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Maja
"the Girl from the Nile"

• Most extraordinary and phenomenal 3 days intensive workshop on 9, 10 and 11 of March 2001, sponsored by Maja, here in Hollywood South Florida
• Guest Teachers—Fatchance, Gypsy Caravan, John Compton, Gawazee Troupe
• The essence of the original teachers founders of American Tribal to experience the differences in the Tribal Style
• We had the presence of hundred of dancers flying in from around the country in a most rewarding experience
• The Performance was a cultural journey through Egypt, Persia, North Africa, India and an array of the most renowned teachers and troupes in the American Tribal Style
• An amazing 4 hours parade and celebration of the different styles, with extraordinary talents and Beauty, Jennifer, and live music by Happy/ Hips Accepted(VA)/ Leslie(FL)/ Emeralds of Persia & Rising Phoenix(FL)/ Sahara Silk(FL)/ Sabeena(India)/ Siddique(FL)/ Maja & the Gypsy Tribe/ Mishaal(Japan)/ Amina's troupe(FL)/ Sinduvalli(FL)/ in your dreams(NE)/ Hoszuni & Estrela(Brasil)/ Loraine & Kali(FL)/ Philadelphia's Tribal BellyDance(PA)/ Awalim(GA)
• The excitement and the Magical atmosphere has no words of description and a great Bazaar, Intense selection of Tribal & Cabaret costumes and accessories by 20 vendors
• It was such an inspiration and a gift to have all these beautiful performers and outstanding troupes, that it was such a sadness, as we said good bye and the question was repeated time after time...."When will we do this again???"

Maja is getting ready for the next one. Be part of it!

If the Meeting of the Tribes was an absolute success, it is Thanks to all of you present who made this event an outstanding, inspiring and unforgettable experience!!!

Sisters in Arms–3/2001

Gazing at a roomful of swiveling navels, Kate Cofrin recalled the personal epiphany five years ago that set her belly free:
"For me, letting go was the hardest part. All my life my mother told me not to swing my hips when I walked."
Cofrin, 48, clearly has let go.

She has learned to "move around your center." Her hips have mastered "the pestle," with the space around them a malleable mortar.

       This weekend Cofrin came in from Houston to join 130 other women — and one belly-dancing man — from all over the country for the second annual South Florida Bellydance Fest, which has transformed the gym at South Broward High School in Hollywood into a tummy-centric center of "tribal" belly-dancing.

       Tribal belly dance is not the temptress-in-a-coin-covered-bathing-suit brand made famous in movies. In contrast, it comes across as Middle Eastern-maiden-cum-American-flower-child version of country line dancing or the Electric Slide: Dancers move together, in pairs or much larger groups.

       "One of the biggest differences is that it's a group dynamic as opposed to an individual dynamic," said Pat Ravarra, a San Francisco woman who studies there at FatChanceBellyDance, one of the West Coast's most trendsetting troupes.

       When Ravarra describes her passion, she sounds cosmic. She says her peak belly-dancing experience arrives in the rare moments when she and her partner are fully in sync. "You've slipped into the same space and time, which of course is spaceless and timeless."

       Ashleigh Caronite, 32, from Boca Raton, may have traveled the shortest distance to the three-day Meeting of the Tribes, but she admits she has a long way to go to perfect her belly-dancing.

       Caronite started just eight weeks ago, taking classes with Maja, the first-name-only "girl from the Nile" who organized the weekend event and teaches in several South Florida cities. "A lot of my girlfriends were doing this. It's a girls' night out," Caronite said.

       "This really is about the goddess within. It's very sensual, very sexy," said Caronite, who appeared to have the gist of it from her spot in the back of the class. "It's about being a woman, very delicate. We were saying we think it was like a martial art for women from way back — to mesmerize the men."

       Caronite gestures out to the varied physiques, all dressed in variations of cholis — string-backed bikini tops — and hip shawls as they follow the Oregon-based leaders of the Gypsy Caravan troupe. Egyptian rhythms and the mysterious music of the mizmar flute float from a portable CD player. Nearly every belly is exposed, regardless of its dimension.

       "When they dance," Caronite said, "they are the most beautiful women in the world."

       But unlike the Hollywood version, tribal belly-dancing is less about personal allure than it is a certain kind of sisterhood, one many say is at the heart of centuries-old Middle Eastern belly-dancing.

       And then there is the brotherhood. Asked what it was like being the only man in a roomful of bared bellies, Woodrow Hill, did not miss a beat:

       "What do you think it's like? It's a hard job, but some brother's got to do it."
       Hill, 29, a website designer from Charlotte, wore a T-shirt and gym pants. He regularly travels to festivals all over the country.
       "The people are great. And hey, they're all women. The men's bathroom is all mine."

Jennette Kienholz—Instructor–3/2001

Meeting of the Tribes. (March 2001).
Maja
This is my troupe, "Gypsy Tribe."
Maja and teachers— Gypsy Caravan, Fat Chance, Zarifa Troupe and John Compton—(March 2001).

MajaNile.com