In the spirit of Thanksgiving (not that shopping "Black Friday" spirit, the part where we are supposed to be thankful for what we DO have) I wanted to let you know why I am thankful for each of the teachers we have at TribalCon this year. I am going to send out information, three teachers at a time, all this week so that you can take time to read about them, watch some videos of their work, and learn about which classes they are teaching to decide how to plan your TribalCon this year. Each of our teachers are jewels in the Tribal community and we are grateful to have them all in one place for one weekend!

I also wanted to mention again (since we have had quite a few questions about it) that T-shirts can only be bought until Dec 6th or will come with your pre registration "Early Bird" package if your register for the whole weekend before Sat Dec 6th....but there will be NO T-shirt sales after next weekend or at the event.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ariellah (CA) www.ariellah.com
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ariellah is one of the most requested teachers on the surveys filled out by TribalCon attendees over the years, so everyone is very excited to have her here this year. We are very lucky that we get not only a dance class in her own "dark" style, but that she agreed to a yoga infused dance class as well!

youtube.com/watch
youtube.com/watch


Ariellah studied classical ballet with the Royal Academy of Dance of London for twelve years, beginning at age three. After a four-year break from dance that included two years in the Peace Corps on Africa's Ivory Coast, she returned to the United States eager to learn the dance of her Moroccan ancestry.


Ariellah performs tribal and dark fusion belly dance worldwide. She has studied and performed belly dance for the past seven years, both with Janine Ryle of Danse Mahgreb and as a founding member of The Indigo with Rachel Brice. Her style infuses many genres of belly dance, all with a modern dark flavour that is uniquely her own. She is featured on many DVDs, including the first of its kind "Gothic BellyDance" DVD and her first instructional DVD, "Contemporary BellyDance and Yoga Conditioning" and she also won first place in Siren's Insanity belly dance competition in 2004. She is considered a leader in the innovative new genre of Gothic Belly Dance and is known for her strong technique and precision of movements. www.ariellah.com


Friday : 2:15-3:45pm

Ariellah : Dark Fusion Belly Dance Combinations and Choreography - Learn Ariellah's unique style of belly dance by working with her on dark fusion belly dance combinations and choreography. The workshop includes a yoga infused warm up and repetitive drilling of dark fusion infused belly dance combinations. Students will learn a short choreography that infuses the combinations learned in the workshop.


Saturday : 9:00-10:30am

Ariellah : Yoga Infused Belly Dance - Ariellah's workshop will focus on yoga infused strengthening and stretching exercises that directly correlate to our belly dance movements and postures. These exercises will allow the student's body to open up to the movements of belly dance, including shoulders, chest, belly and hips. A brief drilling section will follow a long, intensive yoga session, in order to better understand how the stretches correlate to the movements, allowing students to gain a more fluid, open, strong and grounded physique to accompany their dance practice.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kevin "Nevik" Hartnell (OH) www.legionofdoumbek.com
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Nevik is another Pennsic friend joining the music roster this year! He came down to attend TribalCon last year and fit in so well we had to ask him to join in a more official capacity this year.

youtube.com/watch

Kevin "Nevik" Hartnell comes from a family of percussionists. His good fortune has provided opportunities to study and perform with many great drummers and share that wealth of knowledge by teaching. With a lifetime of drumming experience that includes thousands of performances in the United States as well as various other countries, studio session work since the age of 15, contributions to music for films, commercials, and many recordings, he travels regularly, performing and teaching workshops from his darbuka handbook, the "Tekronomicon ." Check the schedule to see when and where he'll be next.


When not teaching or performing, Kevin is usually involved in photography, travel, curry, learning how-to, graphic design, and running.


Saturday : 12:15-1:45pm

Nevik : Doumbek Exercises - The workshop will cover a collection of exercises to build articulation, dexterity, strength, power, speed, and improve dynamics to become a more musical player. Open to all skill levels!


Sunday : 10:00-11:30am

Nevik : Introduction to Split-Finger Technique for Darbuka - The workshop will cover this technique popularized in Turkey by learning strokes, hand/finger positions, combinations/exercises, and how to apply them in common rhythms. Open to all skill levels!


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Megha of Devyani (AL) www.devyani.net
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
We are so lucky that Megha, the teaching partner of Carolena Nericcio of FCBD, is part of our Southern Tribal community. We are glad that her family and her dance company, Devyani, love TribalCon and grace us with their presence each year.

www.youtube.com/watch

www.youtube.com/watch


Megha began performing very early in life. She took her first dance classes at about the age of 4 and has been creating and performing ever since. Theatre soon caught her attention and that was her passion throughout her schooling years. It was in 1996 that she discovered American Tribal Style Bellydance and immediately shifted her focus to this art form.


In San Francisco, Megha studied ATS with the originator of the style from 1996 - 1998. Upon returning to the Southeast, she began teaching ATS classes in order to create a community of people to dance with. She was the first to offer these classes in this region and has continued teaching pure ATS for the last 10 years. She continues to teach and perform at sold out workshops across the country and around the world both individually and on the Tribal Pura tour with her teacher/partner, Carolena Nericcio.


In 2003 Megha completed teacher certification with Carolena Nericcio (creator of ATS and founder of FatChance BellyDance) and entered into an exclusive partnership with her. They now take their love and appreciation of this elegant dance style in its original form on the road to co-teach the technique and artistic vision created by Carolena over the last 20 years.


Megha directs the Birmingham, AL based Devyani Dance Company and runs Devyani Dance Center, home of her dance company and a hub of international and ethnic dance styles in Birmingham. Under her direction, Devyani has performed at countless festivals, weddings, corporate events and private parties over the last 9 years and has been nominated for multiple cultural and artistic awards.


Friday : 10:00-11:30am

Megha : ATS Drills for Leading and Following - Communication is one of the subtle but very exciting aspects of Tribal Style dance. Using a series of simple but challenging drills, learn the concept of Leading and Following, Formations, Cues and Transitions and Music Interpretation. *Dancers should know the basics of Taxeem, Bodywave, Hand Floreo and Arm Undulations, Shimmy, Arabic Basic, Egyptian Basic, Pivot Bumps and Choo-choos. We will review this quickly but the focus will be on drilling in formations.


Saturday : 2:30-4:00pm

Megha : Finger Cymbals for the Tribal Dancer - Playing a musical instrument while you dance adds another level of excitement to your performance. Finger cymbals are an important part of ATS dancing. Learn or refine the basic finger cymbal patterns and specialty patterns played while dancing ATS. Even if you've been intimidated by "zills" up to this point, you'll leave this class loving them.

*Bring your own finger cymbals.