Interview: Dancing group "Tribalica", Belgrade

Ancient art of movements

When few cultures collide, and each of them possesses grandiose tradition, the result is something vigorous and emphasized like Tribal Fusion Belly Dance. Cultures of south and central Africa, Arabic countries and India have been mixing up for a long time. Folklores of those countries connect at one point - the art of dance. Popular and well-known name "belly dance" represents the whole spectrum of game, public clothes and ways of living, and still, its focus is on the art that is made by women who use nothing else but the movements of their own bodies. As Ivo Andric wrote in his novel "Aska and a wolf", dancing is the most restrained art, because it appears from itself and it does not need any additional tools to be expressed


By DANIJELA MILOVANOVIĆ
from Belgrade, SERBIA


Everybody can do dance, and moreover, everyone should, because dance softens soul and keeps body elasticity that is more than welcome in older ages. Still, could everyone be a top dancer of Tribal? The answer is not. This type of dance is the most difficult one among all "belly dances" and it requires discipline, hard work and dedication. This dance is done by special dancers who are able to use mental strength to complete complex tasks. Recently, a group has been formed in Belgrade with an aim to explore wide field of Tribal Fusion Belly Dance.

How did the four of you (Nela, Una, Jana and Dragana) come up with the idea to found a dancing troupe and who brought Tribal Dance to Serbia?

Nela: As it usually happens with amazing things in life, the four of us have met tribal fusion completely by accident, on the Internet. All of us were involved with a bit different dancing styles, but we were all fascinated with the beauty and punctuality of movements, unusual manner and costumes which were inspired by dissimilar folklore styles. At that time, in Belgrade there was nobody who was practicing this dancing style, so I decided to bring it to our country no matter what. Thus, I started doing some serious researches about history and theories that were behind this dance and consequently, I went to Zagreb to participate in workshops of the best dancers and instructors. Once I started practicing Tribal Dance, I knew it was a thing I would do for the rest of my life. I have also organized a workshop of Mace Pavli here in Belgrade, so that other girls could become familiar with the style with the professional assistance. The thing that started as a hobby, turned out to become literally a way of living. As soon as I got some basic knowledge, the foundation of a dancing troupe was a natural continuation for me and my three close friends, Una, Jana and Dragana, who were also sharing my love for the dance. At this point, besides for the four of us, dancing group Tribalica consists of: Jovana, Ana, Ivana, Zorana, Nana, Marija I Katja. Each girl has brought a part of herself into the troupe and assisted in the improvement of our work, no matter is it about yoga, ideas about costumes, improvisation or choreography, make up, gothic subtype or Indian fusion. My specialty involves choreographies, and I am obsessed with the technique and synchronization. All together, we continue working on ourselves and constantly move the boundaries of our acquaintance, dancing technique and flexibility.

Could you explain us how your dancing group experiences Tribal Fusion Belly Dance?

Ana: Members of dancing group Tribalica experience Tribal Fusion as a wonderful, extraordinary art, which fancies life and connection among dancers. This art, which is still unknown in our area, expresses through unique relation between modern and traditional, and that is what makes it special and interesting not only to observers, but also to us who practice this dancing style. I should also mention that this style possesses some strong bond, but impossible to catch, that connects girls in the troupe, and thanks to that we do not experience each other only like colleagues, but like sisters. And that feeling of sisterhood is exactly what is celebrating and taking care of in Tribal style.

To what extent is Tribal present in the world?

Nela: Tribal fusion is extremely young dancing form, which started developing in America, but quite quickly it gathered many dancers from all over the world. The most famous and best troupes and dancers are in America today, firstly Rachel Brice, who is planning to hold intense workshop in Slovenia, what makes me feel very happy for being given an opportunity to expand my knowledge and experience, as well as her troupe The Indigo. I should certainly mention Sharon Kihara and Kami Liddle, who I have already been given a chance to learn from. During the last few years Tribal Fusion has been expanding in Europe and now, there is almost no country in which there is no dancing group that supports this style. The ones that are special inspiration for us are Morgana from Spain, Monca Pavli from Slovenia and The Uzume from the Netherlands. The attraction of style lies in the muscular technique of movements, the base that originates from flamenco, oriental dances, yoga, Indian classical dances, what altogether mixes up with folklore dancings of various nations, the music that combines elements of modern and traditional rhythms, as well as in the fact that this dancing style suits all body shapes because it brings out to the surface dancers' inner beauty and strength.

What was Tribal Dance influenced by through the history?

