.
We
also invited Paulette Rees-Denis of Oregon's Gyspy Caravan, as she
is the next best known ATS teacher in the world after Carolena,
and the only other one who has established herself globally via
award-winning performance and instructional videos and CDs. Paulette
taught "Tribal Movements and Combinations." She was assisted in
class by Gypsy Caravan member Dulcinea.
I
taught some of my own new ideas for ATS in a class titled "New Movements,
Directional Changes and Ideas for Variety in ATS Group Improvisational
Choreography." My most significant development in the ATS genre
has been cues and movements for use on both hips, and ways to easily
switch sides while dancing improvisationally. These innovations
have enabled me to add to this dance form three major stage orientations
instead of the one or two available previously, as well as more
variety for the chorus. It was this material and some new movements
for use in ATS that we focused on in my workshop.
Another
perennial favorite group in our area and the nation for "Tribal-Folkloric"
style bellydance is Hahbi. Even though their style is not ATS, it
is related through the Jamila Salimpour lineage. John Compton and
Rebaba co-direct this group and co-taught their wonderful Cymbal
Dance choreography.
Since
Ellen's specialty is drumming, she taught "Exploring Basic Rhythms
for Tribal Dance Performance and Practice." Class included several
basic rhythm structures and different cues used in drumming for
Tribal groups.
Ellen
is a master at rallying the local community, and always involves
as many dancers from our area in her events as she can. I tend to
think on a more national scale, so we balanced each other very well!
We had non-stop performances all day from 11:30 a.m. until 8:00
p.m. on Saturday and from 11:30 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. on Sunday.
This is what constitutes a "Festival" on the West Coast of America
- dance performances all day - plus workshops and vending. (Author's
note: Natasya Katsikaris of Ventura, CA produced a 2-day workshop
with an evening show called "Tribal Days" in October 2000. Another
2-day workshop and evening show that featured a Tribal theme was
sponsored by Maja, the Girl from the Nile. It was called "Meeting
of the Tribes," and was held in Florida in March 2001.)
We
asked all performers and vendors to stick to a Tribal, "ethnic"
or folkloric theme for our First Ever American Tribal Festival and
Celebration. After all, that was the idea, and the only way to keep
this Festival different from all the rest. A few local troupes who
usually perform Oriental styles cooked up special choreographies
for our event with a more "ethnic" flair (we saw some Romani-inspired
pieces, some old-style American Classical bellydance acts and Tunisian,
Ghawazee, raks assaya and other traditional specialties). It was
wonderful to see the enthusiasm for our event, even among dancers
who don't perform ATS!
Out
of the 18 vendors we had both indoors and outdoors, none displayed
any beads-n-sequins or the usual "cabaret" costuming. Ellen, who
was in charge of the vendors, decided on a juried show in order
to ensure all goods would be appropriate for our theme. There were
sumptuous velvets, rich brocades, heavy silks, assuit, woollen scarves
and tassels, lots of Indian textiles with mirrors and embroidery,
tassel belts, mozuna ropes, coin adornments, tribal bra-and-belt
sets, big pantaloons, full skirts, traditional and altered styles
of cholis, mirrored and beaded goodies from Bali, and lots of jewelry
from India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Morocco, Egypt and Turkey. All
the teachers brought their videos and CDs, and the massage and henna
booths were kept busy!
Several
hundred dancers came from more than 12 states to perform and participate.
