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Editorial:
The Evolution of Personal Style
This is my second issue of Costumer's Notes and the theme
for the month is Tribal with a twist. For many years, my
dance career has slid from city to city as I have moved to follow
my academic dreams. Although my first taste of belly dance was
in Milwaukee WI, my dance studies really took a serious turn
when I arrived in San Diego. Although I studied with everyone
I could, my "home room" was with Cyrena. Her style
is flirtatious; she could bring an audience to its feet with
a flick of her luxurious midnight hair, a subtle bump of the
hip or one look from her smoldering eyes. Her style is a blend
of American, Turkish and Egyptian, with some totally innovative
stuff, giving her a distinctive signature Cabaret/Gypsy style.
She continues to teach, and is well respected in the dance community
in the San Diego area where she is an active participant, nurturing
students and attending group shows and events. I would be nowhere
without her significant influence early on, and her 'can-do'
attitude gave me the will to continue my dance studies.
However, my own style diverged from my original master. I
started performing at Ren Faires in Southern California found
that I really liked the costuming, the relaxed atmosphere and
having lots of performance time. I honed my skills playing zills
and walking about as a 16th century fantasy/gypsy, mingling with
the crowd with precision torso isolations and balancing tricks.
Although I was studying costume history, my costumes fit the
mold of the group I danced with.
When I moved to go to graduate school, I wound up in Davis,
CA looking for a troupe to perform with. I was introduced to
the Ottoman Traders
under the artistic direction of Julia Carroll who performs on
the CIRGA Renaissance circuit of small weekend faires throughout
the Central Valley and around Northern California. The Ottomans
were wonderful to perform with, and I was fortunate enough to
earn a solo slot. From a fantasy/gypsy style, my costumes evolved
into a more historic/folkloric look to more closely align with
the goals of reenacting a specific time and location. My costume
research took a turn, and I was able to write several major graduate
papers on Middle Eastern costume history, integrating my hobby
with my career.
When I finished my graduate coursework, I relocated to the
San Francisco/San Jose area. The pull of the vibrant dance community,
ethnic neighborhoods, availability of good dance instructors
was unavoidable. Since arriving in the Bay Area, I find that
I am receiving a steady diet of workshops, attending numerous
events and becoming involved with the newly formed MECDA chapter.
I am currently dancing as part of a duet known as TigerTribe!
Although cut from different cloth (tiger striped) than the standard
ATS groups in the area, Sabra and I have enjoyed working on a
hybrid fusion style of dance that works for us.
Sabra, committed to tribal style costuming, worked on creating
a hybrid costume style for our little troupe. My rather freeform
dance style has flavored her movement vocabulary, while her tribal
costume look has strongly influenced me. I wrote From
Turban to Toe Ring after doing a tremendous amount research
and taking classes with several prominent ATS instructors. Although
my first love is costume history, I was won over by the integration
of ethnic pieces into the dance wardrobe, the complex layering
of jewelry, and the use of the Banjara look of choli and full
skirt.
So, as you can see from this rather long-winded introduction
that your costume style can evolve as new opportunities present
themselves. In my own fifteen years as a semi-professional dancer
I've undergone several costume makeovers as my style has evolved.
From cabaret to gypsy/fusion to hHistorical/folkloric to tribal/fusion
each change happened as a natural progression of style. In 2001,
however, I feel the urge to go back to my roots, and I've made
some plans to make two new sets of bedlah for myself. I have
missed the glamour of beads and sequins and while I will never
truly leave my turban behind (especially on those bad hair days,)
it's time to reinvestigate the world of costume I've left behind.
While February's issue of Costumer's Notes is devoted to tribal
stylings, future volumes will focus on the development of more
glamorous bedlah style of costuming. For more information on
costuming for tribal dancers, I recommend you visit the TigerTribe!
Costuming Pages. I've been working with Sabra to build the
costuming area of our troupe web site to help dancers work on
developing their tribal wardrobes.
Good Luck and Happy Costuming!
Dawn "Davina" Devine Brown
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