On-line Class Intro

The filming of our On-line Classes is going really well. We hope to have them up and viewable really soon!
In the meantime, here's a bit of the introduction for Week One of Level One Dance Fundamentals:

"American Tribal Style® is a style of Belly Dance; it is both elegant and earthy. It is a system of steps and formations that you can learn and use improvisationally with a group of dancers.
I like to see ATS® as a pyramid shape, like an A-frame house, with the music is a bridge that leads to the garden where the audience is sitting.
At the very top of the house is gratitude (we are grateful that we have this time to dance, I am happy to be able to be your teacher, you can insert your personal thoughts here.) Next level is the structure-your personal posture and the group formations of duet, trio and quartet. Next comes all of the steps-and there are about 100 of them! Today we’ll just be learning a few. Finally at the bottom of the pyramid is the fantastic costume and jewelry. The music is the bridge that connects the dancer to the audience.
The audience sees the house in reverse. Through the bridge of the music they first see the costume and jewelry, then the steps and formations. They probably don’t see the posture  and gratitude but they infer it via the attitude of the dancer’s body.
I’m mentioning this because so often dancers see the pyramid in the reverse-they often only see the costume and the steps, they hear the music but forget to use it to connect with the viewer. The formations and posture, instead of being logical pathways become mental exercises."