Bellyworld

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I><U>September Archive</U></I></div> <div> <A HREF="id8.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Front Page"><U>Front Page</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id10.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Editorial"><U>Editorial</U></A></div> <div> Bellyworld</div> <div> <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Music"><U>Music</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="introduction_yoga.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Fitness"><U>Fitness</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Move of the Month"><U>Move of the Month</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id37.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Business"><U>Business</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><IMG SRC="16c87590.png" border=0 width="135" height="89" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#CC0033" FACE="Berlin Sans FB" >  |    </FONT> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Navel Magazine"><U>Home</U></A></div> <div> Bellyworld</div> <div> <B>From Dream to Silver Screen: Cortney Armitage and “Tribal Style”</B></div> <div> <I>by Eleyda Negrón</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>“There was a mighty wind blowing on my back just pushing me to keep going forward. That wind was the community, this is their project.”</I> - Cortney Armitage<IMG SRC="14f22ef0.png" border=0 width="290" height="239" ALIGN="RIGHT" HSPACE="10" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> The very first step of Cortney Armitage's successful career started at age 17, when she joined the MTV crew to work in what became one of their greatest hit shows “Beavis & Butt-Head”.  She eventually became a graphic designer for the CBS Evening News and her career lead towards Pixar Animation Studios, whom she joined in 2000.  Cortney works for them as a Layout Artist, and worked on two of their blockbuster films “Monsters, Inc.” and “Finding Nemo”.</div> <bR> <div> One of Cortney's passions is belly dancing.  While she was studying under the talented Rachel Brice, Cortney witnessed one of the greatest moments in belly dance: Rachel Brice joined the BellyDance Super Stars tour.  This was a turning point for Cortney, a moment when she felt it was time to follow her own dream as well.  She combined her two loves: film and belly dancing, on what became her five year project: “Tribal Style: Becoming a Belly Dancer”.</div> <bR> <div> Tribal Style is a 90 minute documentary about four students and their journey through bellydance: from their first class to performance.  This documentary features the professional dancers Rachel Brice (The Indigo), Frederique David, Carolena Nericcio (FatChanceBellyDance), Nanna Candelaria, Beth Masse and Sue Erokan (Clandestine), Andrea (The Miz-Healers), as well as Karen and Bethany (The Boom Bellas).</div> <bR> <div> The first shoot was on September 13, 2003, but pre-production started back in 2002.  As a project involving music, one of the imminent problems was copyright.  After taking a workshop about copyright and stress starting to kick in, a fortunate event happened.  Cortney recalls, “I was really sweating it and not sure as to what I was going to do, but then there was this random email I got in my mail box from Jeremiah Soto and Rachel Lazarus Soto, and it was right at the beginning of the project. They had found my website and came to the rescue. They have been sponsoring this project for sometime now. I owe them a great deal.”</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="15108080.jpg" border=0 width="264" height="264" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="10" VSPACE="0">All the professional dancers are spectacular, but one of them caught our attention.  Considering this is a documentary about Tribal style, a familiar face from another style not just made the cut into this film but had a major impact. Nanna Candelaria, who has more than 25 years practicing and performing - even it is difficult to imagine given her young looks - is a well known San Francisco Area belly dancer in the more traditional styles. Cortney explained that Andrea, one of the students, decided to pick her own path and due to some difficulties with some tribal things went to Nanna following a friend's advice.  When Cortney approached Nanna to ask her to be part of this project, she agreed. They decided to watch Nanna perform. In admiration Cortney said: “No one dances like Nanna. No one. She transcends Josephine Baker when she dances. I just couldn't ignore such a talent, especially when it was practically dropped in my lap.”</div> <bR> <div> Even though a documentary is not a single person project, Cortney felt like that sometimes.  As on a long road trip, sometimes you have no idea what is in front of you through those dark paths, sometimes you witness the most amazing views.  At some point, she confesses, she had the feeling she had gone too far to go back, yet clueless about the future.  Never the less, Cortney continued to see her dream come true, and her documentary is a testimony of the incredible support the belly dance community gave to her during her own personal journey.  </div> <bR> <div> Sometimes it was just Cortney and the camera, but there was always a time when someone came to the rescue when doubts made their way to the producer's heart.  Frederique joined to teach the troupe. Bethany Jane Hanson joined the troupe and at some point even saved the project. Indeed, placeCityBethany bought the camera! Liza Maine Seybold joined as editor, and even spent weekends with Cortney editing long hours. </div> <bR> <div> Cortney is still in touch with the four students followed during this film - people Cortney admits she loves dearly.  While this film may not convert anyone to the art of belly dance, Tribal Style gives a deeper understanding of belly dance and womanhood itself. This film is not Cortney's end, it is just the beginning.  Cortney already has two projects in the writing process: one as a narrative project, and the second is another documentary.  </div> <bR> <div> “Tribal Style: Becoming a Belly Dancer” was selected “2007 Semi-Finalist” at the Moondance International Film Festival and is part of the <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, and their premier will be in October 13, 2007.</FONT>  It was recently screened at Tribal Cafe on August 16, 2007 in San Bernardino, California, and we all are waiting patiently for more screenings or, even better, a DVD release.  In the meantime, Cortney lives her dreams, in film and belly dance.</div> <bR> <div> We asked Cortney what belly dance was for her.  Cortney answered: “Thoreau once wrote: 'Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake.' That pretty much sums up belly dance for me.”</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://homepage.mac.com/tijjster/iMovieTheater11.html" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://homepage.mac.com/tijjster/iMovieT"><U>Click here to see the trailer for "Tribal Style: Becoming a Bellydancer"</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.igctribalstyle.net/Site/About%20Tribal%20Style.html" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.igctribalstyle.net/Site/About"><U>"Tribal Style: Becoming a Belly Dancer" Official Site</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>