Belly dancer practices tribal fusion in ‘welcoming’ space

Even though Southside resident Lauryn Gallagher has performed tribal fusion belly dancing for more than 17 years, she’s only recently decided to seriously entertain the possibility of adding her two corn snakes, Caihiro and Crowly, to her performance. Right now, she said, they’re still a little too young. 

Gallagher, who grew up in Birmingham, moved back about four years ago. She said she’s noticed that the community is more open than it used to be in embracing lesser-known art forms, which in her case, is a newer form of belly dancing. 

Tribal fusion belly dance refers to a more modern Western form that combines American cabaret and American tribal style belly dancing. She said what speaks to her about this form of belly dancing is how it’s typically “very individual and unique,” and still evolving, with various forms of unconventional music. Gallagher has danced to everything from heavy metal to French music, from the Black Keys to Beats Antique. 

“It’s empowering for me because it’s celebrating your body and what you can do,” she said. “It involves all body shapes, all ages, all school levels, sometimes live animals, bells, swords, canes; it can be solo, duo, trio.”

Gallagher said the dance movements are “structured improv,” where people have the same basic framework across the U.S., but the dancing itself is more about planning to do certain things at certain times, then getting creative with filling in the gaps.

“It’s a whole language,” she said.  

Gallagher said she still gets reactions of surprise when she tells people about her belly dancing.

“It used to have a stigma where it was kind of unsavory, dancing barefoot, a lot of coin bras,” she said. But in the Birmingham community the last few years, she said it has become a great way to collaborate with other artists. The Happening at TrimTab Brewing Company, which she performed at several times, is a great example. 

Even though Gallagher has an office job with regular workday hours, she also occasionally gets booked and paid to perform at events, often with her troupe. She was previously part of the Gypsy Red Tribe and has recently shifted to the Ultra Hip Review troupe. 

Each week, Gallagher usually practices for three-hour sessions twice a week in the Southside studio she calls “The Wolf’s Den,” as well as practicing in her apartment at least an hour each day. It’s all very welcoming and open, she said, especially to newcomers who are interested. 

“Beyond dancing and the creativity involved in creating dances, there’s also the styling, the music, picking out the costumes,” she said, adding that she makes most of her own belts and costumes. “It also makes you feel beautiful.”

She also has traveled to Oregon to take world-famous workshops with Rachel Bryce — the woman who coined tribal fusion belly dancing — and meet a community of belly dancers from all over the world. 

If you want to catch Gallagher dancing or talk more about her art, she will be at The Happening in May.