So Tribal!

I really like doing a tribal hair garden when I do the traditional ATS-inspired costuming, but I often feel like it leaves the front of my head looking pretty plain. Well, NOT ANYMORE! I purchased this awesome kuchi headpiece from a vendor that was sadly going out of business, and now I have mad tribal style. Or something like that.

Of course, now I need to figure out how to make it stay put. I thought that bobby pins would be enough, but no, halfway through practicing a 3 minute song, that bad boy was down over my eyes and making a break for my nose. I think I need to attach some clips and/or combs to it, and maybe also put on a little hairspray for extra grip. Hopefully I'll be able to make it work in time to wear it for Open Stage this week.

LVBDI Performance Video

I have to tell you all, I am really excited about this video! My first out of state performance, my first solo at a bellydance festival, and my first time investing in a professional video! It makes me feel really good about where I am in my dance journey.

I always hesitate to say that I feel good about my dance, because I worry that people will see it as bragging and use it as an excuse to try to tear me down. Believe me, I know I have room for improvement, there are a couple of things in this video that I wish I hadn't done. But I feel like I am where I should be right now. I am neither lagging behind, nor rushing ahead blindly. I am making clear progress, and that is a really good feeling.

Oh yeah, and I made my bra and belt! I'm pretty happy about that too :) I used pre-made beaded fringe because doing that much fringe manually would drive me crazy, but I added some extra fringe dangles made from genuine freshwater pearls, Swarovski crystals, and Czech glass beads. It's nice to be able to raid my bead stash to add some special touches to my costuming.

Do It Yourself

Purty close-up of one of my first bra projects

 

When I was first thinking of trying bellydance back in the late 90s, I remember that my Mom found a website called "Learn to Dance, Learn to Sew." As far as I can tell, it doesn't exist anymore, but that catchy and accurate title has stuck in my head for all these years. The two really do go hand-in-hand.

 

Of course, you don't have to sew as a dancer. I know plenty of dancers who buy all of their costumes, either off-the-rack or paying a designer to make it for them. But there's a certain satisfaction that comes from making something yourself. The bra above is very distinctly "me", from the brown and green color scheme to the trim that I bought on vacation in NY to the coins given to me by my first dance teacher. The Swarovski sequins on the trim? I added those myself. I bought the sequins at my gem show job. The green stone dangles? From a necklace I cut apart.

 

Doing it yourself is not without its hazards, however. For instance, I poke myself with needles and pins quite a bit. And while before, I just hoarded beads and jewelry making supplies, now I'm amassing piles of fabric, saris, trim, appliques, Turkoman buttons and whatever else I think I can work into a costume. I have a backlog of costuming projects that will keep me busy for the rest of the year, and only one of them is a troupe project, the rest is just stuff that I want to make.

I'm working on a gorgeous olivine bra and belt set now... I'll post some in-progress pictures soon!

New Costume!

Another picture by Sam Supowit! So glad he was there to photograph our Mijana's showcase!

Lest you start to think this blog is going to be all opinions, all the time, here's a lighter-hearted post about my NEW COSTUME! In order to match better with Skirt Full of Fire, Fire & Gold now has a pretty black sparkly costume set. To make this, I had to learn how to make a belt, which was surprisingly not awful. You can't really see it in this picture, but that's OK. It needs more embellishments before it's done! The bra probably needs a little more, too... a belly dangle and I'm thinking Swarovski sequins for sure!

For my set I chose some fabric I already had, a beautiful black-on-black embroidered taffeta-y cloth. I added some pre-made appliques with a kind of Art Nouveau floral style to them, because that's totally what I'm in to right now and they look good with my tattoo. The bra has drapes of gunmetal chain. The belt will too, eventually, but I might need to pick up more chain at the gem show next week. Oh, and there's a vintage faceted black glass button at the center of the bra, because I have to justify my collection of glass buttons by using them occasionally.

I like this costume because each member of F&G has a little something different, but because they're all black and sparkly we look great together! Plus we have palazzo pants and a hip scarf as our bottom half, which is sooooo much less bulky than pantaloons and a 25 yard skirt and a hip scarf! It makes for a very sharp tribal fusion look.   

The problem with bras

Belly dancers wear bras. Everyone knows that. It was decided way back in the day, when someone decided to paint a dancer in a bra, or cast a dancer in a movie and had her wear a bra. I could probably do some research and track it back to the exact time when someone decided that this was what belly dancers cover their chests with, but I'm writing a blog post, not an academic article, so I'm going to be lazy.

So. Bras. We wear them. It's a thing now.

I have a love-hate relationship with the whole bra thing. I love choosing adornments to put on my bras, layering this and that, dangling baubles here and there. I even enjoy the stitching, except when I stab myself in the fingers (which admittedly, happens pretty often). I love draping embellished chains across my belly to emphasize my rolls and flutters. But... I hate bras.

Bras are underwear. We do not want our costumes to look like underwear, however, because that is tacky. So we buy a bra and we cover it with fabric (even though bras are available in lots of beautiful fabrics, the bra Must Be Covered otherwise you are Cheapening Bellydance or something). Then there's the whole strap issue. You can't just use the existing straps and fasteners because then people can tell you're wearing lingerie. Because for some reason, we've decided to base one of our main costuming items on a piece of lingerie.

