Costuming for audience of mixed race teens?

BattyBaby

New member
But what sort of dress should I buy? I can't find an oriental style dress without a slit (and I really cannot wear a slit of any sort... Really.) and a baladi style outfit would look very, very strange with a veil...
 

allinorah

Member
If you find a dress that you love but it has 2 giant slits up to the thigh, then I would recommend stitching it up. It doesn't take too long and there are plenty of videos online about doing a simple stitch. Don't do the whole slit though, it's there to make movement easier, especially if it is a straight skirt. Another option, which I think might be supported by others on this site and if you have enough time/money, is to get a dress made for you from L Rose (I linked you directly to the dress page). You can get a trumpet style skirt which leaves a little extra room for your legs to move around without a slit. I have a trumpet skirt and a dress with a trumpet skirt bottom that both have chiffon gores added to it so that it gives me room without limiting my movements. They're a bit expensive, but honestly, the pieces you ordered from them will last you so long and will transition very easily. I'm currently in the process of transitioning from student to pro and I can still whip out my first skirt that I ordered from them and it will be totally acceptable.

Give them a call and see what they can do for you. They are very flexible and very nice. Since you say you are busty/curvy, make sure to give them lots of measurements and they will walk you through it all.

HS is tough, it's a very tough time. Use your support systems well if the other students start becoming nasty. Looking back, I wish I had taken advantage of the support at school better when I was going through a rough time.
 

LunaXJJ

New member
Simple, tasteful, looks contemporary because the dress is currently in fashion, and you can re-use the dress for other things afterwards if you want to :)

I've been wanting an excuse to own a nice formal evening dress, now I have one. Even if I never go anywhere special I can still use it. :D
 

BattyBaby

New member
Are circle skirts OK? I'm doing floorwork with my sword, which will be tough in a straight or mermaid skirt.
 

Kashmir

New member
The crack about your spelling may have been uncalled for - but so is asking for advice - getting it (all basically saying the same thing) and ignoring it.
 

Kashmir

New member
Are circle skirts OK? I'm doing floorwork with my sword, which will be tough in a straight or mermaid skirt.
Here's something no-one else has addressed. Do you have the experience and stage presence to pull off such a long show? Yes, you are flicking through every prop known, but you still need to dance and connect to the audience. Most beginners start with 3-5 minutes - tops.

One other thing I learnt the hard way, you can dance with a sword or a cane or whatever prefectly in practice, but if you are not careful nervous tension will do odd things to your posture and it won't stay. How much public dance performance have you done before this?
 

BattyBaby

New member
Nobody else has addressed it because it has absolutely nothing to do with the intention of the thread, but...
I've danced in more recitals than I can count, in one hafla, and at one party. I've never done a full length show before.
My reason for both props is because I have not been taken a certification class on drum solo yet, but I have learned veil taksim and sword. I am most experienced in these realms (two performed veil choreographies, two performed sword choreographies), so I figured it would be wisest to choose them. The only thing I've done more often is candles, but I could not find music that screamed "CANDLE TRAY!" at me, so I elected to do sword.
In reply to your comeback related to my refusing advice, you may want to check the next few pages of the thread. It's true that I was reluctant to buy a dress, but in my opinion I had good reason. I was attempting to find other options, because I do not feel that a dress would suit the entire audience as well as something else might. And now, behold! No other options are available, so I am buying a dress. Ok?
 

Shanazel

Moderator
Sweetie, you dress to suit your music and your style and your own body and let the audience deal with their personal ignorance. ;)

Sugar Petals may still sell long stretchy gowns with flared skirts; I think I saw them for about $50 last time I checked.

I've also seen circle skirts and bra with Turkish vest paired with a matching body stocking which gave the overall look of a gown while still allowing a barer midriff.

Jokes about my spelling are always welcome, by the way. My most recent came when I posted a recipe that included "nits" instead of "nuts." :D
 

allinorah

Member
Sweetie, you dress to suit your music and your style and your own body and let the audience deal with their personal ignorance. ;)

Sugar Petals may still sell long stretchy gowns with flared skirts; I think I saw them for about $50 last time I checked.

I've also seen circle skirts and bra with Turkish vest paired with a matching body stocking which gave the overall look of a gown while still allowing a barer midriff.

Jokes about my spelling are always welcome, by the way. My most recent came when I posted a recipe that included "nits" instead of "nuts." :D

Also, the look of vest/circle skirt/bedlah/matching body stocking will also give the ease of moment for sword/floor work while giving the dress look. Also, it's really pretty and I've been wanting to do that look for a while now because it's pretty. www.bellystockings.com has some pretty ones with sleeves too.
 

