Cardio-Tribal Belly Dance combines energizing ethnic dance moves, classic belly dance isolations, low impact snaky arms and shaky hips with structured repetitive movements in a workout format. Cardio Tribal Style (CTS) builds on the synchronized improvisation that is typical of American Tribal Style (ATS) belly dance, but with fun ethnic dance combinations fusing belly dance with indian, african, latin, polynesian and modern moves and music. You'll have fun, learn belly dance combinations, and get a good workout.  Come ready to sweat!

Robin also teaches Zumba Gold - a low-impact version of Zumba that uses belly and ethnic dance moves to world music.

Robin moved to the Palm Springs area of southern California and is a founding member of the Desert Belly Dance Collective in Palm Desert.  She is leading sessions with the Cardio Tribal Team (CTT). 

SCHEDULE
Effective Jan 16, 2012

Monday          4:00pm     CTS for 50+                    Tina
                     6:00pm     CTBD Workout                 Robin / CTT
                     6:30pm     Tribal Combos                 CTT

Wednesday    5:30pm      Zumba Gold                    Robin
                    6:30pm      CTS Choreography           Robin

Friday           6:00pm      CTBD Workout                 Robin / CTT
                    6:30pm      Tribal Combos                 CTT

Saturday      10:00am      CTS Combos & Props       Robin / CTT
        

VIDEO INSTRUCTION



You can also learn CTBD moves and workout using our videos – Cardio Tribal Belly Dance Volumes 1 & 2, the Combinations for Fans Video, or by subscribing to the free videos on the CARDIOTRIBALBELLYDNZ Channel on YOUTUBE.




CARDIO TRIBAL BELLY DANCE, VOL. 1
CTBD1 COMBOS
Anas Hips (move hips in all directions)
Barbara’s Camels (body undulations, vertical figure 8 hip movement with turn)
Ciana’s Arabic Turn (lower body undulation, arms, step-point with turn)
Double Hips (slow 3/4 hip shimmies, arm-hand signals for direction changes)
Eddie’s Basic (hip shimmy with 90 degree turns)
Elizabeth Combo (hip shimmy, Pivot turn, side hip lifts, 3-step turn, shoulder hits)
Footslides (single forward-double back hip bump, add turns)
Ghawazee Hips Sways (with pivot turn and added hip drops)





CARDIO TRIBAL BELLY DANCE, VOL. 2
CTBD2 COMBOS
Mayan Arms (vertical hip movement with extended arms)
Mesmera (torso rotation, mid-body undulation, hip circle)
Marinas (hip circles stepping right & left)
Sexy Walk (slow balanced walk, undulation on back step)
Locomotion (figure 8 hip, pivot)
Salsa (adds side step, back turn)
Cha Cha Turk (fast Turkish hip shimmy, ¼ turns, cha cha’s)
Gloria’s Shimmy Spin (hip drops, spin, hip & shoulder shimmies)
TM Egyptians (hip lift, turn, slow choo-choo side step)
Flamenco (with added shimmies)
Hip Lifts (travel step in all directions)


DVD’s available through Amazon.com or by contacting Robin Johnson.




ABOUT TRIBAL STYLE BELLY DANCE (ATS, ITS CTS)
by Robin Denise Johnson

Tribal belly dance has several streams right now – American Tribal Style (ATS), Improvisational Tribal Style (ITS) and Cardio Tribal Style (CTS).  All of them are fusions of belly dance with other dance styles. American Tribal Style evolved from traditional belly dance in the 1980s in the U.S.  American Tribal Style (ATS) took the isolations and belly dance moves seen in middle-eastern dance, and arranged the moves so that the group, or tribe, could dance as a unit.  Carolena Nerricio of Fat Chance Belly Dance, Kajira Djoumana of Black Sheep Belly Dance, and Paulette Rees-Denis of Gypsy Caravan were all instrumental in teaching, publishing, and promoting this dance form.  They all emphasized the dancing team, shared movement vocabulary, rotation of leaders and followers, and synchronized improvisation, using mostly middle-eastern rhythms.  The costuming was far more elaborate and covered when compared with belly dance costumes seen in restaurant dancing.  It is an eclectic ethnic costume – a blend of African, Indian, Spanish-Flamenco-Romani, Asian, and Middle-Eastern elements – in layers with pantaloons, wide skirts, belts and cholis made of ethnic textiles, and ornate tribal style jewelry.  The heavy costumes emphasize the movements and add to the earthy, grounded feel of American Tribal Style belly dancing. It is common in these tribal fusion styles to see one of more of the following elements in the costuming:
•    Cowrie shell ornaments (especially combined with dreadlocks for the hair)
•    Body art-tatoos-henna
•    Melodia’s Pants (for the pared-down urban look. www.melodiadesigns.com)
•    Belts, Vests and Tribal Bras (usually coin, rarely glass beads)
•    Wide-bottom skirts (10-yards or more)

ITS and CTS evolved from ATS when dancers who were part of and/or influenced by ATS began to add their own creativity to the ATS foundation – usually modifying or departing from one or more of the signature aspects of ATS.  Tribal fusion now includes soloists rather than a group (Rachel Brice and Kami Liddle of the Belly Dance Superstars being among the most well known), Urban-Hip Hip-Modern dance moves, music with streamlined costumes (for example Heather Stants-Urban Tribal, Jill Parker-Ultra Gypsy, Amy Sigil-Unmata), African dance fusion (Domba), Goth fusion (Marjhani-Oojham, Ariellah, Tempest), Theatricality-Burlesque fusion (Blue Damsel – Rachel Lazarus Soto, Leela), etc.  And there continue to be troupes that keep the ATS model of synchronized improvisation with a shared movement vocabulary, but develop their own ethnic dance movement vocabulary or use world-fusion music (Gypsy Caravan, Domba, and Zaltana – for instance.)  CTS - Cardio-Tribal Style - is Robin Johnson's variation building on ATS foundations and philosophy, but using her own combinations and cueing. 

Tribal fusion belly dance attracts people who want grounded belly-dance steps, movements typical of ethnic dance, and no-limits to the music used to express their dance.  Tribal fusion belly dance is culturally ‘American’ in that it does what Americans are known for doing – start with a foundation and then borrow from various ethnic traditions, and blend them together ingeniously to create something new.

While most dancers attempt to respect the tribal traditions from which they borrow, the drive and focus for tribal-fusion dances are more for creating and expressing in the present multicultural world, than on preserving past cultural dance tradition.  In this way Tribal-Fusion differs from Danse Oriental-Egyptian-Folkloric dance.  ATS, ITS, CTS, and the other forms of Tribal fusion in general are among the fastest growing dance trends in North America (and now Australia, New Zealand and the U.K.) because these eclectic ethnic styles provide so much room for creative expression.  As Amanda of Indogo says…

So whatever you feel just dance it.  Whatever you wanna do just chance it.
Live your life like a rhythm.  Soon you’ll be dancin’ with ‘em!