Recnadocir

I just watched a video clip of this group from SF...stopped watching because all they seem to do is march around in circles, to monotonous music. Perhaps I'm missing something, but I've seen "tribal" done with much more energy, and excitement...

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Kharmine

Got a clip you can show us?

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Recnadocir

Well, they're pretty much all over the Internet. I know they are considered by some to be the "source" of tribal belly dance.

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Kharmine

That's what I've heard -- I haven't seen many Fat Chance videos because what little I've seen I'm not crazy about. But so many people are enthusiastic about the group I figured you were referring to a particualr performance in which it wasn't their best work or something.

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What if the hokey pokey is really what it's all about?

Recnadocir

Here is the first clip I saw on YouTube:


There is another short clip on YouTube, where the music picks up and they move with more energy, though still in total unison, no discernable choreographic development or complexity.

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taheya

Urrmm that is American tribal style for you, i suppose the only impressive thing is that they are in unison..it is sort of hypnotic in a way. However, no room for individuality or expression, not my cup of tea, we want character and individuality. Personally i love egyptian style belly dance you cannot beat it!!

Recnadocir

Amen, Taheya!

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Suheir

I couldn't agree with you more! It also looks completely self-absorbed and without regard to the audience. When I first saw this style in the UK I was thoroughly bored and have remained so.

Recnadocir

This criticism of self-absorption is one I often level, at least to myself, at "post-modern" dance, where the choreographer and performers seem to take what they are doing so seriously that the audience is irrelevant. The ultimate result of this, I believe, is that the audience comes to feel excluded, loses interest, and stops coming.

Anymore I make two kinds of dance- the light hearted pieces are usually more about the movement, or creating a positive mood. The more serious pieces are usually story-driven or archetypal, and more and more I strive for choreographic clarity, so that the audience can see a connection between the dance and their own experience. This is my goal, anyway. I certainly want the audience to feel vitally necessary, and intimately involved.

Perhaps the ultimate litmus test for dance is to perform it for 6 to 12 year olds, assuming that there is no risque content. If the kids "get it" then the choreography is definitely clear.

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Recnadocir

And isn't it ironic that individuality is something we Americans pride ourselves on. Perhaps this is just a lingering myth, and as a society we have become as regimented as other militaristic cultures throughout history. To be kind, perhaps that lockstep conformity is what some of the ATS dances are intended to express? If the goal is to show us, in dance, how stifling and ennervating conformity is, then the message is working!

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