© FatChanceBellyDance®, FCBD®, ATS® and AmericanTribal Style®, are federally registered trademarks of FatChanceBellyDance, Inc. For more information, please visit
http://fcbd.com/about/legal-policy/
American Tribal Style® is a modern style of dance created by FatChanceBellyDance® director,
Carolena Nericcio.
In 1974, Carolena began belly dancing with Masha Archer and the San Francisco Classic Dance
Troupe. Masha's style was an eclectic blend of classic Egyptian, Folkloric and any other
influence that she found enticing. Masha, a trained painter and sculptor, taught her dancers
to create art through dance. In 1987, after the SF Classic Dance Troupe disbanded, Carolena
began teaching in a small studio in the Noe Valley Ministry. Her only goal was to teach people
to dance so she could have dance partners.
Being young and tattooed, Carolena attracted other young people living alternative lifestyles.
The Modern Primitives movement was also underway. Tattoos and primitive style of body
adornment were the vogue. Carolena and her students performed at tattoo shows and
conventions and became well known in the City by the Bay.
When the need for a name for the dance troupe arose, a friend suggested the playful rhyme
FatChanceBellyDance®, based on the silly question dancer often get from onlookers who
think that beautiful, feminine belly dance in merely an exotic entertainment for their
personal pleasure. In other words, the answer is: "Fat chance you can have a private show."
As Carolena and FatChanceBellyDance® expanded horizons they received a mixed response.
Some people loved the new style others abhorred its departure from tradition. Finally, the
style was named "American Tribal Style® Belly Dance", a name that distanced ATS® from
classical beledi styles. The word "American" made it clear that ATS was distictly an American
invention, not a traditional dance style. "Tribal Style" described the dancers working together
as a group with a "tribal" look.
Back at the studio, a system was evolving. Because of the casual nature of FCBD's®
performance opportunities, the dance was largely improvisational. There simply wasn't a way,
or a need, to choreograph because the dance space often changed at the last minute, and the
dancers had to perform without rehearsal or any information about the performance space.
Duets, trios, and quartets worked in set formations. If the stage was two-sided, or if the
dance space was in the round, the dancers could flip the lead by facing the opposite
direction. In other words, as long as the dancer stayed in formation, the group could face any
direction and the lead could change, depending on the audience's location. Carolena
developed cues for each step or combination, usually an arm or head movement that could
easily be seen. She found that because all steps began with a gesture to the right, dancers
tended to angle to the left. This angle allowed following dancers to clearly see the lead
dancer.
Cues and formations are the brilliance of ATS®. Often unnoticed because of the elaborate
costumes, fancy steps, exciting music, and sheer beauty of women dancing together,
formations and cues are the anchor of improvisational choreography. Even occasional formal
choreography is created around the logic of the formations and cues.
The core concept remains in place: leader to the left, followers to the right. Watch for
interaction among the dancers, who always have their attention trained on the lead position,
looking for the cue for the next step. When the dancers face each other and make eye
contact, the lead is neutral, falling to the dancer who presents the next cue. But don't think
too hard! Allow yourself to see the big picure: women working together in cooperation; a
group focused on presenting the dance as one entity.
(courtesy of fcbd.com)
A FatChanceBellyDance
®
Sister Studio
Find more information
about Carolena Nericcio-
Bohlman, FCBD
®
, and ATS
®
What is American Tribal Style Belly
Dance (ATS
®
)?