Tribal Fusion - Costuming

Costuming

Many tribal fusion dancers use the ATS "uniform" as a basis for costuming, but usually not all together. Additional elements of the costume are strongly influenced by the nature of the fusion - flamenco fusion dancers will wear flamenco skirts, burlesque fusion dancers will wear feathers etc. Costume are often very elaborate with layer on layer of fabrics, jewellery, fringing, hair ornaments etc. At the other extreme, where the fusion has a strong contemporary influence, the costume is pared down to a sleek minimalist style.

Mardi Love pioneered many of the most popular elements in tribal fusion costuming. Despite being part of the more minimalist Urban Tribal, she helped sculpt the intricate, vibrant, and complicated costumes worn by The Indigo. She is credited with being the first one to make contemporary cowrie falls, using colorful, hand dyed yarn to braid cowrie shells together. She also created one of the most popular belt styles by using 2 pieces of an Indian (frequently Kuchi or Banjara) belt bases as the front and back, adding 4 beaded medallions (1 to each end of the belt bases), and adding colourful yarn fringe (such as Colinette Pointe 5).

Pants are now worn by almost every tribal fusion belly dancer. They are often characterized by their large flare that is split up to the knee along the outside seam, and finished with a lettuce edging. Basic pants come in many colours of cotton lycra with a mini skirt, sash, or fringe attached at the waist. Pants can also be made from a variety of mesh, slinky, or velvet fabrics.

Tattoos, seen on ATS dancers mainly on the midriff, are often more prominent among tribal fusion dancers and spread to other parts of the body.