Tribal Vision : A Celebration of Life Through Tribal Belly Dance

These days you can find belly dancing everywhere, from everyday classes, performances at large world music festivals to small wedding celebrations, to superstar troupes performing on daytime talk shows, but there is yet to be a comprehensive book about tribal belly dancing in America. Paulette Rees-Denis, internationally known dancer, instructor and producer, delves into the reasons why women dance this style, its origins, and the communities it has created. Tribal Vision explores the dance, the costumes, the ritual, and the experience of American Tribal Style belly dance.Through the eyes, hips, and stories of the author herself, Tribal Vision shows us how women have learned to celebrate life and community in the fast-growing and immensely popular world of Tribal Belly dance.There are few book about dance on the market, and none that takes us into this once-sub-cultural now-turning-mainstream world of Tribal Bellydance. Tribal Vision not only tells Paulette's stories, but also delves into the many reasons why women choose to dance this particular style. Tribal Vision explores the trancey and mesmerizing dance; the ethnic-to-groovy costuming and other opportunities that have given many women a chance to start their own business; the spiritual, healing, and ritual aspects; and the community experience of American belly dance.

Paulette Rees-Denis has been a local and international cutting edge dance force since 1991, with her innovative and inspiring style of danceùTribal Belly Dance. Based in Portland, Oregon, Paulette teaches and performs at home and around the globe, while directing her performance dance and music group, Gypsy Caravan Dance Company; managing her world dance studio, Caravan Studio. She produced Tribal Quest NorthWest, the fivc-day international music and dance festival for six years. One of the founding members of this quickly spreading dance styleùmore than just a a crazeù Paulette has an ongoing teaching itinerary in Scotland, England, Germany, Italy, Canada, Taiwan, and Australia, as well as across the United States. Paulette currently writes a monthly travel international e-newsletterùTribal Travels.From 1998-2003, she published a quarterly journal, Caravan Trails, and in 2005 had a monthly dance column in Jareeda Magazine. She has written belly dance articles and been interviewed for dance magazinesù Jareeda, Zaghareet, and Habibi, England's Tribal, Germany's Tanz Oriental, and Australia's Bellydance Oasisùas well as Portland area newspapers and magazines. Along with her troupe, Paulette has been featured in numerous books, including The Tribal Bible and The Bellydance Book, and on the Bellydance TV/ DVD series. She graduated in 2007 with a Master's degree in Publishing and Writing from Portland State University. Having recieved a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Photography from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1983, she also self-published a limited-edition photography book, Skin Stories, in 2000. Rees-Denis has directed award-winning videos and DVDs, including eight international best-selling teaching technique DVDs and four performance videos, along with seven musical CDs.Her documentary, Tribal Travels, about Gypsy Caravan's experiences and performances (June 2005), won ôBest Historical Documentaryö from the Giza Academy Awards.With Gypsy Caravan, she has won awards for ô Troupe of the Yearö (twice), ôFavorite Musiciansö (twice) from the Zaghareet Magazine Golden Belly Awards, ô Best Choreography for the Cameraö from the International Academy of Middle Eastern Dance, and ôBest Troupeö, and ôBest Entertainment Videoö from the Giza Academy Awards.