Fell in love with ATS Belly Dance

This is a hot topic for me right now. For as long as I can remember I have always loved to belly dance. This time I fell in love with American Tribal Style Belly Dance (ATS). The very first I attended Nigma’s ATS Tribal Certification Program, I was hooked. And it made me understand what is the different of ATS and Tribal Fusion. ATS describes the FatChance style of bellydance, and that the word "tribal bellydance" encompasses other styles, is the copyrighted Tribal Bellydance style of Carolena Nericcio, founder of Fat Chance Bellydance, based in San Francisco, California.

In this training program, we've all been drilled on the moves with finger cymbal repeatedly. I can really shut my brain off sometimes, because the moves are coming from muscle memory, and it's not dependent on what point the music is at, etc. That's what makes an ATS performance so magical, that silent communication that makes us wheel and move like a flock of birds.

I feel blessed to have belly dance in my life as well as the fabulous friends that this dance has brought to me.

If any one of you want to use the phrase "American Tribal Style" or the term of ATS for your dance style in an official way, there are resources available in the form of certification programs developed by Carolena, as well as teacher certifications and sister schools that are beginning to sprout around the world. I wish All Tribal Bellydancers owe a debt of gratitude to Ms. Nericcio and Fat Chance Bellydance Tribe.