Dance Musings Part 2

What is Transcultural Fusion?

++I started writing this in February and got stuck with the enormity and complexity of the subject. I’ve been determined to finish and publish so I can hopefully have discussions with you about it. I’m also writing a follow-up to be published in the next week.

Wowza. What a question. 
It’s one I have been asking myself consistently for the last few months as I navigate the articles I’ve been reading, lectures I’ve been attending and discussions I’ve been having.

I definitely don’t have an answer, and I’m certain my views on this will change many times.

I have been starting to use this name to describe my dance style, prompted by Donna Mejia’s work - please read her open letter to the dance community here. 

It seems to be becoming more and more adopted by dancers who would previously have gone under the moniker of “Tribal Fusion” - personally I’m using it to replace “Fusion Belly Dance” (you can read why here.)

So is it then a new common term to describe the various styles, formats and schools that have been coming from the USA since the 1980’s? Within this I’m also including the improv styles such as FCBDⓇ and Global Caravan; whilst we previously considered them to be distinct from Tribal Fusion, I feel that now they belong under the same umbrella.

Or is it something else? My teacher Hilde Cannoodt created this video in April 2020; she first heard the name Transcultural Fusion at a dance school in Senegal, describing a fusion of Contemporary dance concepts with traditional sub-Saharan dances. In this case something completely distinct from from the USA fusions inspired not only by dances of the MENAHT* region but also by Black funk and hip-hop styles, Flamenco, Indian Classical dances and more... 

This creates a potentially exciting opportunity to connect with other dance communities outside of our (Tribal) Fusion (belly dance) scene, which for a long time we have known to be pretty insular and cyclical. At many events for the past few years there have been discussion panels, often including the topic of how to open ourselves up to the wider dance community and create credibility for our style. Maybe this is the beginnings of that.

I recently watched an interesting panel discussion from an online dance festival and what struck me was that each of the panellists (all dancers from the USA who I respect) introduced themselves by stating the styles of dance they fused or were currently studying / fusing. And by this I mean the SOURCE dances - Raqs Sharqi, Modern Dance, Waving, House Dance etc…

For me, introducing myself in this way would have me describing my dance style as a fusion of FCBD Style, Datura Style, along with influences from many other USA teachers. I’ve definitely got some Raqs Sharqi in there, primarily from Hilde, who also brought a lot of Contemporary concepts from her Laban training. My teachers have themselves been inspired by artists and dancers from many regions worldwide, yet for me to credit only the US teachers causes erasure for the minority source dance styles.

What is clear to me right now, is that I need to educate myself more in the root styles of the fusion dances I have been studying for nearly 15 years. I have begun furthering my studies this year but for me to really feel any understanding of the foundations of my dance I need to investigate -
Raqs Sharqi 
Funk & Hip-hop styles - Locking, Popping and Waving
Flamenco
North African dances - particularly of Morocco, Algeria, Libya and Tunisia - from where there there has been a lot of borrowing and misappropriation without any clear distinctions between the many varied styles of these regions

That’s a lot! I realise I’ve omitted Indian dances from that list - whilst I love to watch, I’ve never been drawn to study them and lacking the cultural context I would prefer, for now, to remove the steps I know are rooted in Indian dances from my vocabulary.

So far, though, I have only been able to dip my toes in and take occasional workshops in a variety of styles. This by no means qualifies me to be able to list them as “styles I am fusing.” It’s going to take a bit of study and research! 

I would love to hear about your thoughts on this. Do you agree or disagree? Have you been widening your studies recently? I’m really open to talking about this so feel free to leave a comment below or you can contact me privately here. It’s so important to keep talking and sharing ideas!

*MENAHT = Middle East, North Africa, Hellas (Greece), Turkey

**The earrings I’m wearing in the picture above are commonly known as “Fulani” earrings. They are inspired by jewellery worn by Fulani women in West Africa, traditionally made from gold. I bought mine years ago - I have no idea if it was an ethical vendor nor if they actually came from West Africa or were created by a Western artist. Whilst they are a beautiful adornment, I will be making more conscious and educated choices about the items I purchase and what I wear for performance in the future.