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American Tribal Style® is a beautiful, challenging, dynamic social dance.
The roots of Tribal Style bellydance can be traced back to the rituals of past matriarchal cultures and to the secular entertainments evolved as the gypsies traveled through India, Central Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and Spain. There are many styles of bellydance; the most authentic styles being cabaret and folkloric. Other styles have evolved as the dance migrated from the Middle East and North Africa into Europe and the US and back again. What distinguishes Tribal from other styles of bellydance is the way in which steps, movements, gestures, even costume, are redesigned to suit the common denominator of a group dancing together. The music is selected for its clarity, the steps for their universal application and the result is one of simple elegance and rhythmic style.
The building blocks of the dance are the vocabulary; fast moves danced rhythmically to the beat of the music while playing finger cymbals, and slow movements danced to the melody or feel of the music. Dancers communicate through a system of cues in the upper body (such as an arm position change) which signal what the lead dancer is about to do next.
ATS® is danced in groups of two, three or four dancers in various formations. Larger troupes use a 'chorus', the role of which is to support and encourage the dancers at the front (I like to think of a chorus as the beautiful frame surrounding a painting). Movements used in chorus are kept simple and complement what the focal dancers at the front are doing.