Tribal stil trbušnog plesa, vrlo pojednostavljeno, mogao bi se opisati kao kombinacija pokreta kukovima iz egipatskog stila trbušnog plesa, posturom gornjeg dijela tijela i pokretima ruku iz španjolskog flamenka te ondulacijama torza kao u turskom stilu trbušnog plesa. Nastao je u SAD-u krajem dvadesetog stoljeća, pa ga Amerikanci, a sada već i ostatak svijeta, kolokvijalno nazivaju tribal belly dance, svrstavajući ga, dakle, u trbušni ples.
Ovaj stil plesa jest senzualan, ali je primjetno uzemljeniji, pa se generalno ne smatra ‘erotičnim’ kao npr. kabaretski stil trbušnog plesa.

Tribal  je kompleksan plesni stil baziran na grupnoj improvizaciji, a njegova tehnika uključuje vrlo važnu komponentu – jedna plesačica ‘vodi’ ples, a ostatak grupe prepoznaje njene neverbalne znakove komunikacije i slijedi ju plesnim pokretom.  Iako se radi o improvizaciji, skupina ipak uspijeva postići zavidnu unificiranost pokreta, što doprinosi hipnotičkom utjecaju, a gledateljima se može činiti da je ples koreografiran. Prava istina jest ta da koreografije nema, već je potrebno puno vježbanja da bi se razvio ovakav oblik komunikacije među članovima grupe.

Najočitija razlika između tribal i klasičnog (raks sharqi) stila trbušnog plesa jest u kostimima. Tribal kostimi su bogati i slojeviti; karakterizira ih mješavina elemenata azijskih i anatolijskih folklornih nošnji (težak, srebrni nakit s patinom i brojni ukrasi od novčića te vunene kićenke…) s indijskim choli topovima i širokim gypsy suknjama ispod kojih se mogu nositi svilene dimije, uz široki pojas oko bokova ukrašen stakalcima, dugačkim resicama ili bijelim kauri školjkicama. Glava može biti omotana pamučnim turbanom sa srebrnim ukrasima ili umjetnim cvijećem, a kosa ispletena u pletenice uz dodatak umjetnih stiliziranih dreadlocksa. Ovakav kostim puno više pokriva plesačicu nego kostim klasičnog stila trbušnog plesa. Također, takav težak i bogat kostim doprinosi i uzemljenosti samog plesa.

Moglo bi se reći da ovaj stil preferiraju plesačice koje vole manje glamurozan izgled kostima i uživaju u alternativnijoj muzici. Za tribal plesačicu, ples je uvijek način komunikacije sa drugim plesačicama iz grupe. To je ples o povezivanju – sa gledateljima, s drugim plesačicama, sa Bogom, sa samom sobom…

American Tribal Style® kreirala je Jamila Salimpour uz pomoć plesačica svoje skupine Bal-Anat tijekom sedamdesetih godina 20-og stoljeća. Skupina Bal Anat godinama je nastupala po renesansnim sajmovima i viteškim turnirima diljem SAD-a, a njihov je ples odražavao mješavinu utjecaja folklornih i modernih plesnih pokreta. Plesačice skupine nosile su kostime kakvi i danas obilježavaju tribal stil. Ovakav plesni stil bio je novost na do tada poznatoj plesnoj sceni. One same, svoj su stil nazvale “Californian Tribal”, ali njihov ples tada još nije sadržavao grupnu improvizaciju.

Kako su Jamiline učenice protokom godina odselile iz San Francisca, ponijele su svoje plesno naslijeđe sa sobom i počele ga podučavati u novim geografskim sredinama. Jedna od Jamilinih učenica, Masha Archer (danas uspješna dizajnerica odjeće i nakita koja je već tada doprinijela stvaranju vizualnog identiteta tribal kostimografije), postala je učiteljica ovog stila trbušnog plesa i uvela stanovita pravila, a kasnije je nadahnula svoju učenicu Carolenu Nericcio na osnivanje plesne skupine Fat Chance Belly Dance, također baziranoj u San Franciscu.

Ovdje povijest tribal-a možda postaje zbunjujuća – naime, postoji American Tribal Style® (kratica je ATS®) , a postoji i tribal stil trbušnog plesa. Većina ljudi danas povezuje ATS® sa varijacijama tribal plesne forme koju pleše Carolena Nericcio, i to zahvaljujući njenim intenzivnim reklamiranjem svoje vizije, ali i zahvaljujući knjizi autorice Kajire Djoumahne ‘The Tribal Bible’ koja detaljno opisuje ATS®.

Važno je da razlikujemo dva povijesna momenta: plesna skupina Bal Anat na čelu sa Jamilom Salimpour započela je tribal koncept u sedamdesetima, a skupina Fat Chance Belly Dance na čelu sa Carolenom E Nericcio-Bohlman postala je poznata tek krajem osamdesetih.

Naziv American Tribal Style®  prva je upotrijebila velika istraživačica, plesačica i etnologinja Carolena Varga Dinicu – Morocco. Sve do tada, Jamila Salimpour svoj je plesni stil nazivala Californian Tribal. Jamilina verzija nije sadržavala ‘kjuove’ za prijelaz u drugi pokret (eng.cues and transitions) i grupnu improvizaciju; sistem sa kjuovima osmislila je Carolena Nereccio.
Ako se oslonimo na tumačenje knjige ‘The Tribal Bible’ – ako ples nije grupna improvizacija, onda nije ATS®. Tada se zove tribal fusion, improvisational tribal style ili jednostavno tribal.
Krajem 20-og stoljeća, brojne plesačice diljem SAD-a, inspirirane originalnim djelovanjem skupine Bal Anat, napravile su svoje vlastite tribal varijacije nezavisno od ATS®-a koji je Fat Chance kasnije promovirao.

