Costumes and Make Up - A Belly Dancers Delight

One of the reasons I love being a belly dancer is the dressing up element, so I had to write a post about costumes and make up.

Materials for my next belt project

Getting ready for a performance brings about a certain nostalgia like when you were a child rummaging through your mothers glad rags and stilettos imagining yourself in a fantastical land with fairies and wizards (or was that just me?).

With belly dance costumes the possibilities and characters are endless whether your style is geek chic or demure there is no such thing as too much glitter or sequins. When watching different belly dance artists you realise that no two costumes are the same, each dancer has the opportunity to be as adventurous as they want to be.  You can create a glamorous 1940s diva, a mystical tribal goddess or a sassy saidi village girl. Before I started performing as an adult I used to be a bit of a tom boy but experimenting with costumes and make up for performances has definitely opened my eyes to a whole new world of femininity.
My virtually non-existent make up skills are now considered acceptable and I even find myself watching YouTube tutorials and searching for the latest make up look; I would never have done that before. However, that being said, I will always struggle with fake eyelashes; the amount of times I've performed with those little fluttering things only for them to start falling off mid-performance....grrrrrrrr.

You quickly learn to become creative with your costume too. Due to the cost of professional costumes I tend to make my own bedlah (bra and belt) sets and skirts. Also being a UK size 6 I struggle to find costumes that actually fit and look good on a petite young lady.  Even though it can be a long process making your own costume can be fun and very individual.  At the moment I am making a belt for the Aladdin Dance Theatre Production taking place in February. I'm working on a theatrical and magical Sorcerers Assistant belt with lots of layers and tassels. It will have a lot of sheen, bling and detail so that it can stand out within a stage setting. I can't wait to post a picture of it when it's finished and ready to wear.


VIP TIP: A very important tip for my fellow performers, what can sometimes look garish on the street will look normal or even plain on stage so don't be afraid to add extra bling, jewelry or a touch more lipstick to help you stand out.

+Belly Dance with Tevec Dance

One of my hand-made costumes

ALADDIN BLOG ENTRY #4 - flying minions, bum treasure and freak outs

Arrgggggghhhhhh!!! We had our second session as a group a couple of weeks ago. We discussed personas and how to move little but make huge impact using your bum treasure. Oh boy was this hard and something that I am not used to at all. I'm used to big movements, spinning across the stage and prancing around as light as a feather, a bit like a Belly dance Tinker Bell. Lets just say I was way out of my comfort zone but it was a very, very useful session. thank you Delilah for helping us to explore our bum treasure and prize cow (it goes into greater detail in her book Performance Mastery). Of course seductive Demelza Fox did not have any issues with this at all. Wait till you see her in action!! :D


Location:London

ALADDIN BLOG ENTRY #3 - OUR FIRST REHEARSAL

Three weeks ago we had our first rehearsal for the Aladdin Belly Dance Theatre Production. After which, I was feeling very excited, ready to go and inspired. Delilah brought the group together for our first session where we showcased our homework and developments. The theatre cast is made up of eight females all with different belly dance backgrounds. Some of the girls are classically belly dance trained whilst others specialise in tribal fusion and dark fusion. Despite our different disciplines I can see why Delilah 'the mummy' of the course and theatre production has chosen us, it's the performer within us all that unites us. After all this makes sense as it is a performance mastery course and not a technique mastery course. In our first session Delilah talked us through the do's & dont's of performance after which we showed our solos to the group. I really enjoyed watching the different performances and what each character has dreamed up and developed into a "belly" dance format. 

I can see exactly why Delilah has chosen the cast as everyone seems to fit their roles perfectly from the scary and creepy to the mystical and powerful and to the down right cocky. Here is the list of dancers and their cast roles:

Kerry Darkstar - Aladdin

Rosy - Princess

Kassandra - The Queen

































Laura - Princess' Sister 





































Demelza - Ifrit



































Rachael - Sorcerer




































Tevec (me) - Sorcerer's Assistant


























Roxane - Genie






































I can't wait to see how the roles and characters develop throughout the course.  I'll keep you posted. Ooooooooo

ALADDIN BLOG ENTRY #2 - Getting Started with 'Mummy' Delilah

After the auditions what was next?
First things first everyone had to have their one-to-one session with Delilah Dance to discuss the their role and the story line. Delilah is the productions' director, 'mummy' and mastermind. This is her baby that she is working on, with us, to bring to life. You instantly feel warmth and energy from Delilah, she is so passionate about this project that you can't help but admire her for her vision and all the hard work that she has put in so far - it's infectious. Delilah will be mentoring and tutoring us as we develop our characters, choreograph our solos and rehearse to pull off this national belly dance spectacular. My first piece of homework was to read her book Performance Mastery to aid us with preparing our choreography for the theatre platform. The book is very comprehensive and poses some very good questions to the dancer. My main struggle with choreographing and developing my dance scenes is that I keep distracting myself with other tasks. Naughty me...

Check Out Delilah Dance and for more information on the Performance Mastery book:   http://delilahbellydance.com/

ALADDIN BLOG ENTRY #1 - The Auditions

In August I was browsing through Facebook when I saw a post by Delilah Dance pop up on my news feed.
Delilah Dance was announcing that she was auditioning for a belly dance theatre production of the well known tale of Aladdin.

As a passionate dancer I've always wanted to be in a full theatre production, ever since I could remember it's been a childhood ambition of mine.  I thought "what have I got to lose, if you don't get it, well at least I get constructive feedback from the judges". So I put myself out there and emailed Delilah to apply for the audition.

I was one of many dancers from within the UK belly dance scene who auditioned at the beginning of September for a unique opportunity to be cast as one of eight characters in the theatre show.  Auditions were held at the Lost Theatre which is also the location for the London showing in February. As a dancer I always find the anticipation is the worst part of the audition. Sitting in unknown territory amongst other auditionees, some of whom i already knew, all in the same position waiting for your name to be called. Once inside the room my heart rate started to triple as I knew that for the next two minutes I would be analysed piece by piece and compared with the other auditionees.

I performed my prepared piece after which I had a 'chat' with the judges where I was asked to choose a character and choreograph a short dance for the character in twenty minutes. It was a great challenge and one that I felt both comfortable and excited by.
After showcasing the character I had choreographed I was told I would find out the results in one week.
That one week felt like one of the longest of my life, I really wanted a part in the theatre show and it was killing me not knowing.  Other dancers out there will understand.  I checked my email almost every thirty minutes on the day I was due to find out. After what felt like forever, I found out that I had been cast as the mesmerising yet dim character of Sorcerer's Assistant.