Tribal Skirt Fusion with Nicola Atkin of Bodhaia Tribal

My skirt dancing is a fusion of Tribal Bellydancing with the energetic and lively Karcilama folk dance that stems from The Balkans. It is traditionally performed as a duet with dancers of any gender facing each other, hands held by the face, fingers clicking to the 9/8 turkish rhythm (called Karcilama, or Oksak in Egyptian Arabic), and movements that had the dancers playfully sparring with each other. The modern-day karsilama is a lot more hot-blooded and raucous with heavy hip movements and performed in male/female duets, however it’s the elements of the historical, folk style that I prefer to incorporate.

I try to bring just a flavour of the karcilama into my tribal skirt. We dance to many rhythms, include many bellydance body movements, and keep the improvisational format of tribal. The strong arms blend beautifully with the powerful tribal posture, and the fact that it is performed as an informal duet where dancers play off from, and follow, each other, is only enhanced by the improvisational group format of tribal style bellydancing. The final impression from watching and performing my tribal skirt is that it is all about the skirt – lots of synchronous, powerful skirt-swishing, kicks, and spins, with wonderful formations. Never again will you need to exercise your arms – 36 yards' worth of skirt fabric is heavy!