I LOVE the bra above. I've been working on it off and on since Decemberish, when I wore it for the holiday show. It's covered with a beautiful embroidered brown fabric, accented with lovely green trim which I purchased in NYC, which is in turn embellished with Swarovski crystals and dangles from a necklace I cut apart. There's a vintage chandelier crystal, a vintage winding key, chain, real coins, the straps are velveteen ribbon embellished with a silver and citrine necklace. It's luxurious.

I HATE the bra above. Ever since I decided that I wanted to be able to wear it without a tie-top or vest over it, I've been in a battle to properly cover the straps and back. The fabric and ribbon are not stretchy, which means carefully trying to tailor things to fit perfectly. Last night I finally got the back to fit without sagging... Now it's uncomfortable. Forget lifting with my diaphragm, I'm pretty sure that will pop some stitches.

I've been planning a bra adorned with beetle elytra, but now I'm second-guessing myself after the struggles of making this bra. Maybe it's time to try an embellished halter top or choli.

Costuming counts as practice, right?

Day 315 of practice.

Since I am STILL coughing, today's "practice" was actually a little costume work. I bought myself a cute Gahwazee coat at the PJ Sessoms benefit, but it had no buttons. Today I decided to fix that and had a pleasant evening of stitching them on while watching a DVD. I haven't been making anything while I was sick, so it was nice to be working with my hands, even if it was a very simple task.

There was SOME actual dance practice today, too. While I was cooking my breakfast I decided to work on the "basketball belly bounce" from Elizabeth Strong's workshop last weekend. It was a fun, easy thing to drill in the kitchen, as I tried to figure out exactly which muscles to use and reminded myself that my belly is supposed to stick out and bounce.

I also spent a while reading an issue of Fuse Magazine, because it's my favorite belly dance magazine and I figure if I'm not dancing at 100%, I might as well fill my head with inspiration.

A day with no zills!

Day 264 of practice.

I thought we would do zills in class tonight, since we're going to be playing them for our student performance next month, but we focused more on slow. Ha! A break from my own horrible zill playing!

After class, my Anaya Tribe troupemate and carpool buddy Amanda came over and we worked together on our new tribal bras, which we need for a performance this weekend. Tedious hand-stitching is much more fun with a friend who likes to talk about bugs and science and other weird stuff. A fun night!

I got an "A"!

Day 117 of practice.

Taking classes from Fonda at the Dance Loft is a lot of fun, because she always says the silliest things, like "No one died!" and "Ok, you pass the class." Today I kept getting "A"s for doing things right, along with a couple of other students. I smile and laugh a lot in her class. We worked on slow moves and balancing props and leadership transitions and such. All good.

Today I also cut up an old too-tight t-shirt and turned it into a top to wear for classes. American Apparel has this silly idea that women shouldn't have muscles, so all of my "girl cut" t-shirts that used to fit before I started working out are now really uncomfortable. But I really like the designs on them, so I modify them into cute tops to liven up my practice clothes.

I have a headache

Day 115 of practice.

Oh good grief, I really need to just dance during the day no matter how hot it is. I've spent the entire evening waiting for a headache to go away so I can dance. It is not going away. Not even though I gave it aspirin, a glass of water, and a chocolate cookie. Really headache, what else do you want?

Anyway, I'm going to go lie down and practice isolations in the dark. Dancing for reals is out of the question, as the headache is accompanied by a tough of nausea and general icky feeling.

For the record, I have been doing a lot of dancy-related stuff for the past two days. Yesterday I watched a the Bellydance Superstars DVD "Babelesque: Live from Tokyo." Today I danced a bit while cleaning earlier, and I repaired a hip scarf and my awesome beaded kuchi belt, plus turned a pair of green fishnet tights into a pair of green fishnet sleeves. So at least the day's not a total wash.

New veil time!

Day 48 of practice.

Yip yip! I was talking about my need for a new veil, and one of my on-line dance friends and Etsy teammates mentioned how she custom-dyed her own veil using Kool-Aid. I said maybe I would try that, so she not only sent me a link on where to buy a plain white silk veil, but she also quickly posted a tutorial on how to do it! Visit Shiny Shimmy to see the tutorial. I've got a new half-circle veil on the way from Dharma Trading. Hopefully it will turn out well, otherwise I will really be in a time crunch to get a new veil on time!

Anyway, I was supposed to spend today/tonight at Estrella War, hanging out with dance teachers and friends, but budget and time constraints interfered, so here I am home alone, practicing and blogging. I changed things up a bit by dancing to some random songs, doing some level change exercises, and *wince* working with my zills. My goodness, I am still a horrible zill player. I will NOT zill while my mother-in-law is visiting (because I would never subject a house guest to torture), but I will have to go back to practicing with them every. single. day. as soon as she leaves.

I also worked with my veil, practicing for my performance, and discovered more things that simply do not work. But over all I'm happy with how it's progressing, and I've already figured out my exit, so I don't just walk off the stage boringly. Should focus on the entrance next!