Rachel
Brice, born June 15 1972, is a Tribal Fusion style belly dancer based in
Portland, Oregon. She is known for her exquisite costumes, tribal jewellery and
intricate tattoos.
Her interest
in belly dance started in the early nineties after seeing a Hahbi’Ru
performance. She was enthralled by the elaborate antique jewellery and
luxurious fabrics of the costumes, but even more by the fact that the dancers
were all shapes and sizes. Witnessing the proud, curvaceous dancers dance with
attitude and grace, inspired her to find her own place in the genre of belly
dance.The style
she was interested in, and eventually came to master, had not yet been created,
so she found videos of Suhaila Salimpour and taught herself.
In 1999 she decided to quit her studies in Yoga and massage therapy to
pursue her dance studies full time. She moved to San Francisco and studied
towards a degree in Dance Ethnology. During this period a new form of belly dance
emerged, known today as American Tribal Style (ATS) Jill Parker, her teacher,
was the first ATS trained dancer to combine the theatrical elements and
folkloric styles with traditional ATS and so Tribal Fusion was born. Rachel was
part of the first Tribal Fusion company (Ultra Gypsy) In 2003 she was discovered by Miles Copeland, founder of Belly Dance
Superstars, and toured extensively with that company showcasing the Tribal
Fusion style.
Today, Rachel is the choreographer and creative director of Datura, her
studio and dance company based in Portland. She still continues to further her
studies in both belly dance and Yoga. She is the star of many instructional
belly dance DVDs and also teaches workshops all around the world.
(Source: www.rachelbrice.com)
Below is one of my favourite clips of Rachel Brice doing what she does best. . . Enjoy!
Happy Shimmying