Aniseteph

New member
Sweetie, you dress to suit your music and your style and your own body and let the audience deal with their personal ignorance. ;)
aniseteph likes this

I love the matching body stocking look, so classy. If bellystockings off the peg ones weren't too short for me I'd be collecting them with a vengeance. I'm seriously contemplating a couple of custom ones. You get the pulled together effect of a dress and the modesty of not being so exposed, but the versatility of being able to change it out for a different look.

They were chopped nits. :lol:
 

BattyBaby

New member
Thanks so much for the advice. :) I'm going to avoid bras of any sort for the time being. Like I said, this is my first performance at school soooo... Most likely best to be modest.
I'll check out sugar petals to see if the gowns are still there.
Thanks again!
 

Roshanna

New member
Re: show length, if this is the first time many members of your audience have ever seen bellydance, you might find that a single piece is a far better idea, even if you have the skill to perform a longer show. It's always *much* better to leave your audience wanting more than to have to keep going and finish your set even though you can tell that everyone is getting bored.

I have sometimes had small private party bookings where the client has hired me for a 20 minute show for an audience of Westerners, and it can be super-awkward, as no matter how good your dancing, they just don't have the attention span to watch something that they don't really understand for that long (especially if they are at a party and want to get on with drinking and chatting to their friends). Whenever possible, I encourage that kind of client to book me for sets of no longer than 10 minutes, and have another set later in the evening if they want more dancing.

Re: costume, I really honestly don't understand why Americans would be 'offended' by a dress. I can understand them being confused, but that's expected anyway if they know nothing about bellydance ;) when I was at school, I imagine that I would have got a lot worse bullying from my classmates for baring my belly in front of the school than for dancing in a dress!

Also, stylistically, it's totally fine and appropriate to dance oriental in a dress or gown, as long as it's elegant and not a really obviously folky one (e.g. a striped Saiidi galabeya with big sleeves). (by the way, this doesn't work the other way round - it's not really appropriate to dance baladi in bedlah unless it's a part of a longer oriental show). IMO tribal costuming (cholis, tassels, tiered skirts over harem pants) is never appropriate for anything other than tribal, although a semi-tribal/'tribaret' look can work for vintage American Oriental.
 

BattyBaby

New member
My style is becoming a bit more along the lines of tribal fusion lately, as I'm taking tribal and hip-hop classes to build on my Egyptian base. I do know the drill now about tribal costuming being no good for cabaret shows. I wish it hadn't become that much of a discussion point, I just meant the bit in the original post as a little example for people to maybe laugh at. :/ This show is still Oriental style; I don't know enough tribal to do an entire show...
On the subject of the length, the set will be short, maybe around fifteen minutes max. The only reason it's this long is that I've been a while getting situated in the studio and figuring out the speakers, so I'm making up the "settling in" months where I did not perform.
I don't remember saying that Americans would be "offended", I remember saying that they would be miffed. In all cases in which I've worn a dress in performing for American teens they've freaked out a little. But I've decided on a costume after discussing with one of my teachers so the only reason the thread is open still is because I haven't figured out how to close it.... ><
 

Daimona

Moderator
Online communication can be challenging. After all, we're sitting in each our corners of the globe. ;)

Threads are usually not locked unless they've been moved to the archive and not been written at for the past three years.

I'm happy you solved your costume issue. :)
Wish you the best for your performance.
 

Roshanna

New member
On the subject of the length, the set will be short, maybe around fifteen minutes max. The only reason it's this long is that I've been a while getting situated in the studio and figuring out the speakers, so I'm making up the "settling in" months where I did not perform.

Thing is, that's a reason from your perspective, not from the perspective of the audience. As soon as you step out of the studio and onto the stage, it is about them, not about you.
Assuming that you plan to perform again at school in future, if I were you I'd keep the first time really short (like, 5 minutes max), then if they like it, which hopefully they will, try a longer set the second time :)


But I've decided on a costume after discussing with one of my teachers so the only reason the thread is open still is because I haven't figured out how to close it.... ><

I'm glad you've got the costume sorted :)

The thing about online discussions is, they are discussions. Nobody gets to just walk in and ask for an answer to a specific question then close the thread once they have it, because we're all real people talking to you, not question-answering machines ;)
You're getting loads of good advice from experienced pro dancers, so consider it a blessing. Sometimes you won't get the answers you wanted to hear when you ask a question (just like in real life), but the responses you do get are usually really valuable if you're willing to acknowledge them. And we are all basically nice, we all want you to succeed as a dancer :) we just don't follow orders!
 

BattyBaby

New member
I am so sorry if I offended you, I didn't mean to imply that you lovely people were machines of any sort. It's just that I feel obligated to answer posts on the thread, and some of them are off topic.
Well, it's not really my choice about having to make up the past shows. If I'm using the dance studio, the teachers want to see that I've gotten a corresponding amount of choreography done.
 
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