hey Susan, wish I could have been with you Sunday night!

You bring up a couple of points, the first is acknowledging the current trends in Australia and abroad in regards to costuming in tribal belly dance styles. The second is asking, when is it no longer tribal?

There are many reasons why some dancers are choosing a less ornamental look. I see it as a reflection of the increasing influence of modern dance in tribal fusion belly dance. In the case of Urban Tribal the aesthetics are simple so the focus is kept on the lyricism and fluidity of the human form in motion. It can be quite honest in a sense - having the audience's attention on the dancing rather than the the costumed facade. It also makes sense if you are doing larger movements to keep your "stuff" level to a minimum. Others may want a more modern appearance. And then there are always those just following a trend.

I personally adore the rich layering of textures and the pastiche of ethnographic jewellery juxtaposed with modern attire. The eclecticism in the costuming has been an aspect I have always loved about tribal belly dance, be it fusion or ATS.

Flared Jazz melodia-type pants and a midriff baring top is not folkloric or ethnic to anywhere in particular. they both modern and western. By themselves they do not equal tribal, nor are they necessarily a Gothic look either. They are the bare canvas of choice for a multitude of dancers at the moment and they can be dressed up and down, jazzy or earthy, goth, whatever. it's up to each dancer's or troupe's own stylistic choices.

Is it still tribal? Well Tribal BD is a different style of dance to Oriental. Different posture, similar, but still different movement, different intention. The costume is only part, so consequently it cannot be the deciding factor. I enjoyed reading Asharah's Blog entries ( bdpaladin.blogspot.com/2008/0...on.html and bdpaladin.blogspot.com/2008/0...-2.html ) today after seeing them linked from a similar topic somewhere else on tribe. She seems to hit the nail on the head pretty efficiently. I think you, Susan, may resonate with a lot that is said.

On a side note, I personally -immensely- dislike the human tendency to try and put everything into it's own little category. Its just not encouraging of creativity. Labels do have their place though, and that is to efficiently describe things in a written medium. If you go to a class that says "tribal" then you'd damn well expect to be taught tribal belly dance technique. So I think the ultimate goal is a label one that is factual but non restrictive. does that make sense? oh well, it's late and my toes are going numb with the cold.

I'm looking forward to other people's responses....

aha Susan you always spark some great online discussions

Tribal costuming is something I'm quite passionate about....and fully i support those who do spend the time who really look for their own styles and image, it breaks my heart to see others then take from that creation -whether its local or global, after knowing how long i spent trying to work out what the blossoms would go with for costuming, its shattering to feel that someone else has your look, and then have to think about the cost and effort to change it to maintain your individuality!! I really like knowing I can turn around and see all the blossoms by that somewhat uniform look we all maintain..and while it is a big investment i find it interesting how much we wear that same costume - never did i find that when doing cabaret dance, the costume always had to be new and glitzier than the rest! i find it amusing that a cabaret teacher has been coming up to me for 3 years now wanting me to buy these gold coins shes got that would be perfect for my costuming....big gold coins as big as a 50 cent piece. while im standing there in silver rupees, just wondering and i guess realising that some people just dont get it :)

Our base cossie is also the big 10 or 15 yard skirt (2 - are you kidding me? in Qld??? sweaty!!) in colours - directly reacting against the wall of black i used to see so often before the infiltration of jaipur :) bloomers, black cotton lycra choli, and coin bra/nina triangle top. we only use tassle belts if we're going with plain skirts - we tend to do lots of kuchi, jewellery, flowers in hair to match cossies (we are the blossoms after all) and we've just observed how dancing with sword has meant we've ditched our metal head wear. we never wear turbans due to forementioned weather, we like having our hair up generally. We've just gotten GC style skirts so they are getting a workout, but it really also depends for us who's performing - we actually have 4 "looks" but not everyone has them. we have a very glam GC or bemsilk skirt for night, and I really think our jaipur look is more for day or festivals

AND we have a costume that has assuit panels, fringe, choli and coin bra that we use for nightclubby/swanky events or for sword - see youtube for tribal blossoms sword collective and you'll see what i mean. this costume was meant to be our summer alternative to wearing too many layers in over 30 degree heat, and is really good to dance with lots of jewellery and sword. it doesnt change what we're doing to tribal fusion/locks and pops, we do the same dance either in that costume or in our jaipurs. we dont consider ourselves gothic at all in approach, i liked that costume due to its simple and sleek lines - look at Devi's development of the silver costume which right now is very original, and its along similar lines.

If you're talking along the lines of fusion...i've had students come to me after going to other teachers who've proclaimed to teach tribal fusion and when they've said it was the same dance offered in the bellydance classes at the same venue, well i guess that says it all. Ive always said i dont teach fusion, ive had students keen to play with it and i've encouraged them to continue their tribal studies and then add to that with the great range of dvds available.

personally i find that some people offer tribal fusion either to cash in on the popularity of the indigo, arbee etc OR its an easy way in to throw in some steps that may not fit the label of a traditional belly class. for me i'd rather know where I was fusing from, get that knowledge and especially posture first before i went out there and offered fusion. to me tribal fusion seems to be a much younger dance too? what do you think?