"[Gasp] - where do you get your costumes?"
Most bellydancers get that question quite a lot!
I'm fortunate enough to have a very good friend in Cairo who helps me a lot to find lovely things that work for me. In my opinion Cairo has the very best costumiers for bellydancers, and quite right too since it's the home of the dance! Eman Zaki's Golden Lotus label produces gorgeous, fasionable costumes; everybody loves Sahar at the moment; Amera Kattan runs Pharaonix of Egypt. I have a blue Pharaonix costume which always attracts a huge number of comments. One day I'm going to let it go out there and dance on it's own, because nobody notices how I dance when I wear it!
But this year I've been visiting Celia Buchan in the slightly-less-sunny Penicuik, and she's been working on a very beautiful costume for me. The trip to the Edinburgh suburbs is less arduous than getting to Cairo, and there are DVDs and chocolate biscuits for my children to enjoy while I'm there! I got my costume a couple of weeks ago and I love it. With a bit of help from Caroline Rose too, we came up with a design that would suit my shape (IBTC member, not much of a waist but muscley in the tummy). Celia made the costume and her skill and taste in bling are as good as her sewing and design work!
I feel great in this costume. It fits me perfectly and I love it. It's beautiful, it doesn't overshadow me, it's designed for my body, and nobody in the world has anything like it. What more could I ask for?
However, I have also been dancing with my wonderful students, the Helwa Hurdies. One of the Hurdies, Ruthie, was getting married in July, and asked us to perform at her wedding. It was an honour, a priviledge, and a very exciting occassion! We worked all term on the choreography and Ruthie and Kenny kindly bought us skirts, veils and coin belts. All that was left was the oft-thorny question of tops.
It was back to Celia Buchan who taught us all how to make our own. How to take a common-or-garden structured bra, chop it up, and make it look fabulous for stagewear. We spent a lengthy evening in Celia's house, tea and biscuits ahoy, measuring elastic, learning about buttresses and stabbing ourselves in the fingers.
I can't pretend I found it easy. I can't pretend I enjoyed the experience. There's a reason why Celia can produce gorgeous costumes - she can sew. I can't. Well, I suppose I can do the stitching, and I didn't fail needlework at school, but it's safe to say that there's a reason why, in my 14 years of bellydance, I've never made my own costume. But nonetheless, I managed to do it (although there are still a good few safety pins involved in it.) And what's more, all the other Hurdies did it too, and looked utterly amazing.
So, in short - If you want to feel like a million dollars on stage, don't buy guff from some unknown source. Save your pennies and get something made for you. It's soooo worth it. But if you want to look like a great troupe, get sewing. As long as you can all get together, preferably with wine, and enjoy the experience!
Monday, 11 July 2011
Wednesday, 22 June 2011
Leith's Awesome Hafla!!!
What an amazing night! My first Leith Festival event, A Bit of Cairo on Duke Street, was a success! The Parlour Bar turned out to be a great venue with very helpful staff. And Leithers turned out to be a brilliant audience.
So, hours before the event, two of the performers pulled out - I guess it's not a real hafla without last-minute stress! By 7.30pm I was very nervous but as the bar started to fill and the atmosphere began to build, I calmed down a bit. There were dancers, bellydance students with their friends and families, and a good number of people who'd come along after seeing the listing in the Leith Festival programme. There were also a few slightly perplexed locals. But it was a really good mix, in total about 60 people, and the atmosphere was just amazing!
When I was performing, the speakers tripped and my (already too quiet) music disappeared entirely. I was gutted because I was really enjoying myself and the audience response was so good. But everybody was already clapping along, so I got them to keep it up and danced to the rhythm of the clapping instead, until the [sterling] bar staff got the music on again. Not every audience would have managed it, but this was a hell of a crowd!
We had nine performances, a lovely variety of dancers and styles - and because our dancefloor was the bar area, and we couldn't dance while customers were being served, nine performances was just the right number for a two-hour show. As it was a free event, everybody had a few quid available for raffle tickets, with a bottle of Baileys and a term of classes as prizes - and £100 was raised for Just Because.
