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I've been getting more and more interested in Tribal style dance.....But I don't like the idea of being in black so much of the time....Is it because the music seems "darker" that so many people choose that color? Can it be done in bright colors? Would that "throw off" the dance?
I really like bright colors, which is one of the reasons I originally gravitated toward Cabaret and Fusion .... But I would like to branch out a little and don't want to look like a fool doing Tribal moves in rosy pink,lol........
I really like bright colors, which is one of the reasons I originally gravitated toward Cabaret and Fusion .... But I would like to branch out a little and don't want to look like a fool doing Tribal moves in rosy pink,lol........
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Re: Do you have to wear black?
Fri, March 13, 2009 - 9:12 AMInteresting....I happen to see that most people who dance Tribal Style wear brighter or at least "Earthy" colours.
Either way, wear what you want. You do not need others approval to wear pink if you so desire.
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Re: Do you have to wear black?
Fri, March 13, 2009 - 9:40 AMI guess it depends on what you mean by "Tribal". There seems to be a lot of confusion between Tribal like Gypsy Caravan or Fat Chance and Tribal Fusion like Rachel Brice or Ariellha and Gothic Fusion like Tempest. The later examples, I don't consider Tribal, but they are often labeled so.
There is nothing inherently dark about Tribal Style in terms of music and costuming. They traditionally use bright costumes and upbeat music:
Gypsy Caravan:
www.youtube.com/watch
Fat Chance:
www.youtube.com/watch
Black Sheep:
www.youtube.com/watch
And even if you do want to do Tribal Fusion, no need to always wear black, even Rachel gets tired of it:
www.youtube.com/watch
Or check out Emily Alrick:
www.youtube.com/watch
Honestly, I think tribal fusion needs to lighten up sometimes...so wear bright colors! -
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Re: Do you have to wear black?
Fri, March 13, 2009 - 11:17 AMThanks for posting these videos! I had forgotten how fun they are! Sooooooo makes me want to get the FCBD DVD's and just start learning! Wait! I have been saying that for years! I guess it's about time I did this!
K
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Re: Do you have to wear black?
Fri, March 13, 2009 - 2:56 PMEmily -
Thanks for posting those videos! I guess I was a little confused, I didn't know there were so many variations with tribal because I've only really seen it done the way Rachel Brice does it..... I really loved the other ones,too!
Now, I need to find some costuming elements ** diving into internet search** -
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Re: Do you have to wear black?
Fri, March 13, 2009 - 3:17 PMYou're welcome Angell.
I don't think your confusion about tribal is unusual. Rachel Brice's style is often sold as tribal, and since she's so famous people have come to believe that what she does is tribal, when it's more of an offshoot of tribal belly dance.
This thread from Bhuz might help in your research:
www.bhuz.com/forum/belly...olution.html -
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Re: Do you have to wear black?
Sun, March 15, 2009 - 11:39 AMRachel dosnt classify herself as tribal. She calls it Dark Cabaret.
Tribal in itself is "ATS or ITS" and improvisational choreography, where a group comes together and dances in a group, with a leader and cues to show what move or combo is going to be danced next.
The "fusions" from tribal, I dont think are ats tribal, and I tend to call it more Bellydance Fusion, because they have lost so many of the ats elements from the dance.
Gothic Bellydance and Dark Fusion are TOTALY different that Tribal. They are there to share a story, and it can be sad or happy in its own creepy way. -
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Re: Do you have to wear black?
Sun, March 15, 2009 - 12:49 PMI think a few years ago, I had seen a photo of someone in a white tribal costume. Martina I believe? I remember commenting on the discussion thread how nice it was to see white or something other than black on a tribal dancer. I remember a number of dancers either posting links to photos or clips of dancers in white or other-color tribal costuming...it was so fabulous! I had never seen such a rainbow of tribal costumes. It was probably just coincidental, but maybe shows of tribal dancers I caught just happened to be the nights they all wore black!
White looks fab, BTW! -
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Re: Do you have to wear black?
