About

Springs Oasis Belly Dance is located in Colorado Springs, Colorado and is owned by instructor Barb Ferrill Van Hoy, who loves teaching this wonderful dance form. We are your local source for both American Tribal Style* and Traditional Middle Eastern Belly Dance instruction. Find our listings here:

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Belly Dance is:

• Fun and creative – Belly dance students learn to develop graceful, fluid movement and dynamic hip and torso isolations.

• A great workout – Belly dance is a gentle, low-impact exercise that is a great workout and especially good for core strength and lower back health.

• Self-affirming – Belly dance is for all ages, body types, and talent levels and those with the desire to develop a freedom of movement infused with feeling.

• A wonderful cultural art form – perhaps the earliest documented dance form, belly dance is rooted in a rich cultural history accompanied by captivating musical traditions from the Middle East.

Because belly dancing is so forgiving, it can be learned and accomplished at a later age and with a more natural body type than most forms of traditional western dance.  – Sabrina Tarulli

Belly Dance

Belly dance (Oriental Dance, Middle Eastern Dance) refers to a collection of dance styles from a variety of countries throughout the Middle East and North Africa. Among the most common forms is Egyptian Raqs Sharqi (translated as Oriental Dance, also known as Middle Eastern Dance or MED)  that is most often presented as a women’s solo dance form many believe evolved from Egypt’s beledi, or country, folk dances. Similar and related dance forms are found throughout the Arabic-speaking Middle East including Turkey, Lebanon and across North Africa to Morocco. (See links page for more in-depth historical and cultural background, including A Primer on Middle Eastern Dance Styles and Raqs Sharqi; A Brief History)

American Tribal Style* Belly Dance

American Tribal Style (ATS) Belly Dance was developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s on the West Coast by Carolena Nericcio of FatChanceBellyDance. It combines dance and costuming elements from the Middle East, North Africa, India (and South Asia), and Spain (Flamenco). It is primarily a group improvisational dance form where the dancers take turns leading the group through improvised combinations of movements using learned cues and movements. (See links page for more in-depth information including History of American Tribal Style and Sharon Moore’s TribalBellyDance.org)

* FatChanceBellyDance®, FCBD®, ATS® and American Tribal Style®, are federally registered trademarks of FatChanceBellyDance, Inc. For more information, please visit www.fcbd.com/about/legal.shtml.

Check out this great article The Myth of Bellydance.

About Barb Ferrill Van Hoy, Owner & Instructor

I teach belly dance classes, produce community dance events, and occasionally perform in Middle Eastern restaurants under the stage name Zafia.

I began studying fell in love with Middle Eastern dance in 1998.  I love sharing this joyously expressive dance form with its rich beauty, and believe anyone can do it. This dance makes women more comfortable in their bodies, reduces stress, helps overcome injuries, prevents back pain, and increases overall health. And, you get to wear jingling coins! What could be better?

I first studied Egyptian Raqs Sharqi style (most influential teacher was Joynan) and had the great opportunity to learn American Tribal Style* belly dance from FatChanceBellyDance in San Francisco in 2003. In 2011 I completed the General Skills and Teacher Training seminars in American Tribal Style belly dance with Carolena Nericcio, director of FatChanceBellyDance (San Francisco). Other teachers I consider influential are  Carolina Varga Dinicu, aka Morocco (New York),  Souhail Kaspar (Los Angeles), Eva Cernik (Denver), Joynan (Denver), Isidora (Pueblo) and Mahisha (formerly Colorado Springs).

My dance education includes seminars in Persian and Kurdish folk dances, classical Indian dance (Bharata Natyam & Odissi), as well as Bollywood & American Tribal Fusion. My interest in the context of this dance form has led to an independent study of the history and culture surrounding dance in Spain, North Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia. I have danced professionally at Moroccan restaurants in Colorado Springs and on stage.

My dance skill repertoire includes sword, cane and veil dances, and I play the finger cymbals (known as zills or zagat). I began teaching belly dance in 2001, took a break in 2007, and eagerly returned to it in 2010. I teach American Tribal Style* and Middle Eastern “Raqs Sharqi” belly dance in Colorado Springs.

* FatChanceBellyDance®, FCBD®, ATS® and American Tribal Style®, are federally registered trademarks of FatChanceBellyDance, Inc. For more information, please visit www.fcbd.com/about/legal.shtml.