Mr Zuza just back from Albania, he is getting good at seeking out interesting dance related things to please me! He has brought back some music with potential and some belts.
The belts prompted me to do a little research into the traditional dress and dancing of the country. Mark is returning next year so based on my findings I now have a shopping list for him.
We have just got a new shipment of jewellery in from Kashmir. It is a beautiful and carefully selected collection with a range of pieces a little different from the more often found Kuchi jewellery available.
The pieces include headdresses, earrings, necklaces and chokers. They are traditionally worn by the dancers of the region and will easily be incorporated into our Tribal costuming.
Here is a link to a great blog with a lot of information and photos about Kashmir if you are interested to find out more about it. http://www.searchkashmir.org/
The moment he saw her,
He re- arranged his veil,
He stopped, forgetting the road,
Until his friends became surprised.
They understood of course,
And told him he must be patient….
Before seeing her face,
He saw her rings, her tizabatines,
Her necklace of amulets.
He was sick with love….
TUAREG POEM FROM WASSYLA TAMZALI,
ABZIM: PARURES ET BIJOUX DES FEMMES
D’ALGERIE (1984)
Just back from Lewes having completed Collective Soul 2, the second level certification in the Gypsy Caravan format. It is such a joy being a student again, I learned so many new things as well as correcting old bad habits. Paulette is a generous teacher and a lovely person who shows a genuine interest in you as an individual.
Level 2 introduces new moves, variations and combos, along with more rhythms and zill patterns. We were assessed at the end of the course and given feedback on our performance. It was challenging, with my hybrid style background but stretched me in all the right directions and on the left leg! I am really looking forward to incorporating this new stuff into my practice and sharing it with my students.
Level 3 beckons, the next one is in Portland in the summer, I can but dream.
Danced in the rain at the Monument yesterday with some fabulous musicians raising money for Haiti. I added this terms collection of £160, which is a most excellent amount, to their Action Aid total.
So thanks yet again to all those who gave generously.
Angela x
The wearing of markings or decoration on the forehead has become wide spread, now worn by people of many cultures for many reasons or simply as a fashion item.
The word ‘Bindi’ is derived from the Sanskrit ‘bindu’ meaning a drop or round, it is an ornamental mark on the forehead. Bindi refers to the decorative stick on designs. In Asian culture when a mark is drawn there, it is called a “tilaka”. When there is a pendant dangling from a chain secured in the hair, it is called a “tikka”.
The mark is traditionally drawn by dipping the fingertip in red vermilion or kumkum powder and applying as round a dot as possible between the eyebrows. This spot is considered a major nerve point in the human body since ancient times and the location of the mystic third eye. This area is the site of the sixth chakra known as the ‘agna’ meaning ‘command’. It is said to be the seat of concealed wisdom, the centre point wherein all experience is gathered in total concentration. According to the tantric cult, when during meditation the latent energy (‘kundalini’) rises from the base of the spine towards the head, this ‘agna’ is the outlet for this potent energy. Wearing a red ‘kumkum’ between the eyebrows is said to retain this energy in the body and help control levels of concentration.
Tilaka are generally worn by religious men and married women. The look and color of them will depend on their beliefs as individuals, or which sect they are from, and what occasion it is. Vaishnavists generally wear vertical lines, where Shaivites generally wear horizontal lines, but, depending on local customs, all may wear a smudge of sandalwood, vermillion, or another colorful powder, when they have visited someone who wishes to give them a blessing or a spiritual gift.
Tikka are mostly worn for very formal occasions or weddings, though there are some that are made to be a little more casual.
The decorative bindi, has long been associated exclusively with Hindu women. In certain parts of India a red dot on the forehead is a sign of marriage. A bridegroom makes a ’tilak’ mark on the bride’s forehead as a sign of wedlock. When an Indian woman is widowed, she stops wearing the bindi. In some cases, during the husband’s funeral, the red kumkum powder once used for drawing the bindi is thrown on his body while it is wiped from his wife’s forehead. Many people associate the red bindi with the ancient practice of offering blood sacrifices to appease the Gods, so this may be an extension of that tradition.
The bindi is also said to ward off the evil eye in the form of demons or bad luck. It symbolises auspiciousness and good fortune. Considered a blessed symbol of Uma or Parvati, a bindi signifies female energy (shakti) and is believed to protect women and their husbands.
The earliest references to the bindi in literature were in the illustrations of third and fourth century texts showing Hindu women wearing them. It is assumed today that the bindi was used to distinguish women from different castes, if and by the way they wore them as well as what colour and shape they were.
Even in ancient times, bindis used to be not only red, but also white, yellow, brown and black, depending on the material they were made from – plants, seeds, fruits or soot. Red was always a colour considered auspicious and therefore used on most occasions.
The meaning of the bindi has not only shifted but got completely reversed over the centuries – from a mark of exclusion or exclusivity to a decorative (fashion) statement that unites women around the world.
When purchasing bindi, in order to be sensitve of other cultures, it is helpful to know what various symbols mean. Here is a list of common bindi shapes, and their meanings in Asian symbolism.
