Tribal Fusion Belly Dance

Fat Chance Belly Dance. Carolena Nericcio is on the right.

Tribal Fusion Belly Dance (or Bitter Oriental as I’ve become fond of calling it), is an eclectic dance form that includes a multitude of influences. Belly Dance, Flamenco, Hip Hop, Jazz, Classical and other forms can be included in it’s stylistic vocabulary. Each group and even each dancer is a unique expression of the style. At this point in its life there is no real common base vocabulary , but I think it’s safe to say that every TFBD dancer is influenced by the combined vocabularies of Carolena Nericcio and Fat Chance Belly Dance, the creators of American Tribal Style, and Jamila Salmipour (Carolena’s teacher’s teacher), whether they know it or not.

The form is erroneously credited to yours truly, Rachel Brice, who merely popularized a version of it through years of intense touring with the Bellydance Superstars and the collective, The Indigo Belly Dance. The real dance heroes that created and fed my personal dance lineage: Jamila Salimpour taught John Compton and Masha Archer, who taught Carolena Nericcio, who taught Jill Parker, who taught Heather Stants, who taught Mardi Love, who all taught me.  Also instrumental to the style is Suhaila Salimpour, Jamila’s daughter, whose ground-breaking approach to Belly Dance is largely responsible for the technique of most Tribal Fusion Belly Dancers.

There are very few rules in Tribal Fusion, but in my humble opinion the one constant is that the dancer or group is versed in American Tribal Style as taught by Carolena Nericcio. Her stylistic approach to existing vocabulary, her theatrical approach to costuming, and the incredible invention of group improvisation, has allowed infinite variations that all have one thing in common: powerful presentation. The strength that American Tribal Style communicates through its posture, arm placement, and costuming was a revelation for me as a feminist. Without Fat Chance, I can honestly say I wouldn’t be dancing today.

There is a huge list of other artists: costumers, musicians, actors, photographers, etc. that have influenced the style, and I’ll try to cover most of them here. If I can take credit for anything, it would be a love of teaching and learning, and an obsession with collages. Heather Stants credits me as the “adoptive mother” of the form, which, now adopted by thousands, continues to grow and change, and each year brings a new level of creativity, excitement, physicality, and beauty to our community.

Einstein jokingly said: “The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.” Well, Einey, for me, the secret to creativity and a happy heart can be found in hard work, discovering new artists, crediting your sources of inspiration, cultivating curiosity, and infectious enthusiasm.