Nema sumnje da je ATS® danas najpoznatiji brand u američkom tribal stilu trbušnog plesa, ali nije jedini. Tu negdje pojavile su se Jill Parker, Rachel Brice i Heather Stants i rodio se tribal fusion (ali o fusionu ćemo detaljnije drugi put).

U vrijeme svog nastanka, tribal stil postao je jako popularan među nekim društvenim skupinama. Slobodni pokreti trbušnog plesa i kostimi izrađeni od prirodnih materijala privlačili su alternativce, hipije, poklonike zaštite okoliša i holističare, zagovaratelje prirodnog poroda, gay zajednicu, feministkinje, slobodne umjetnike i ostale čiji su se stilovi života i umjetničke vizije nešto razlikovali od uvriježenih u tadašnjem mainstream društvu. Nastavljujući svoj razvoj tijekom osamdesetih, tribal stil obilježila je moda ukrašavanja tijela plesačica tetovažama, pirsinzima i kanom, čak prije nego su ovi trendovi postigli širu popularnost koja traje do današnjih dana.

Autor: Dunja Ćuk

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The Tribal Belly Dance style, very simplified, could be described as a combination of Egyptian belly dance hips, upper body postures and Spanish flamenco arm movements, and torso ondulations as in Turkish Belly Dance style. It originated in the United States at the end of the twentieth century, so Americans, and now the rest of the world, colloquially call it tribal belly dance, thus classifying it as belly dance.
This style of dance is sensual but noticeably more grounded, so it is generally not considered ‘erotic’ such as the cabaret style of belly dancing.

Tribal is a complex dance style based on group improvisation, and its technique includes a very important component – one dancer ‘leads’ the dance, while the rest of the group recognizes her non-verbal signs of communication and follows her with the dance movement. Even though it is improvisation, the group still manages to achieve an enviable movement uniformity, which adds to the hypnotic influence, and to the audience it may seem that the dance is choreographed. The real truth is that there is no choreography, but it takes a lot of practice to develop this form of communication among group members.

The most obvious difference between tribal and classic (raks sharqi) belly dance style is in costumes. Tribal costumes are rich and layered; they are characterized by a mixture of elements of Asian and Anatolian folk costumes (heavy, silver patina jewelry and numerous coin ornaments and woolen tassels …) with Indian choli tops and wide gypsy skirts under which silky dimples can be worn, with a wide waistband decorated with glasses, long fringes or white kauri shells. The head can be wrapped in a cotton turban with silver ornaments or artificial flowers, and hair braided into braids with the addition of artificial stylized dreadlocks. This kind of costume covers the dancer much more than the classic belly dance costume. Also, such a heavy and rich costume contributes to the grounding of the dance itself.

One might say that this style is preferred by dancers who prefer a less glamorous costume look and enjoy more alternative music. For a tribal dancer, dancing is always a way to communicate with other dancers in the group. It’s a dance about connecting – with viewers, with other dancers, with God, with ourselves …

American Tribal Style® was created by Jamila Salimpour with the help of dancers of her Bal-Anat group during the 1970s. The Bal Anat group has performed at renaissance fairs and knight tournaments throughout the United States for years, and their dance reflected the blend of influences from folk and modern dance movements. The dancers of the group wore costumes that still tribal style today. This style of dance was a novelty in the previously known dance scene. On their own, they called their style “Californian Tribal”, but their dance at that time did not yet include group improvisation.

As Jamila’s female students moved from San Francisco over the years, they took their dance legacy with them and began to teach it in new geographies. One of Jamila’s students, Masha Archer (now a successful designer of clothing and jewelry who already contributed to the visual identity of tribal costume design), became a teacher of this style of belly dance and introduced some rules, and later inspired her student Caroline Nericcio to establish a dance group Fat Chance Belly Dance, also based in San Francisco.

This is where the history of tribal can get confusing – namely, there is American Tribal Style® (short for ATS®), and there is tribal belly dance style. Most people today associate ATS® with variations of the tribal dance form danced by Carolena Nericcio, thanks to her intense advertising of her vision, but also to Kajira Djoumahne’s book, The Tribal Bible, which details ATS®.

It is important to distinguish two historical moments: the Bal Anat dance group led by Jamil Salimpour started a tribal concept in the 1970s, and the Fat Chance Belly Dance group led by Carol E Nericcio-Bohlman only became famous in the late 1980s.

The name American Tribal Style® was first used by the great researcher, dancer and ethnologist Carolen Varga Dinicu – Morocco. Until then, Jamila Salimpour called her dance style the Californian Tribal. Jamila’s version did not contain ‘cues’ for second movement (eng.cues and transitions) and group improvisation; the kew system was designed by Carolena Nereccio.
If we rely on the interpretation of The Tribal Bible – if dance is not group improvisation, then it is not ATS®. Then it’s called tribal fusion, improvisational tribal style or simply tribal.
In the late 20th century, numerous dancers across the United States, inspired by the original work of the Bal Anat group, made their own tribal variations independently of ATS®, which Fat Chance later promoted.

There is no doubt that ATS® is today the most famous brand in American tribal belly dance style, but it is not the only one. That’s where Jill Parker, Rachel Brice and Heather Stants appeared, and tribal fusion was born (but we’ll talk more about fusion a second time).

At the time of its inception, tribal style became very popular among some social groups. Free belly dance movements and costumes made from natural materials attracted alternatives, hippies, environmentalists and holistic fans, natural-born advocates, the gay community, feminists, freelance artists, and others whose styles and artistic visions differed somewhat from those of the mainstream at the time. society. Continuing its development during the 1980s, tribal style was characterized by the fashion of decorating the body of dancers with tattoos, piercings and henna, even before these trends gained widespread popularity that continues to this day.

Author: Dunja Cuk