I am really chuffed with how the night went, and would love to do it again next year! A big thank you to you if you came along, and especially to the performers and The Parlour.
So, hours before the event, two of the performers pulled out - I guess it's not a real hafla without last-minute stress! By 7.30pm I was very nervous but as the bar started to fill and the atmosphere began to build, I calmed down a bit. There were dancers, bellydance students with their friends and families, and a good number of people who'd come along after seeing the listing in the Leith Festival programme. There were also a few slightly perplexed locals. But it was a really good mix, in total about 60 people, and the atmosphere was just amazing!
When I was performing, the speakers tripped and my (already too quiet) music disappeared entirely. I was gutted because I was really enjoying myself and the audience response was so good. But everybody was already clapping along, so I got them to keep it up and danced to the rhythm of the clapping instead, until the [sterling] bar staff got the music on again. Not every audience would have managed it, but this was a hell of a crowd!
We had nine performances, a lovely variety of dancers and styles - and because our dancefloor was the bar area, and we couldn't dance while customers were being served, nine performances was just the right number for a two-hour show. As it was a free event, everybody had a few quid available for raffle tickets, with a bottle of Baileys and a term of classes as prizes - and £100 was raised for Just Because.
I am really chuffed with how the night went, and would love to do it again next year! A big thank you to you if you came along, and especially to the performers and The Parlour.
Tuesday, 7 June 2011
A Bit of Cairo on Duke Street!
In the last few years I've looked at the brochure for Leith Festival and been disappointed there's been no bellydancing events.
Last year I was lucky enough to see the Twisted Tails and my own wonderful performance group the Helwa Hurdies performing at the opening of the Leith Festival, along with students of Leith teachers Shelley Dance and Hilary Thacker, which was much better.
This year I decided something else had to be done, so next week you are invited to A Bit of Cairo on Duke Street: Leith Bellydance Hafla!
The venue is The Parlour Bar on Duke Street, a smashing, friendly pub which serves smashing tea, coffee and cupcakes, as well as the usual shandy-business (they call it "boozy goodness"), plus Monster Munch (all flavours). During the day they regularly entertain smaller customers with boxes of Lego and colouring-in. This is not the smelly old man's pub of its previous incarnation! The Parlour also hosts Open Mic nights so they know how to treat performers.
If you would like to come along and enjoy the performances, it's free entry, just hitch up and get yourself a comfy seat (there are settees as well as bar stools). If you'd like to dance, let me know and I'll add you to the programme. Just watch you don't catch your veil on the popcorn wagon! Oh, and the changing facilities are a wee bit scarce, but the atmosphere will make up for it. Come on out for a fun, schoolnight hafla and enjoy the Leith Festival ambiance!
Last year I was lucky enough to see the Twisted Tails and my own wonderful performance group the Helwa Hurdies performing at the opening of the Leith Festival, along with students of Leith teachers Shelley Dance and Hilary Thacker, which was much better.
This year I decided something else had to be done, so next week you are invited to A Bit of Cairo on Duke Street: Leith Bellydance Hafla!
The venue is The Parlour Bar on Duke Street, a smashing, friendly pub which serves smashing tea, coffee and cupcakes, as well as the usual shandy-business (they call it "boozy goodness"), plus Monster Munch (all flavours). During the day they regularly entertain smaller customers with boxes of Lego and colouring-in. This is not the smelly old man's pub of its previous incarnation! The Parlour also hosts Open Mic nights so they know how to treat performers.
If you would like to come along and enjoy the performances, it's free entry, just hitch up and get yourself a comfy seat (there are settees as well as bar stools). If you'd like to dance, let me know and I'll add you to the programme. Just watch you don't catch your veil on the popcorn wagon! Oh, and the changing facilities are a wee bit scarce, but the atmosphere will make up for it. Come on out for a fun, schoolnight hafla and enjoy the Leith Festival ambiance!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)