Mon, March 16, 2009 - 1:04 PMSnakes Rising had a White Tour a couple of years ago, all the dancers wore white or mostly white tribal fusion costumes! Check the photos in the Snakes Rising tribe.
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Re: Do you have to wear black?
Mon, March 16, 2009 - 2:20 PMAhhh... what great clips! Thanks for posting!
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Re: Do you have to wear black?
Fri, March 13, 2009 - 10:21 AMCreate your own style. Dance how it feels good to you. I like wearing black and dark colors, but I don't expect everyone to be the same. If you go out there with confidence in yourself and what you are doing people will respond. My mom taught me 70's cabaret and she was really into gold and lame and wanted me to wear it and I just didn't want to so I started wearing what I wanted and now it's popular. Make your own style and have fun!!! -Freya
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Re: Do you have to wear black?
Fri, March 13, 2009 - 12:21 PMMusic, moves, and costume ideally come together to create a whole. So if your music is happy and upbeat, you want your dance and (ideally) your costume to reflect that (allowing for issues like costume changes and troupe costuming).
As many people have pointed out, the dominance of black is mostly a tribal fusion/dark/fusion/gothic fusion thing, usually because the music/themes addressed are darker.
Black can also be popular in troupes because it's versatile, easily dressed up, and easy(er) to match shades than many other colours. My old ATS troupe at one point specified black skirts and turban bases to bring the look of the troupe together, but cholis, pantaloons, underskirts, and turban-decorations were every colour of the rainbow. Of course if you're a soloist you needn't worry about any of that :). -
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Re: Do you have to wear black?
Sat, March 14, 2009 - 1:45 PMI am no expert, but when I think of tribal I think of more natural fibers and natural colors. I understood that tribal tries to repilcate a past, un commercialized type of dance in order to rebel against the more nightclub, cabaret style. I would go with colors, but I would keep them natural,avoiding stuff like neon pink spandex, or anything thast couldn't be produced by a group of crafty , talented bedouin ladies -
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Re: Do you have to wear black?
Mon, March 16, 2009 - 11:04 AMDitto. Kajira Djoumanha (sp?) discusses that idea in Tribal Bible, and I agree with her. But by no means do you have to wear black. -
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Re: Do you have to wear black?
Mon, March 16, 2009 - 12:23 PMWhen I first started buying my costumes, I started out with black everything. It's easy to build onto. Now, I am finally but now that I have my basics (choli, pantloons, skirt) I'm buying lots of earthy tones and vibrant colors to layer on. BD stuff is pretty expensive...you want to be able to have options.
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Re: Do you have to wear black?
Mon, March 16, 2009 - 1:05 PMYes black goes with everything and can unify a troupe look - but I still think there's waaay tooo much black in tribal fusion.
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Re: Do you have to wear black?
Mon, March 16, 2009 - 1:02 PMI agree there's waaaay too much black in Tribal fusion. The tribal fusion costume I wore for a Witches Ball on halloween was red and purple (photo in my profile) -
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Re: Do you have to wear black?
Tue, March 17, 2009 - 7:19 AMoooooooh! I love those pants/skirt! Preeeety!!
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Re: Do you have to wear black?
Tue, March 17, 2009 - 11:04 AMBlue Lotus Tribe often wears many colors in their performances.
www.bluelotustribe.com/gallery.htm
As does Manhattan Tribal
www.mimifontana.com/manhattantribal
HIpnosis has a different take but still colorful
www.tribalbellies.com/about.htm
I've seen Trisha McBride and Dance company perform in wonderful white costumes complete with body glitter, it was a nice sparkly take on tribal.
trishamcbridedance.com/
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Re: Do you have to wear black?
Tue, April 21, 2009 - 12:46 AMI think so many dancers wear black because it's slimming :) I'm way too white to be able to wear white and I'd have a white costume filthy in ten minutes LOL! -
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Re: Do you have to wear black?
Tue, April 21, 2009 - 6:13 PMSo true. -Freya
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Re: Do you have to wear black?
