Thread: Costuming while doing sword/floor work

I'm more of Egyptian/American Caberet dancer. However, I'm starting to learn sword. I've seen dancers in all types of costumes while doing sword or floor work.

Does it really matter? and what would you suggest wearing? and to what type of venue would you wear what you are suggesting?

For instance, at a hafla you could wear harems, or flair pants.

For a client? I'm assuming circle skirts, harem pants, or harems under the circle skirt. Would you really wear the tighter, slinkier costumes?

Thanks ladies.

I usually wear bedleh and circle skirts for this kind of thing. The slinkier costumes usually have lots of beading down the skirts and would be crushed during floorwork. The down side to wearing the fuller skirts is that it's easier to trip over all that fabric. I usually do whatever doesn't ruin my costume

Endless wave harems under a circle skirt with two big slits look cool for floor work. Endless waves by themselves are nice too.... I use them for floorwork and outdoor events as they are so durable, fun, and safe in the wind and on the ground.

It depends on which kind of sword work you want to do. If you are aiming for old-school AmCab, then go with something like a circle skirt over harem pants with a traditional bra and belt or coin set. If it's fakelore (fantasy historical), then usually people wear Ghawazee coats or a bra and vest over harem pants or something similarly and generically ethnic looking. If you want contemporary tribal fusion, then pretty much anything goes. Basically, you should pick something that fits with your music, taking into account the mechanics of having to move around on the floor (i.e., nothing that will get damaged by sitting on it, and something with full "under coverage.") I suppose it would be possible to do a sword number with a very modern, Lycra pants costume, but I'm not sure what kind of music would go with it, and you want a coherent look to your performance.

BTW, I've heard some dancers say they like to wear costumes that are relatively washable (or at least not easy to get visibly dirty) and not particularly fragile (e.g., prone to snagging), because you never know what condition the floor will be in.

i usually wear circle skirts over harems for floor work, especially when there are kids in the audience. plain polyester chiffon is very washable and looks nice with a detailed bedlah. watch out for stray hummus on the dance floor!

Ruby's Floorwork DVD has a good section on costuming for floorwork :) I have done a sword dance with harems an an arqbesqu skirt tucked up so I dont get entangled in it while rolling. I wore a gold bedlah set as well (of course) it looked great!! There are ways around it it-just practice a lot before hand so you can identify the problem areas where a costume issue might happen :)

After doing a music video shoot in a white Pharaonics, where my client had me do floorwork on a dirty floor, I have vowed never to drag another expensive costume through the dirt again! (All I have to say is thank goodness for Oxy-Clean and Woolite!) Even the cleanest looking floor can be a magnet for dirt, sludge and stray hummus....yuck ..c::

That being said, cheap, washable, durable circle skirts with harem pants are a stellar choice for floorwork. I actually like harems for floorwork because they give that extra helpful "slip" against the floor, while the friction of bare skin can be annoying.

I wear circle skirts with Pants under. You never know what angle the camera is taking pics from!

Skirt w pants underneath. For a diff look, straignt panels (embroidered metallic is cool) over pants, or a 4 or 8 point hankerchief skirt. Tight, lycra- ish stuff = no good. Be careful of kneeling on beads, coin, or anything hard, will hurt your knees, and careful not to pull out strands.
Have fun! Sword is about drama! Small, enclosed spaces = no good.

I love sword and I found harem pants with a front and back panel type skirt will give you the greatest ease. There is less fabric to get tangled up in and it is easy to pull a panel to the side to move around. Sometimes I will grab the end of each panel in each hand and tuck them in the front and back or sides of my belt and then you can really move around on the floor, then quickly untuck when you stand back up!

The style and music should form a framework for the costume style.

I seldom do floor work and hate the idea of rolling around in the dirt in my pretty costumes. So on the occasions when I actually do floor work, I wear washable pants. For acoustic or ethnic sounding music, harem pants with or without panels, over skirts or ghawazee coats work well. For modern music, flare pants or endless waves work great. I prefer to use hipscarves instead of belts, hipscarves are cheaper to replace if they get damaged.

Sword dancing is really more about dancing than costume. Again the costume should fit the music and style of dance. I've seen beautiful sword dances in all sorts of costumes, from steampunk to ATS to slinky skirt/bra bedlahs. The main thing to worry about are points where you balance (for example a thick belt might interfere with balancing on a hip), and practice in your costume. Sometimes dangly bits can get caught on sword handles.

Thanks for asking this! I'm working on a fire sword piece now for a variety show, and this is a whole new dimension of costuming I'm not used to. Everything needs to be much less froofy than I like, and it "should" all be cotton (I'm cheating on the pants and a bit on the top). I'm going for earthy and making an underbust top out of a slightly metallicized cotton, a bra covered in cotton gauze and embellished with coins and metal beads, wide legged palazzo style pants (so I can wear knee pads), a belt based on the top material, and a cotton gauze slit circle that matches the bra. I'm not keen on the cotton-on-cotton thing but whatever is on the bottom is the loosest and really needs to be not polyester at all.