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Kharmine · 12-10-2007, 05:31 AM

What a pretty group, CS! Y'all look like a bunch of moving flowers!

I think an experienced, competent, versatile dance teacher can demonstrate the differences between the styles, but I rather doubt anyone can be an expert in more than two or three because it takes years to master a single art.

(OTOH, my mother was a ballroom dance teacher and an expert in more than a few styles -- so I dunno, maybe it depends on the teacher and the styles.)

Maria, I think you're confusing American Cabaret with tribal. If I remember what I've read correctly, Tribal got its start with groups performing in a fantasy style at Renaissance fairs in Northern California starting in the late 1970s or early '80s.

What I know for sure is that what we call today Cabaret/Restaurant/Nightclub/American Oriental evolved starting in the 1960s and mostly on the East Coast where Americans learned belly dance from a variety of immigrants, children of immigrants and imported performers in the ethnic supper clubs that served Turkish, Greek, Armenian and Middle Eastern communities.

These early American pioneers went on to refine their styles as more teachers became available; some went abroad to the ME,Turkey and Greece to learn more. "AmCab" could be a mix of styles, or predominately one style, it all depended on how the dancer learned -- but it was just plain old "belly dance" for decades in the U.S. until someone gave it a name to distinguish its glitzier style from the emerging "earthier" style.

12-10-2007, 05:31 AM	#14 (permalink)
Kharmine V.I.P. Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Foot of the Rocky Mountains Posts: 1,251	What a pretty group, CS! Y'all look like a bunch of moving flowers! I think an experienced, competent, versatile dance teacher can demonstrate the differences between the styles, but I rather doubt anyone can be an expert in more than two or three because it takes years to master a single art. (OTOH, my mother was a ballroom dance teacher and an expert in more than a few styles -- so I dunno, maybe it depends on the teacher and the styles.) Maria, I think you're confusing American Cabaret with tribal. If I remember what I've read correctly, Tribal got its start with groups performing in a fantasy style at Renaissance fairs in Northern California starting in the late 1970s or early '80s. What I know for sure is that what we call today Cabaret/Restaurant/Nightclub/American Oriental evolved starting in the 1960s and mostly on the East Coast where Americans learned belly dance from a variety of immigrants, children of immigrants and imported performers in the ethnic supper clubs that served Turkish, Greek, Armenian and Middle Eastern communities. These early American pioneers went on to refine their styles as more teachers became available; some went abroad to the ME,Turkey and Greece to learn more. "AmCab" could be a mix of styles, or predominately one style, it all depended on how the dancer learned -- but it was just plain old "belly dance" for decades in the U.S. until someone gave it a name to distinguish its glitzier style from the emerging "earthier" style. __________________ What if the hokey pokey is really what it's all about?