Tribal Thursday

Tribal Thursday – Continuing on with excerpts from The Tribal Bible. In our last post we talked about Jamila and Bal Anat in the SanFrancisco Bay area of California and the lack of “specific dance style” at that time. That Jamila’s approach was more of creating an interesting staged show catering to a specific audience. And while the costumes of Bal Anat during the Ren Faire were not cabaret but instead more earthy and tribal in look they were not specific to any particular tribe or culture. Excerpt starts here “We must keep in context the fact that during this time in the world, and especially in SanFrancisco, was on the cutting edge of experimentation, undergoing a modern renaissance if you will. It was different from any other time in history as far as creative energy and limitless horizons. Add to that the fact that Jamila is an excellent show person, knows how to set an entertaining stage and how to keep an audience enthralled, and it is no wonder her ideas were so successful – and still legendary more than 30 years later.

The credit for naming this style of Jamila’s as “California Tribal” or “American Tribal” should go to Morocco of New York (from a conversation in December, 1998). Morocco felt it was an apt name for this new style that was uniquely American in its fusionary approach, since it did not accurately represent any particular tribe from any particular place. Even then, confusion in regards to what was actually being presented on stage in California was brewing.