Ana: An interesting thing is there are as many substyles as there are dancing troupes and dancers. Namely, this dance is so changeable that everyone experiences it in one's own way and thus, adapts it to personal body shape and taste. It s possible to bond Tribal with hip-hop and jazz ballet on one side, and folklore dances of Balkan at the other side. In the base of the dance lies yoga, this is exceptionally important part of our rehearsals, as well as our maturity as dancers. It is simply an essential part of Tribal and it demands great love devotion. As all arts, this dance has been exposed to many diverse influences during history. If we analyze those influences, we can easily find out that in this dance the attitude and arms positions originate from flamenco, movements and isolations derive from classical oriental dance, and sometimes we can feel some effects of cabaret style. Moreover, special influence on this dance has India: to start with body positions that originate from classical Indian dances, through hands positions, turnovers, and finally with costumes and makeup. You will often see dancers whose upper part of costume is made of choli - the blouse that follows body line, with short or long arm slaves, and that dates from India. Furthermore, Tribal dancers' makeup is mainly inspired by this beautiful country: eyes are strongly emphasized, bindi (colored point or … which is placed between eyebrows or on the forehead) and sometimes face is painted. Belt with small mirrors on it that is often present on the costumes of tribal dancers, also originates from India, more specifically from the area called Rajastan.

Apart from Gothic tribal that tends to become a specific dancing style, Tribal has no typical substyles, but we could talk about: flamenco fusion or Indian fusion, hip-hop fusion, which is extremely attractive for me, African fusion, and fusion with fighting skills (which possesses specific positions, karate details and sword and knife fight details), fusion with modern ballet, etc.

To what extent does Gothic Tribal differ from other types and what does it possess?

Katja: Gothic is quite young type of oriental dances and it could not be said that it is a complete tribal. The truth is that technique is totally taken from tribal, but in this dance there is a combination of classical oriental dances and other modern dances. It is all about atmosphere, emotion and movement highlight. Costumes are very specific and related to gothic way of dressing and makeup. Since in that music atmosphere and emotion are exceptionally significant, as well as lyrics, I find this style being interpretation of songs, what means that I combine some kind of acting and I pay a lot of attention on the face expression changes while dancing. Simply, I want the audience that watches me dancing, see that I really "feel" the song and even, to find out more about my internal condition while dancing.

How did you find out about Gothic Tribal and did you have teachers?

Katja: I found out about Gothic oriental dance while searching the Internet, and that was something I immediately fall in love with since I listen to gothic music and I have been an admirer of that subculture for years. Unfortunately, in Serbia there is nobody who teaches that dancing style and thus, I learn by myself by watching videos and reading about it on the Internet. Also, I have been given numbers of constructive suggestions from the girls from the troupe, and thanks to all that, I plan to form my personal style in gothic oriental dances.

You also used to practice "ordinary" belly dance that could be found in loads of dancing schools around Serbia. What made you try yourself in Tribal and what are your impressions? What are the differences with both dancings?

Katja: While I was practicing classical oriental dancing, I heard about Tribal from my instructor at that time, Una, who I am now in Tribalica with. While I was watching clips on Youtube, I really liked this unusual dance. I noticed that technique was different and moves were significantly "sharper" and more highlighted. Specially, I was fascinated by tribal costumes. I particularly liked the idea that all those costumes could be made by anyone who is imaginative and willing enough, without wasting large amounts of money. Tribal dance also combines elements from other dances, examples being flamenco or folklore. It is not limited at all, what leaves enough room for every dancer to build up one's own style without any restrictions.

What is the direction of your troupe development what are your plans?

Nela: Nela: At the moment our troupe intensively works on the technique of the dance itself - y am a huge perfectionist I always insist that everything becomes exceptionally practiced, synchronized and brought to perfection no matter is it about a simple move or a complex combination. We do our moves according to the technique of a famous dancer Suhaila Salimpour, we practice yoga intensively and we build up our muscles in order to reach the preciseness of every move. We also put lots of effort on group choreographies and improvisation, design and costume creation. We precisely investigate American tribal style (ATC), which is a prototype of tribal fusion style, and we plan to organize another Mance Pavli's workshop in Belgrade and even deeper examination of flamenco, modern ballet, hip-hop and Balkan folklore, so that we could make our style rich and make a specific shape of our troupe formation. Although there are already some offers for public …, which are related to festivals and manifestations abroad, since this style is still quite unknown in Serbia, we still hope that would change soon. For now, public are not our priority, while the dance brings us alone satisfaction and fulfillment. However, I assume that it is a matter of time and circumstances when a real offer will take us to the stage, where we would present this dance in a way it deserves.


(Published: 10.02.2009.)