Colour codes??

[Duvet]

Are there any colour codes in dancing? I'm talking cultural, rather than cosmetics. Are there certain colours to avoid entirely when dancing certain styles? Is yellow avoided in classical? Is red the best for khaleegy? ( - these are made up examples; not something I've heard or read). Are there any Middle Eastern cultural nuances regarding colour, that most bellydancers don't know about?

 

[Mosaic]

Interesting question Duvet. I've never heard of any personally, but maybe there are & I've never come across them. Have you heard of some?
~Mosaic

 

[Shanazel]

When I started dancing I was warned against wearing green. Me being me, I promptly made my first costume in forest green and silver. Over the years I've heard that green on stage is bad luck / makes one's skin look sickly under spotlights / an invitation to being stolen by faeries, especially if worn with a red hat. I don't recall the original reason I was given.

 

[Farasha Hanem]

I love forest green! I have a forest green Turkish dress that I adore (it was Andalee's). If fairies try to get me, I'll just remind them that I'm a Hobbit! xD

 

[Zorba]

I think it might be fun to run off with the faeries!

Yea, I've heard various things about green costumes too. Its also considered bad luck to have a green race car - which is probably why the Brits never really excelled at that sport with their beautiful "British Racing Green"!

 

[Shanazel]

Oh, baby, do you look cool in that costume! :clap:

 

[Darshiva]

I disagree. I think he looks beautiful!

 

[Aniseteph]

Green came up on a thread Tanglefoot started recently, something about being a holy colour in Islam so not a good choice. I'd never heard of that nono before, and why anyone would expect a belly dancer to respect religious sensibilities colour-wise when the rest of the costume and the dancing itself is beyond the pale is beyond me. I wonder if this is another of those grain of truth "rules" that can get applied out of context to confusing effect.

When I went googling for the green thing I found stuff about red being a women's colour so men shouldn't wear it. Again, not quite sure how relevant that is to male belly dancers IRL.

I like green. One green skirt, and another skirt and a dress in the recycling project stash, so there.

 

[Shanazel]

Superstitions vary from culture to culture and from person to person. Me, I won't open the novel Anna Karenina. Every time I've started to read it, I've had to move either across town or halfway across the country. I don't touch the darn thing and I don't care what color the dust cover is.

 

[Amulya]

The green in that thread was about male dancers and certain costumes, not about regular belly dance costumes though.

 

[Farasha Hanem]

I think it might be fun to run off with the faeries!

Yea, I've heard various things about green costumes too. Its also considered bad luck to have a green race car - which is probably why the Brits never really excelled at that sport with their beautiful "British Racing Green"!

:shok: Zorba, this is GORGEOUS!!! Absolutely stunning!

 

[Duvet]

I thought yellow was a negative colour, but I'm not sure where I heard that from. Green is the colour of Islam, as has been mentioned.

But is costume colour just down to individual taste? What colours are most popular? Do any members feel that certain colours are not suitable/most suitable for certain dances (on a purely personal opinion/experience side)?

 

[Shanazel]

I think it is individual taste unless you are part of a matchy matchy dance ensemble. Heaven help me, in that situation the group would choose autumn orange and gold and I'd look like I needed to spend a few days under the bilirubin lights.

 

[Daimona]

But is costume colour just down to individual taste? What colours are most popular? Do any members feel that certain colours are not suitable/most suitable for certain dances (on a purely personal opinion/experience side)?

I believe it is down to individual taste.
According to some of the Egyptian designers, hot pink has been rather popular the last years.

(personally I hate any shade of pink and would never get enough payment to be willing to perform in one... )

 

[Shanazel]

I like pink okay, especially if it is toward the rose end of the spectrum, but oddly enough I'd feel silly wearing a pink costume. Never had one, never wanted one, never wondered why until this moment. The first real belly dancer I ever saw wore a gorgeous pink, white, and silver costume. Maybe she set the standard for pink costumes and I could never hope to reach those heights. Wonder whatever happened to Anoush? :think:

 

[Zorba]

I have costumes in just about every color of the rainbow, although I'm partial to fall colors. Red is my "official" color in the troupe I'm in - I guess so I can gain admittance to the "Red tent"!

 

[Duvet]

I believe it is down to individual taste.
According to some of the Egyptian designers, hot pink has been rather popular the last years.

(personally I hate any shade of pink and would never get enough payment to be willing to perform in one... )

But don't performers need to consider what the audience will perceive? Maybe hot pink is popular because the dancers know that the audience will perceive it as exciting. Not all belly-dance pockets can stretch to multiple costumes in various colours, but if a choice is available isn't colour just another 'prop' used to match the mood and style of the music, performance or venue?

 

[Shanazel]

Um, you might be overthinking this one, Duvet.

An audience is composed of individuals. For every individual who perceives hot pink as exciting there is another who finds it tawdry and artificial.

You like quotes. Take this one from Oscar Wilde and translate it into dancerdom:

“Most of our modern portrait painters are doomed to absolute oblivion. They never paint what they see. They paint what the public sees, and the public never sees anything.”

 

[Aniseteph]

Superstitions vary from culture to culture and from person to person. Me, I won't open the novel Anna Karenina. Every time I've started to read it, I've had to move either across town or halfway across the country. I don't touch the darn thing and I don't care what color the dust cover is.

For me it's Therese Raquin, and I get ill and confined to bed for a few days.

I think whether you look good and the way you dance probably trumps all colour associations that the audience may have, though a guy might have to work a bit harder to get a non-dancer audience on-side in baby pink or anything considered a bit girly.

 

[Daimona]

But don't performers need to consider what the audience will perceive? Maybe hot pink is popular because the dancers know that the audience will perceive it as exciting. Not all belly-dance pockets can stretch to multiple costumes in various colours, but if a choice is available isn't colour just another 'prop' used to match the mood and style of the music, performance or venue?

You can't please everyone in the audience.
Bold colors are popular because they pop under the stage lights. Some wants this effect, other prefer to tone down the colors. Some forget to think of the effect the color of the costume will have under certain light conditions (such as beige fabrics under red/orange light will make you look nude etc).

You don't need costumes in every color. After all, what really matters is the dancing. And whatever color, the costume should match the chosen style and music.