Starting Saturday, October 25th

@ Tango 411 in Media, PA

Saturdays: 11am to 12pm

    October 25th - December 6th

    (No class on November 8th, special field trip available)

Tuition: $72 for 6-weeks, no drop-ins

        Tuition must be prepaid prior to October 18th

No spectators allowed

American Tribal Belly Dance is a modern style of belly dance, designed so that women can dance together in groups--duets, trios, circles, etc. It is a fusion of Egyptian bely dance, MId-Eastern folkloric, Indian, and Spanish dance movements. It’s called “American” because it started in San Francisco, “Tribal” because it is a dance of the “tribe” of women who choose to dance together. Another distinguishable feature of this dance style is that it is improvised. All the dancers learn a vocabulary of steps, and cues, so that to the casual observer the dance appears to be choreographed. In this introductory 6 week course, students will learn specific steps and how to perform “lead and follow” duets. Please bring a floor mat or towel (for cool down portion of the class) and water bottle. Students will dance barefoot or with socks, should wear snug fitting tops and yoga or sweat pants. Please note: no spectators are allowed.

Irene started studying tribal belly dance in 2002. She began tribal dance classes with Fleur Frascella, former director of Philadelphia Tribal belly dance (now Tapestry Tribal Belly Dance.) Philadelphia Tribal Belly dance (PTB) was the first tribal belly dance troupe in the Philadelphia area. In 2003, she was invited to join the student troupe, “Generations” and in 2004 joined the PTB troupe. In 2006, she went through the PTB teaching program under the direction of Ms. Fracella and has been teaching regularly since at the Tapestry Tribal Belly Dance studio at the West Chester Wellness Center. In addition, she has taught tribal belly dance classes for the Spring-Ford adult education program, the Delaware County Community College adult education program and a workshop at West Chester University.

In 2007, Irene received her General Skills Certification in

American Tribal Style (ATS). In 2008, she received her ATS Teaching Certification from Carolena Nericcio, director of the FatChanceBellydance troupe. Carolena Nericcio is credited for creating the tribal belly dance.