Wed, April 22, 2009 - 9:51 AMDevon...
have you tried ivory or off white?
I'm super pale glow in the dark white, and I can pull off ivory and cream colors.
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Re: Do you have to wear black?
Wed, April 22, 2009 - 9:59 AMthe contrast of black can also make you look even paler. -
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Re: Do you have to wear black?
Wed, April 22, 2009 - 10:03 AMoops, forgot to add:
the trick of black is that it "visually receeds" so it sinks back. you have to be dramatic to be noticed in it. the way it visually slims is that the black pushes back whatever it is on. so if you have a black top on, your arms and chest will seems smaller, RELATIVE to your midriff. if you wear a black hip wrap your hips will seem smaller compared to the rest.
of course, fit and lines have more visual impact with regards to shaping your body than color, they can create better optical illusions. color tends to work on the emotions and influence the audience's mood, or how they preceive the mood of your piece, more so than it tricks the eye (not that it doesn't do both) ^_~
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Re: Do you have to wear black?
Fri, May 8, 2009 - 2:12 AMI concur with Emille. The genre of "TRIBAL" and the various off shoots of it are often lumped together and confused.
Any who, I think a lot of people favor black because it's thinning and it's so easy to match everything with. I started with all my basics in black. I just like black paired with red a lot too though. It's one of my favorite color combinations. -
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Re: Do you have to wear black?
Fri, May 8, 2009 - 9:17 AMchiming in again...exactly Kasi...when I was a beginner (well, extremely beginner) I was told to start out with a black choli, black pantaloons, black skirt, and whatever fringe skirts in whatever color called to you...as you save up money and your addiction grows, look to whatever colors pulled you to those skirts and build on them. Mine happened to be lots of Earthy tones, so I started adding greens, browns, rusts, etc...I'm just now venturing into really bright colors...but, that's how I started. My hip scarves told me what color to supplement my pieces with.
Please understand...you will never never EVER never have enough pieces. You will ALWAYS need "one more scarf, one more skirt, one more headpiece, oh and then there's the Bindi's, and arm bands, oh and there's a cool bra, and a new choli...and on and on and on" There should be an FDA warning (please read FDA with tongue in cheek) warning on BD...may cause addiction, with side effects of husbands/boyfriends/partners saying "you already HAVE everything!!!" They just don't understand, unless, they are extremely supportive, are into it themselves, in which case, consider yourself blessed. I believe I have just written the longest run-on sentence in history! -
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Re: Do you have to wear black?
Fri, May 8, 2009 - 8:04 PMOoooh OH! Don't forget the JEWELRY addiction too! That get's pretty out of control at times too!!! -
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Re: Do you have to wear black?
Wed, June 10, 2009 - 12:56 PMBut it is all SOOO much fun!
One thing I like about tribal is that it caters to so many "needs" you may have: to dance, to wear cool clothes (that you may not be able to wear otherwise), to freak out in make-up and hairstyle, wear all your pretty jewelry AT ONCE ("less is bore"), creativity (if you're a DIY-person), and lots to read, watch and study on Internet! I think it's fun that tribal is great fun both in practise and in theory!
Gee, am I ever glad I got into this dance five months ago! -
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Re: Do you have to wear black?
Mon, June 22, 2009 - 6:43 AMIt is fun dressing up & playing dance games :-) That's what I think group improv is like, a dance game.... and we always wear LOADS of colors - my performers are actually called Prism Dancers.... signifying our diversity of expression of the Creative Spirit (as light thru a prism). Plus, I'm not a "winter" and black just disappears onstage :-)
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Re: Do you have to wear black?
Sun, July 5, 2009 - 9:28 PMI have been dancing ATS for some time and I must confess, I don not always wear black.. I find that the bright colors are not only eyecatching, but make me REALLY happy.....And if I do wear black, I always seem to have a splash of color hear and there. Its really a choice for the performer to make, what you feel comfortable in....You won't look like a fool, if you make your own statement.....