This article is by no means complete and I will have more to add as I research further. I also intend to look at other body adornments including tattoos placed in this significant position, as seen in North African Tribes and the inspiration for many a Tribal belly dancers make up.
The title was what first attracted my attention, then flicking through the illustrations. This is an academic study by cultural anthropologist Lars Krutak. It is the result of 10 years travelling the world researching indigenous tattoo practices. Here he documents the amazing women who have applied tattoos to the people of their tribes in traditions that stretch back thousands of years. It looks at each tribes spiritual practices and how they believed tattooing affected every aspect of their life, focusing as much on the significance of the tattoo as much as the process.
The book is a celebration of these women who held positions of respect within their societies but it is also a sad reminder of how the influence of the West has caused damage to their vibrant cultures.
This is a great book for those seeking knowledge of the roots of ethnic tattooing or those looking for design inspiriation.
ISBN 9781898948759
Lars web site www.larskrutak.com is well worth a visit, it has lots of well illustrated articles and links to keep you occupied for hours.
A video of the girls performing at Dierdre’s event in Glasgow.
American Tribal Style belly dance (ATS) is a modern style of dance created by FatChanceBellyDance director, Carolena Nericcio.
In 1974, Carolena began 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, her only goal was to teach people to dance so she could have dance partners.
Being young and tattooed, Carolena attracted others living alternative lifestyles. The Modern Primitives movement was also underway. Tattoos and primitive styles of body adornment were the vogue. Carolena and her students performed at tattoo shows and conventions and became well know in San Francisco.
When the need for a name for the dance troupe arose, a friend suggested the playful rhyme FatChanceBellyDance, based on the silly question dancers often get from onlookers who think that beautiful feminine belly dance is 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 FCBD expanded their 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 it from classical beledi styles. The word ‘American’ made it clear that this was a distinctly American invention not a traditional dance form. ‘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 beacause the dance space often changed at the last minute, and the dancers had to perform without rehersal or any information about the performance space.
Duets, trios and quartets worked in set formations. Allowing the dancers to flip the lead by facing the opposite direction. In other words, as long as the dancers 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 a 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 eleborate 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 when watching from the audience, allow yourself to see the whole picture: women working together in cooperation; a group focused on presenting thr dance as one entity.
This article is based on information given out by Carolena and therefore, I feel gives an insight into her specific format.
Last Updated: March 01, 2009
Little is known about Zuza Ben i Ford a dancer from Biskara in Eastern Algeria. Her story as far as I know it is confined to her visit to Newcastle upon Tyne and it is here that it sadly ended.
She was invited, with others from her community, as part of the North East Coast Exhibition in 1929 to come to Newcastle upon Tyne. The exhibition was intended to revive interest and stimulate trade with the region, to place the north east of England within a global context. Local products were to be brought together alongside people and artefacts from around the world.
This included the construction of a full scale African village. The press of the time reported the arrival of the party with a mix of curiosity and racism, referring to them as ‘dusky visitors’ and ‘awfully mischievous rascals’. It was observed that they took advantage of the local hospital facilities ‘with unnecessary frequent visits’. It was also noted with surprise that some of the party were educated! Not all of the locals however had the same attitude toward the group. The enterprising women were able to command a good fee for private dance performances.
The ‘African village’ on the exhibition site represented something of the Western European attitude toward the Arab world at that time. This was a pastiche of what such a village might be, mud huts, kraals, dancing hall and harem. These things would not in fact exist alongside each other and were drawn from communities far distant from each other.
Zuza died of consumption in September 1929 in Newcastle. Her funeral reported as a ’barbaric ritual’, was attended by her husband and her 8 month old child along with a large entourage of African and English mourners. She is buried in an unmarked grave in the Christian cemetery of St Andrews in Jesmond. However there are plans underway to have a culturally appropriate marker erected to show where she lays. I read of her in a local newspaper and was moved to contact the researchers and find out more. The local University are running the project aiming to draw upon some of the parallels between the current international situation and the historical; they intend Zuza to be a focus. Her story is to be recorded in a book and will include contributions of text from both countries in order to reflect upon the different views both cultures hold/held.
Through their research the the grand daughter of Zuza has been located in Algeria and it is hoped to bring her to Newcastle for the project launch. There was mention also of some Tribal Dancing at this event!
I will not begin to attempt to describe tribal style belly dance here, it is eloquently covered by many elsewhere on the web or it can be read in the Tribal Bible. There will be purists out there who may draw their own parallels with the conglomerate African Village of the exhibition, mentioned above, which represents all and yet nothing of the individual cultures of the Arab world at that time, and Tribal Style Dancing today. My response would be that I personally do not set out to present what I do as anything other than a celebration of many cultures, drawing from their costume and dance traditions, bringing them together in a fusion that aims to make them accessible and enjoyed by many. I believe that the travelling people of the ancient world would have carried ideas on music and dance along with their wares as they traded, so there has always been exchange and evolution. American Tribal Style has evolved quickly, in today’s world things do, modern communication and travel have facilitated this. Already we are seeing many new facets of this style emerging as women bring to it their own personal herstory.
Last Updated: February 22, 2007