Rachel Brice: The Dancer Who Built Tribal Fusion Into a Global Style

From Yoga Mat to Renaissance Faire

Rachel Brice didn't start out as a belly dancer. Before she ever isolated a hip, she was training in yoga, a discipline she picked up in the late 1980s and that still shapes her movement vocabulary today — the spinal articulation and body awareness that make her style so distinctive owe a lot to that foundation. Her introduction to belly dance came almost by accident, watching a tribal-style performer at a Northern California Renaissance Faire. That single performance sent her down a completely different path.

She started training seriously soon after, studying under Carolena Nericcio — the dancer who created American Tribal Style (ATS) belly dance — and absorbing technique from Suhaila Salimpour and Jill Parker along the way. She also pursued formal dance ethnology study at San Francisco State University, giving her a more academic grounding in the cultural roots of the movements she was learning, alongside her studio training.

Building Tribal Fusion

In 2003, Brice co-founded The Indigo Belly Dance Company alongside Mardi Love and Zoe Jakes, a group widely credited with turning tribal fusion from an experimental offshoot of ATS into a recognized style in its own right. That same year, she joined Bellydance Superstars, the touring troupe assembled by music industry veteran Miles Copeland, which put her tribal fusion style in front of audiences across more than 20 countries over the following several years.

What set Brice apart wasn't just what she danced, but how precisely she broke it down. Where a lot of belly dance instruction of that era leaned on "watch and copy," Brice approached movement like an engineering problem — isolating exactly which muscles created which effect, and building a teachable system out of it.

Studio Datura and the 8 Elements Method

That systemized approach became the 8 Elements Approach to Belly Dance, the training framework Brice built and now teaches at Studio Datura, the school she opened in Portland, Oregon in 2011. The method breaks belly dance technique into eight components — layering isolations, drills, and conditioning work into a structured curriculum rather than a loose collection of moves.

Brice also teaches internationally through Datura Online, which streams her classes and those of guest instructors (including fellow Indigo alum Zoe Jakes) to dancers who don't have access to an in-person studio. If you want to compare that platform against other options, we've broken down Datura vs. Raqs Online and rounded up the best online belly dance classes overall.

Why She Matters

Tribal fusion is now one of the most widely taught belly dance styles in the U.S., and a large share of that is directly traceable to Brice's work in the 2000s — both her performances and, just as importantly, her teaching. If you're researching American Tribal Style and tribal fusion as a style option, Brice's catalogue of instructional material is close to the industry standard reference point.

Frequently Asked Questions

What dance style is Rachel Brice known for?
Tribal fusion belly dance — a style she helped originate and popularize through The Indigo Belly Dance Company and Bellydance Superstars.

Where does Rachel Brice teach now?
In person at Studio Datura in Portland, Oregon, and online via Datura Online, using her 8 Elements Approach curriculum.

Who did Rachel Brice train with?
Carolena Nericcio (creator of American Tribal Style), with Suhaila Salimpour and Jill Parker as major early influences.

Want to see how her training approach compares to other lineages? Read our profile of Suhaila Salimpour, whose technique influenced Brice's own, or browse the full belly dance instructor series.