Spotlight Dancer/Troupe
Prairie Caravan Tribal Belly Dance

Prairie Caravan is a group of tribal style belly dancers based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada who have studied Tribal Style belly dance for the past several years.

Although relatively new to Winnipeg, Tribal Style has found a firm foundation and planted its roots with Prairie Caravan.

The dancers in our group have diverse dance backgrounds. Some have studied traditional forms of belly dance such as Egyptian and Cabaret; others have experience in other dance forms such as ballet, jazz and modern dance. Our group loves to explore Tribal and Tribal Fusion as well as other dance forms, which allows us to create our own unique style.

Ask any of our members what keeps them coming back to the circle and they will tell you its fun. Prairie Caravan takes tribal style seriously -- but not ourselves! Laughter is an essential part of each practice and performance. The main goal for each and every dancer is to have fun, share the experience with other dancers and to draw the audience along with us on our journey.

Our Motto is ...
"Forget what you THINK you know about belly dance"

The Members of Prairie Caravan Tribal Belly Dance:

Alexis G
Alexis has been dancing since she was a small child; beginning first with ballet, tap, and jazz and adding modern dance as an adult. She later discovered belly dancing while in University. She happened upon Tribal Style when she returned to Winnipeg from Edmonton in 2004 and was looking for a belly dance class to join. She stayed because of the great music, beautiful costuming, the fun of improvisation, and the no-pressure group atmosphere. It was so much fun to be able to dance in a group and stay in the back if you wanted, or to be able to be front and centre if you felt brave.
Some of her highlights of performing with Prairie Caravan include dancing at the 2006 Winnipeg Fringe Festival. Alexis has been a member of Prairie Caravan since 2005.

Brenda A
By day, Brenda is an Applications Trainer. By night, she is a Tribal Belly Dancer! Brenda began taking Egyptian Cabaret dance classes with a local instructor in 2000. She was introduced to American Tribal Style (ATS) approximately four years ago when it was first introduced to Winnipeg, and promptly fell in love with the style. The improvisation, the sense of group and the fun were exactly what she was looking for!
Brenda is constantly working to improve and perfect her dancing by taking classes from different instructors, or learning all she can from various belly dance videos, when personal instruction is not available. She finds nothing more rewarding than sharing this beautiful and empowering art form with other women.
In addition to dancing, Brenda is also an accomplished seamstress who designs and makes most of her own costumes.

Danica V
Our lovely Danica has been dancing Tribal Style since 2004 and has recently started exploring gothic style bellydance. 

She is currently volunteering at an orphanage in Africa and we look forward to the safe return of our lovely, youngest member!

Darcy K
Darcy first started belly dance classes about 5-6 years ago, after she’d seen a clip on a local TV show with a Middle Eastern style teacher. Having always been a full figured gal, she’d never even considered getting into dance, of any type. One of the students performing was also a full figured girl and she looked so amazingly beautiful when she danced, Darcy knew she just had to try it. Taking belly dance, and now specializing in Tribal Style, has really helped her with body image and self image in general. She says when she is with her troupe mates and dancing, she slips into an “alter ego”. (Her co-workers and customers would never believe this woman wearing dreads, a five pound coin-bra and jingling with every step she takes is the same “briefcase toting” salesperson they know by day!) 
Darcy is the treasurer and one of the co-founders of the troupe and also loves making some of the tribal specific costume items, such as cowry hair falls and the custom decorative coin bras. 
She believes that there is an inner belly dancer in all of us, and when we hear that voice whispering, we should listen to it, and just give it up and dance!

Eilean M
By day, Eilean is a PhD candidate studying the link between hepatitis infection and liver cancer. By night, Eilean dances with Prairie Caravan. She has been belly dancing for more than four years, starting with cabaret then moving to tribal. She is also keen on Goth tribal with fellow dancers Danica, Wendy and Alexis. Her other hobbies include yoga, digital photography and travel.

Wendy C
Wendy has always been fascinated by belly dance, and always wanted to give it a try, but it wasn't until she found tribal belly dance, that she truly fell in love. It is belly dancing with a twist, a form where there is always a group of women to support you on stage. The improvisational element allows for those who are shy to not have to take center stage if they cannot muster up the courage. It was only the option to stay in the background that gave her the courage to overcome her stage fright and decide to perform. To her surprise, she found that not only did she have the courage to take center stage at various times within a performance, but she would come off the stage feeling a high that was previously unknown to her. Dancing with Prairie Caravan has rid her of what she thought would be a lifetime fear of being on stage. Equally as important, it provides her with a sense of belonging among fascinating, intelligent, talented, caring, and beautiful women whom she has the privilege of seeing at least once a week. Tribal is an essential part of her, where she can express her desires to play dress up and celebrate life and music through dancing. 

The Group
Prairie Caravan has been performing as a group at various functions and events in and around the City since 2004.

One of our first public events was dancing at “The Forks”, a beautiful gathering area in the heart of Winnipeg. Here, we danced in support of a local pet shelter. 

(Shown here from left: Debbie P, Alexis G, Darcy K, Brenda A)

On September 3 and 4, 2005, some of our troupe attended a workshop in Fargo with Carolena Nericcio and Megha Gavin. You can see our Maple Leafs that we had hidden under our skirts for the “finale” of our performance. We did a parody of the song “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”. Not your typical belly dance music, but we had a riot dancing to it! 

(Shown here from left, Darcy K; Brenda A; Carolena N; and Megha G)

In 2006, we danced at The Winnipeg Fringe Festival. This was an amazing experience for all the dancers, and was a great way to expose tribal belly dance to the city. 

      

To contact Prairie Caravan Tribal Belly Dance
Website: http://members.shaw.ca/prairiecaravan/
Email: prairiecaravan@hotmail.com

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