Costume for mixed dances - shaabi, sword

[Bellydance Oz]

I'm in a dilemma. I've been asked to do a performance at a community fair. The two dances I'd like to do are a Shaabi number and a Sword dance.

I have a gorgeous gold lycra galabeyah which I normally wear for the shaabi, but obviously that would be totally wrong for the sword dance.

I have two possible costumes for the sword dance: both are bra and skirt. The question is, is that going to be inappropriate for the shaabi? I saw a clip of someone dancing shaabi in a modern Egyptian bra and skirt recently, and someone had made the comment it was totally wrong - so I'm worried!

 

[Dunyah]

Can you split your set so that you have time for a costume change - open with shaabi, then some other acts in the show happen, then you come back out in a different costume and do your sword piece?

 

[Aniseteph]

Hereabouts there isn't that much sword dancing, I guess because we don't have the American orientale props tradition (and then there was the sword ban thing ). You'd be just as likely to see it in Tribal styles. So for me there is no particular costume that goes with it and I would not be going "Oh Noes Clueless" seeing sword 'n' galabeya, especially in a situation where costume changes aren't an option. This might be very different from a US POV though, and I have no idea if it throws up any technical challenges.

OTOH Shaabi in full glitzy cabaret-style gear* looks more jarring to me because it's supposed to be more, er, "street". Or whatever the correct terminology is. [/dinosaur]

* in something modern and minimalist or short - not such a big deal.

 

[BeatriceC]

Is the galabeya inappropriate for sword work because you include floorwork and so need to have more leg freedom?

Can you have some sort of Quick Change costume? E.g. whipping the Oriental skirt off to reveal leggings, and slinging on a denim waistcoat or leather jacket over your bra top, to go into the sha'abi.

Failing that- wear a bedlah for both and stuff it! The general public won't know the difference, and just want to see a bellydancer entertaining them in a proper bellydance outfit.

If the opinion of other dancers really is that important to you, change one of your song choices to make it easier for one costume to fit both.

 

[Bellydance Oz]

I wish. My two numbers are one straight after the other. I've even considered doing a lightning-fast costume change in between - it would take me only seconds to whip off my skirt, and pull on the galabeyah (the bra wouldn't be visible so I could leave that on). Unfortunately it's a temporary stage, with no "backstage" or wings, so even that's not an option.

 

[Bellydance Oz]

I just assumed the dress would look odd in a sword routine. I kind of feel that if I danced the sword in that kind of costume, I'd have to change the choreography - less balances and more swordplay. Or am I just being weird?

I do like the dress and feel very comfortable in it, so maybe it's a thought if it's not too awful a no-no. It's similar to this one:
http://bellydancestore.biz/gallery....45&PHPSESSID=6ec26aac4192ffd850d218e3423ceb63

The idea of quick-changing would be food for thought - pity I don't have the thighs for leggings but I'll have a think about it.

 

[Dunyah]

Personally, I would rather see you do sword in the gold galabeya than in leggings, and I don't think taking off a skirt onstage is a good idea. It could look awkward at best or tacky at worst, with no backstage or wings.


Which style is your strongest? Which one do you want to really highlight? Sword is usually pretty impressive and dramatic to an audience and makes a good finale. Maybe you could just wear your sword costume and pick a different song for the first piece, something a little more complementary to the sword piece.

 

[nitewindz]

I'm in a dilemma. I've been asked to do a performance at a community fair. The two dances I'd like to do are a Shaabi number and a Sword dance.

I have a gorgeous gold lycra galabeyah which I normally wear for the shaabi, but obviously that would be totally wrong for the sword dance.

I have two possible costumes for the sword dance: both are bra and skirt. The question is, is that going to be inappropriate for the shaabi? I saw a clip of someone dancing shaabi in a modern Egyptian bra and skirt recently, and someone had made the comment it was totally wrong - so I'm worried!

Ok so you've got two numbers back to back in an exposed setting (ie, no backstage or changing rooms). In that situation I would try to avoid any sort of costume change.

Is this a general community fair, or a festival celebrating a particular heritage? Will your role be "entertainment" or "education"? Because you're doing both sword and shaabi, I am assuming this is a typical summer festival and your role is strictly entertainment.

I think that when the role is entertainment and no particular culture is features, typical bedlah is fine. The general public usually expects belly dancers to be dressed in bedlah, so they won't mind.

I like the gold dress a lot and it is what I, personally, would choose. What's the worst that could happen? Some well meaning belly dancer in the audience might come up afterwards to mention that the dress is Egyptian, but sword dance is not. But, you already know that and can explain why a costume change just wasn't gonna happen under the circumstances.

If this is an Egyptian festival, I'd choose the dress and do a cane dance instead of sword.

 

[Bellydance Oz]

Sword in leggings? I assume Beatrice was suggesting wearing a skirt with no split, so the leggings weren't visible, and choosing a skirt that was wraparound/velcro'd so there wouldn't be any awkwardness. I could see it working fine in that case. I agree trying to take off a standard belly dance skirt on stage would be tacky!!

I know it sounds like a no-brainer to change one of the numbers and that's probably what I should do. However I don't have a lot of options.

I've been invited to do this gig by my old teacher as part of her slot at the festival. There's no opportunity to credit the choreographer, and I know some of my teachers wouldn't be happy with me dancing their routines uncredited - so that knocks out a big chunk of my repertoire. The sword is my own choreography and I have permission to dance the shaabi.

I do have one other routine which I could use, but the shaabi is far and away my best routine - I have never had so many compliments as when I'm dancing it, from audiences and even some prominent teachers. I don't want to ditch the sword, either, because it's too windy for veil and I think the set needs something with a bit of contrast. I've been asked not to do a drum solo.

 

[gisela]

Why can't you do the sword dance in the galabeya? I don't really see any problem in it.

 

[Bellydance Oz]

Oh, I do wish I could do cane dance! I'm left-handed and a klutz - and since I'm normally dancing in a troupe, it's never been an option to do it left-handed. The result is I'm a liability to the troupe when I try to dance it right-handed, so I usually just drop out of that number!

Yes, it's a general community fair and my role will be "entertainment". It had never occurred to me to wear the dress rather than the bedlah - I just assumed doing shaabi in a bedlah would be less peculiar than doing sword in a dress!

 

[Bellydance Oz]

Because I've never seen a sword dance performed in a beledi dress?

 

[AndreaSTL]

You're right that it would normally look odd to do sword in the dress, but this is not a normal situation. When you've got multiple genres in one set you just have to pick one to costume. I would rather see sword in the beledi dress than shaabi in bedleh. Your GP audience won't really know the difference, and I imagine they would think it more strange if you just started changing clothes on an open stage! Adding or removing a Khaleegy thobe is the only kind of costume change I'd try in that situation.

Have you talked to the person who invited you to participate? Has she already approved of the pieces you want to do? If so, she already knows that the costuming requirements aren't the same and shouldn't have a problem with using just one.

 

[Salome]

I concur with Gisela. I don't really see an issue with doing sword in galabeya. If you are opening with Shaabi, which is a real thing and has a certain clothing criteria... then I would costume for that. If I were in the audience it would make sense that you were costumed for the first and did a prop act for your second number.