I was in charge of scheduling dancers and was honored to have had
the pleasure of meeting so many wonderful people who came from so
far to support our event! Saturday performance highlights included
a child's Tribal bellydance troupe called Children of the Tribe
who were so adorable with their child-size (but real) swords and
baskets, Troupe Salamat from AZ with their gorgeous North Indian
fabrics, Ultra Gypsy who packed the house and performed a new style
for them that, to me, strongly evoked Oriental fusion bellydance
in the style of Bal-Anat. Their band sounded great as they played
classic songs, rhythms and takseem. Kendra performed a beautiful
Tribal-inspired solo, and Invaders of the Heart wowed the crowd
with their synchronized Turkish Drop finale! Mary Donnelly's World
Dance Company from SoCal is always fun to watch. But the "people's
choice" on Saturday afternoon was clearly the troupe from Pittsburgh,
PA - Zafira (formerly the Ghawazee Troupe). They performed precise
choreographies inspired by ATS ideals with salient finesse. They
call their choreographed form "World Fusion Belly Dance" to differentiate
between the improvised American Tribal Style and their unique style.
There were so many performers over the weekend I cannot mention
them all, but wish to thank all of you! As the day turned to afternoon,
the stage was set for the live music finale.
The
first group with live music in the evening was the Mosaic Dance
Company and Darabuka from NM. This group delighted us with their
variety and fusions of choreography with improvisation. I especially
enjoyed one of their numbers that featured a decidedly Latin flavor,
and seemed to portray the area in which they live to a tee. Next
was the first of our instructor's troupes to be featured during
the weekend. Ellen Cruz and special guests David Brown, Brian, Melissa
Fishbaugh, Chris Caswell and Ernie Fishbaugh, became our folkloric
Middle Eastern band for the first open floor of the day! People
enjoyed a chance to boogie and the energy continued to build. Then
they were joined by Ellen's dance troupe, Dance Journey, from her
classes at the Sebastopol School for Middle Eastern Dance and Drumming.
These young ladies wore old-style Ghawazee-inspired costuming and
performed folkloric-flavored bellydance routines, including a stunning
all-cymbal dance. Closing the Festival Saturday night was the Gypsy
Caravan from Oregon. Sitting in with regular musicians Jeff Rees
and Bruce Beaton were guests Jeremiah Soto of Solace and Wayne Gilbertson
of Troupe Americanistan.
Something
that had never before occurred then happened - something magical
and new and awesome in its power. The World's First Tribal Open
Floor! Without words people converged onto the stage. They began
dancing together. At one point there may have been 40 dancers, most
of whom had not even seen one another before that day. Dancers from
other states, places and with different "Tribal dialects." We found
that as long as we understood the basic Tribal premise of group
improvisation, that the minor stylistic differences don't matter.
People were nearly weeping with excitement from the power generated
by this phenomenon. We all felt it was something groundbreaking,
and very, very special. Dancers in attendance who were not familiar
with ATS basics were welcomed and quickly picked up the basic ideas
of group improv. All this happened in the space of about 10 or so
minutes, to the glorious music of the Gypsy Caravan band. This was
truly an incredible moment! After that, during the rest of the weekend,
all other open floors spontaneously celebrated ATS in this manner.
The audience members who participated could not get enough of this
new and incredible feeling of oneness. This is the feeling that
draws people to this style and keeps us coming back. Some of us
have traveled and experienced this feeling with our distant dancing
Tribal cousins in smaller situations. We knew it was possible. It
was exactly how some of us proponents of ATS envision it becoming,
a unifying global dance expression... one that celebrates coming
together and not competition... Tribal at its best Êtruly embodies
the adage: "the whole is greater than the sum of the parts!" Some
of us see this as a healing metaphor for living life on our planet.
If it can be done in dance, it can be done in other aspects of life!
The seeds that sprouted in San Francisco have borne fruit. Blown
to the four directions, they are taking root everywhere. In some
places adapting new hybrids - yet all still understand that there
is no separation in the form known as American Tribal Style. As
evidenced at the Tribal Fest, the people are more than ready to
put these ideals into action.
Still
in awe from our experience, the audience took their seats for the
finale. The stage came alive again with three of the Gypsy Caravan
dancers, Paulette (director), Dulcinea and Adria. They performed
a wonderful half hour set with the band that showcased choreographies,
improv and plenty of excitement and fun. Their costuming made use
of opposites on the color wheel (red and green), resulting in an
eye-catching visual feast.
