Thread: Let me see your "costumes"

I know we all have our Bedlah and our Bellas and our tribal gear... but is it fair to really call those "costumes?" To a professional dancer, it is more like a uniform, right? The thing you have to wear to do your job.

What about any dance related costuming you've every made or worn? You know what I mean: not the "standard" Bellydance pieces, but the actual off-the-wall theatrical costume pieces that you've worn for a performance.

I made these for our Halloween Hafla this year.



As you may have guessed, we danced to a meledy of the Beatles' Sgt Pepper, and I don't think we could have pulled off the dance in "normal" bellydance stuff.

So what cool costumes have you guys created? I'm sure we have a really creative bunch on these boards.

I don't have any photos, but here's a video. This the dance troupe I dance in, Naya's Trance.

We wore bandana tops pinned together in front with a gold sherriff's badge and cowboy hats with matching hip scarves and melodia pants.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Zc2odCJK4E]YouTube - Save A Horse Ride A Cowboy[/ame]

Oh my goodness, Shahla, that was so fun! I like the costumes, but I really liked your choerography in that as well!

I didn't realize we could post videos, so here is the one from the Beatles Dance if anyone else interested:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlVpqy2EHAo"]Beatles Bellydance[/ame]

Originally Posted by _Sarai_

I know we all have our Bedlah and our Bellas and our tribal gear... but is it fair to really call those "costumes?" To a professional dancer, it is more like a uniform, right? The thing you have to wear to do your job.

To me, the costume is an important element of being a bellydancer - this dance requires to put together the "full package", including movement, music and, apart from many other things, also a costume that matches and enhances the dance and contributes to putting on the best possible performance. Given that, I do not consider my costumes a "uniform", they are an expression of the dance I love, and, as such, I deeply enjoy wearing them. Now, I also don't feel as if I am playing dress-up or becoming somebody else or what not when I get ready for a performance. In fact, I consider my oriental costumes fairly normal pieces of my wardrobe that are worn for performances, they are just a bit more fun, quite a bit more expensive and significantly less comfortable than the rest of what's in my cabinets.

Sarai, that was fabulous. The video says so much more than the photo can say. You guys looked like you were having a ball!

Originally Posted by steffib

To me, the costume is an important element of being a bellydancer - this dance requires to put together the "full package", including movement, music and also a costume that matches and enhances the dance and contributes to putting on the best possible performance. Given that, I do not consider my costumes a "uniform", they are an expression of the dance I love, and, as such, I deeply enjoy wearing them. Now, I also don't feel as if I am playing dress-up or becoming somebody else or what not when I get ready for a performance. In fact, I consider my oriental costumes fairly normal pieces of my wardrobe that are worn for performances, they are just a bit more fun, quite a bit more expensive and significantly less comfortable than the rest of what's in my cabinets.

Your comment here is interesting to me, because I don't see from your assessment why the term "uniform" is less desirable than "costume." Perhaps its a question of association. I come from a strong theatre background, so a costume is generally anything that I wouldn't wear on a normal basis. That is why my dance clothes are not costumes: like you said, they are a part of me, I don't become someone else when I wear them, they are an outward extension of what I am, just like my day to day clothes.

Maybe uniform isn't correct either... business casual isn't exactly a "uniform" but is a standard of clothes used for a specific employeed purpose that you still are able to express yourself though in style and color choice. So what would you call that?

Originally Posted by shahla

Sarai, that was fabulous. The video says so much more than the photo can say. You guys looked like you were having a ball!

Thanks so much. To date that was my favorite dance. It's just so much fun to do!

Ah, yeah, I certainly think that uniform and business casual are do not have a positive meaning - these are things one has to put on. My dance costumes, in contrast, are happy pieces ;-) The only similarity between business outfits and bellydance costumes that comes to my mind is discomfort - blisters from pumps on my toesies and sequins that poke my boobies.

Meow:

Originally Posted by *Shira*

Meow:

Love it! What song did you use?

Originally Posted by *Shira*

Meow:

Love it! That's awesome. Yeah, i'm quite curious what song you danced to.

Originally Posted by shahla

Love it! What song did you use?

Hee hee, there are lots of cat-related songs for those who wish to use them.

• What's New Pussycat? by Tom Jones
• Alley Cat
• Many of the songs from the musical Cats
• For exit music, there's the song used in Meow Mix commercials (Meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow...)

It's amazing how many you find, once you start looking!

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Originally Posted by MelanieLA

I don't know what that means?
As a professional dancer why would you call your costume a uniform?

Well, the word "bedleh" in Arabic literally means "suit" in English. And I think the word "suit" bears more resemblance in meaning to "uniform" than it does to "costume". So I think it's safe to say that Egyptian dancers do use the word "uniform" to describe their dance attire.

A "uniform" is an outfit one puts on to do one's job, isn't it? Well, isn't that what a belly dance ensemble is?

I think there's a little over-parsing the intent of the original post. I guess the idea is that there is a "regular" look when you do "regular" BD gigs so she wanted to see the crazy costumes.

As an example I seldom put effort into Halloween because as a theatre artist I get dressed up for pay, it's not that exciting to me for a "holiday". That is essentially seeing what I wear for work as sort of a uniform. It doesn't mean that I don't love what I do, as a dancer or a theatre artist. It just means it's part of my everyday DNA.

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I can see that... dressing up for bellydancing is fun for a lot of us! I get what both of y'all meant though.

I consider 'uniform' to mean that everyone wears exactly the same clothes in the same style and colour. This may be the case you are part of a troupe wearing identical outfits for particular routines/dances, but otherwise every costume is different, whether in style, colour, trim or accessories. So to me, what a dancer wears to perform is usually a 'costume'.

Originally Posted by shahla

I don't have any photos, but here's a video. This the dance troupe I dance in, Naya's Trance.

We wore bandana tops pinned together in front with a gold sherriff's badge and cowboy hats with matching hip scarves and melodia pants.

YouTube - Save A Horse Ride A Cowboy

Still one of my favorite costumes. And each dancer's bandana top, cowboy hat, & hipscarf coordinated with a color on the Pride flag!
I our local Pride festival. We always pull together something totally unique & creative & rainbow themed!

I didn't mean to be offensive... I was just trying to differentiate what sort of "costume" i meant.

I know what you meant, no worries!Hmmm, I can't think of a recent "costume-y" BD outfit I've worn lately. *goes back to photo archive*

Originally Posted by _Sarai_

I didn't mean to be offensive... I was just trying to differentiate what sort of "costume" i meant.

Don't worry, you didn't offend anyone, it's just that sometimes things said on Bhuz get picked apart and over-analyzed.

There were some lovely pirate costumes someone here posted a while back...

http://www.bhuz.com/forum/fitness-be...ghlight=pirate

Originally Posted by firefly5

There were some lovely pirate costumes someone here posted a while back...

http://www.bhuz.com/forum/fitness-be...ghlight=pirate

Ohhh those pirate costumes are pretty sweet!

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