Welcome to Paulette Rees-Denis’ new Tribal Belly Dance Blog

Hello and welcome to my jewel box, my blog, and treasure chest of Tribal Tales and beyond…

What do I find in my jewel box? It is a delicate gold-leafed, three-tiered wooden box of Florentine design, part of my collection of the beautiful gilded pieces from Florence, Italy—mostly ornate trays, but also, boxes, bowls, small tables. Inside my lovely box is quite the assortment of jewels, from my grandmother’s heirlooms, to my mother’s hand-me-down costume jewelry, to the chunky tribal beaded necklaces of amber and silver. All of these pieces are a part of me, from super funky to delicate to expensive to what some might call junk jewelry. They are mine. A small part of who I am on a decided day, to define my mood, my style, my attitude, and my idea of beauty.

The quest for beauty…that is my path in life. Beauty, whatever that word means, I seek to find it in everything. Beauty can be captivating, intoxicating, ugly, simple, delicious. I search for it in tantalizing words, in the arch of a hip, in the necklace draping over a collarbone, in the juiciness of a just picked pear, in the moss growing in my forest, in the sparkling soul of someone’s smile, the lilting call of the ney, the enveloping hug from my man. I want to capture it for myself, if only for a moment, but I also have an intense need to share it, to teach it, to understand it, or not. In the dance, it could be the chorus of women dancing as one, the powerhouse of our hips in the synchronistic movement of the simple ghawazee, the undulation of a body wave, or the glint of the beckoning eyes.

And through this new blog, I want to share my jewels, my experiences, and to possibly hear yours, in and about our dance world, and everything that happens because of our dance. This will be a place for thoughts, music, video clips, and photos, from me to share with you, and so that you may participate too.

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Thanks for visiting Tribal Belly Dance Blog, my jewel box of goodies around tribal bellydance, and so much more… I really love to hear from you. Please take the time to write. Your feedback and ideas and thoughts help to make our community thrive and keep it vital! When you have something to share, tell me about it, songs, photos, shows, books, movies, recipes..bring it on. I look forward to hearing from you and hope you enjoy my musings and adventures!