Sunday
performance highlights included the duo Jirene, Lunatique, Troupe
Anahata, the very entertaining Aladdin's Lads and Lasses (who don't
perform ATS, but instead have their very own fusion of Middle Eastern
folkloric and Celtic sounds and dance, complete with live music
and a token "elf!"). Blue Dragon Belly Dance from AZ were wonderful,
and Karen Andes' The Womanpower Dancers showcased a powerful piece
that evoked Warrior Goddess/Dakini imagery. The Circle Dance Company
from Oregon delighted the audience with their style titled "Neo-Tribal,"
as it brings ATS closer to Oriental dance again and fuses the two
styles. Later in the day, it was again time for the instructor's
troupes. I started that section with my group, United We Dance.
We decided to perform an all-new "Sacred Suite" we devised that
made use of Tibetan temple bells and singing bowls, Turkish kashik
(wooden spoons), finger cymbals and gergaba at different times during
the set. Of course we showcased many of my new innovations in performance,
including switching directions, Êhips and leads, turning and dividing
the chorus and even doing so during floorwork! We pulled out all
the stops, using veils, baskets and swords in various sections.
Following
us was the incredible Anaheed from Los Angeles, who is always a
crowd-pleaser. She performed a Turkish dance set with alacrity to
the delight of all. Then it was time for the long-awaited ThirdTribe,
SecondSkin and FatChanceBellyDance, all from San Francisco, and
all under the direction of Carolena Nericcio. Carolena's groups
had a half hour time slot, and used the time well, building suspense
with increasingly skilled presentations as each troupe succeeded
the next. As the previous troupe would finish, they'd sit in front
of the raised stage on the floor, which was a nice touch that enabled
them to keep connected, as there was not enough room on the stage
to accommodate all the dancers at once. ThirdTribe and SecondSkin
performed to recorded music, while FatChance performed with Mark
and Elizabeth Bell of the band Helm. Sheer physical strength and
impeccable technique are trademarks very much in evidence in FatChance.
Carolena performed her signature amazing abdominal work as well,
which always causes a roar from the crowd! When all the dancers
returned to the stage to receive their applause and for Carolena's
tribute which followed, they received a well-deserved standing ovation.
Ellen and I made sure with our announcement during the tribute that
there would be no doubt in anyone's mind who was responsible for
this phenomenon we were all there to celebrate!
Closing
the Festival was the incomparable Hahbiâ who performed a full half
hour Renaissance Faire set, featuring all their musicians and dancers!
John Compton, Rebaba and Hahbi â are consummate entertainers, real
people-pleasers. They know how to work an audience, how to involve
them and keep them enthralled. They have had many years honing these
skills at the Northern California Renaissance Pleasure Faire each
fall. They were just as incredible as ever. It is the mark of true
professionals, in my opinion, who can perform the same choreographies
hundreds of times yet make them seem fresh, fun and always exciting.
Apparently the crowd agreed, as they received a standing ovation
that brought the house down! I thank them for leaving us all on
such a high note!
In
closing, Ellen and I wish to thank once again all the people who
came from both near and far to help us celebrate this art form,
everyone who attended the sold out workshops, Richard from Omega
Organization International who came down from Seattle, WA to provide
video and photo services and documentation, Chuck Lehnhard of Spectrum
Mobile DJ who provided the best sound while being the most personable
sound guy Festival goers in CA have had the pleasure of hearing,
Êthe venues' staff, Al-Masri Egyptian Restaurant for providing the
great vegetarian food, all the vendors and once more, Carolena Nericcio,
without whom none of this would have happened.......
And,
yes, there'll be another American Tribal Festival and Celebration
in 2002! Mark your calendars for May 18 and 19, and contact me for
info at 707.546.6366. Please visit the Photo Gallery to see pictures
from the First Tribal Fest. Ê
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