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Welcome to the Kalash American Tribal Style Bellydance Website  Imagine this: "there was a time in history, a long time ago, when the bounce and sway of a woman's hips was considered so beautiful that they set it to music and made a dance out of it... " Carolena Nericcio What is American Tribal Style (ATS) Bellydance? ATS is a modern style of dance created by FatChanceBellyDance director, Carolena Nericcio. It is the origin from which all other tribal styles of bellydance have developed. The dance itself is an eclectic blend of many dance influences from India, Central Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and Spain. The name makes it clear that it is an American invention whilst ‘Tribal Style’ describes the dancers working together as a group with a ‘tribal’ look. The dance occasionally uses some choreography but is largely improvisational and has evolved over the last 20+ years or so into a well developed and intuitive dance form which uses a system of formations and cues to communicate to fellow dancers what is going to happen next. The dancers interact with each other with plenty of eye contact, attention trained on the lead position looking for the cue for the next step - a group focused on presenting the dance as one entity in much the same way as a flock of birds are able to all change direction at precisely the same moment. How did Kalash start? Whilst attending local belly dance classes Kelley became increasingly interested in American Tribal Style bellydance and started teaching herself ATS at home using the FatChanceBellyDance instructional DVD’s. When her bellydance teacher left Devon for the United States she and fellow student, Lisa, invited other students from the class to join them at her home where they would practise every week in a converted barn. Unfortunately the barn has a very low ceiling and was therefore not good for strong arm positions! By April 2008 Kalash was established and the girls decided they had to hire a hall with plenty of arm room and have never looked back since. The Original Kalash Tribe The Kalash are a tribe tucked away in the Hindu Kush mountains of Northern Pakistan. The women wear very distinctive costumes, black skirts with heavy decorative borders and beautiful tops and headdresses decorated with cowrie shells, embroidery and strands of beads. A look which has been adopted and adapted from similar ethnic groups by many ATS dancers. It is from this ethnic group that we take not just our name but also ideas and inspiration for costuming. Our charities We are a non-profit making dance group who have adopted the name of the Kalash people. In return we will make an annual donation to each of our two nominated charities, from funds raised by our activities such as the Oasis events and dance classes: KEPS (Kalash Environmental Protection Society) is a registered NGO in Pakistan whose aim is to help the needs of the Kalash and their environment in conjunction with HKCA (Hindu Kush Conservation Association) a British Charity www.hindukushconservation.com Our other charity is Survival - the only international organization supporting tribal peoples worldwide. They help tribal peoples defend their lives, protect their lands and determine their own futures (amongst other fundraising items they produce really great Christmas cards and every penny from the sale of these cards helps fund Survival's urgent work with threatened tribal peoples) www.survival-international.org Contact Us Email us at kalash.ats@googlemail.com or alternatively sign up to the forum! Dance in Devon 2009
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