Thread: troupe costuming

i'm working on a choreography to alf leyla wa leyla with my student troupe, for 10 to 12 dancers and i'm trying to come up with some nice costuming

options are to recuperate this outfit (clip below), or to come up with something new.

the new choreo has a lot more geographical changes, some work in two groups, in couples, in a vshape etc etc. so i was thinking pairing two colours. like half the students in white, and half of them, in what? i dont want blue/red/black, anything to dark. so i was thinking pastel green. or another pastel. and two have them as a white/pastel couple for some of the dance.

but i got a lot of moans from the girls at the pastel suggestion.

but royal blue, red and multicolour and lrose outfits nomatter the colour are out already, as we already have those for other numbers/groups in the same show.

any pastel green troupes/pictures out there?

in our previous routine the white worked because and with all the coloured akaisilks veil. there is NO veil in this new choreo, "just" dancing. so i think all white and only white will wash some people out.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5papX643SY]YouTube - Bellydance Show - Because we care[/ame]

Personally, I would go with a bright color, rather than a pastel.

Acid green, Turquoise, etc.

If it has to be a pastel, I think pale blue and lilac tones are usually more flattering than baby pink/peach/mint...

PS - I really like the white costume idea you showed in the clip, it's a really nice change.

acid green or turquoise, thank you!!! great idea.

only wory is a too "black and white" look. i was hoping that with pastel

- it would look different from all the other group dances in the same show
- the "white" and the "pastel" girls would look more alike. i dont want to much of a contrast between them...

Originally Posted by artemisia_danst

acid green or turquoise, thank you!!! great idea.

only wory is a too "black and white" look. i was hoping that with pastel

- it would look different from all the other group dances in the same show
- the "white" and the "pastel" girls would look more alike. i dont want to much of a contrast between them...

I'm concerned that there wouldn't be enough of a constrast.
Under bright lights, the pastels next to the white may get 'washed' out more than you want.

hm, than all white might be better...but find some colour solution to liven it up instead of the veils.

I like the white costumes, but maybe with some other hip scarf... ;)
I would not mind pastel colours, if you think that it will be best, it WILL look stunning, I am sure!

You could also consider using two 'opposite' pastel colours, like orange(/yellow) and lilac, or red and green (omdat die dan met elkaar vloeken ziet het resultaat er misschien iets minder flets uit...).

or even some of those batticked skirts (gebatikt in het nederlands) ;)
those colours are usually also pastellish
but maybe that would be too gypsy...

my suggestion: i love pastels, but light green doesn't look good on everyone. i agree that pastels might be washed out, though. maybe going with a slightly brighter tone would work best. and color-wise, violet pink and blue work with most skin tones.
brighter color combos i've been liking recently (for ideas): any two out of turquoise/fuchsia/purple; fuchsia/orange ,...
how about going white trumpet skirt/top and playing with hip scarf colors? like beaded hip scarves in all the colors of the rainbow (one color per 'couple', or symmetrical in the V, or something like that... just throwing ideas out there, i really have to go get my train lol ^^); or 2 or 3 colors depending on the "shapes" the group'll make; or gold (gold+white looks sooooo pretty! and you could do that thing again, where doesn't matter the 'cost'/style of the set that's worn with the white skirt, as long as it's gold/yellow).
last idea before i run: arm bands with flowy veil bits hanging from them, in the same color as the hip scarf! or maybe just arm bands without flowy bits, cos those might be a pain in the moments we're really close together...

oooh, gold could work! ;) or some fringed hip scarves in a couple of colours or beaded or ..... even bollywood style!! ;) or those rrrrreally nice peacock scarves! ;)

or the combo turquoise/fushia/orange (washed out then)

if you have already heard from some of the girls Artemisia that they do not really like pastels, than maybe it will be difficult to get them to choose a colour,... you might get a lot of 'tegenkantingen' or moaning... just saying...

Coral is a good color for most skin types!

Can you film yourself with pastel veils at the place you are going to dance at before hand?

Seriously, I love pastels, but I really don't think it will 'read' well, in the lighting.

I also LOVE the white idea!
I can't watch the video completely, but what I can see, I loved!!!!

You could re-use your basic white costumes and pair them with different metallic hip scarves--some copper, gold, silver. Or different metallic lames. Or even different animal prints, zebra, leopard, snakeskin, etc.

Here's a visual example of white with medium blues and periwinkles... not in "student" costumes, but at least you can see how the colors combine. These are my friends from Unveiled Dance Company, in their "air" themed costumes.
websitepagemi

What about having your students in white wear hip wraps in the color you choose for the other half, and having those in the other color wear white wraps, to tie them together?

It seems like the white & gold or the white and multi-colored bright wrap (paired) ideas, would work really well, too.

We did these, half the girls wore gold, the other half silver, and it looked AWESOME on stage: Belly Dance Costumes | Harem Pants | Belly Dance Hip Scarf

Artemisia, we have a mint green and teal costume, different in style, but we all seem to agree that it's actually very flattering to everybody's skin tone. I have a couple of pics that I can email you if you like, they are too big to upload to bhuz.

A couple of years ago when my students were picking a costume color, they all got REALLY excited about lime green for some reason. Maybe it was a fad, or maybe it's the 'crossover pastel' the gateway green?

khalima, some pics would be great

emotionvzw@gmail.com

i cant pick TWO pastels, as at least half need to be in the skirts we already have, i cant shell out more money ;-)

i'm going to look at slightly more distinctive greens (mint, lime) and at different pastels (light blue or lilac). it doesnt matter if the green doesnt work on everybody, half will be in white anyway. somehow i see light green for this choreo, lol.

i'll come up with something, thanks for the ideas everyone

kathiya, i like the matching arm bands idea. that could be good thing to make whatever simple hipscarve we choose work much better. of to look at lrose website again! that might be a way of staying all white, but livening it up a little.

keep us updated! reading bhuz is way more fun than studying for my exams!!

ok, we're sticking with the white skirts , but now the search is on for a possible alternative (white) for the top, and definitely for colourfull belts.

just making suggestions :) :

from Sakkara :
https://ssl.kundenserver.de/shop.bau...hop/index.html
https://ssl.kundenserver.de/shop.bau...hop/index.html
or with coins : https://ssl.kundenserver.de/shop.bau...hop/index.html
there are also a number of coin belts in their catalogue

Sharifwear:
(my personal favorite : the peacock belt) Sharifwear.com - Bellydance clothing for divas - Salsa Wear, Gypsy, Tribal, Oriental, & Egyptian Belly Dancing

Dahlal :
https://www.dahlal.com/default.aspx?...1=1134&s2=1134
https://www.dahlal.com/default.aspx?...1=1134&s2=1134

Moondance:
I like the DELUXE SILK TYE-DYE HIP SCARF MD111 a lot (could be fun to have some different colours!)
but also : DELUXE SEQUIN FRINGE BELT MD314
VELVET PEACOCK SCARF MD1715
VELVET HIP SCARF WITH LONG FRINGE CS108
All found on this site :
Belly Dance Costume & Dancing Hip Scarves and Hip Scarf with Moondance.

the sakkara links dont work, they just go straight to the homepage. but i'm not so keen on ordering from them anyway.

dahlal; also goes to a page with many scarves? which one?

the sharifwear is very pretty but toooo "gypsy" in feeling. we'll keep that idea for another choreo sometime though.

dont know the moondance site, off to look.

i'll try to order from farida straight from cairo though. i dont think i want to add more airmiles to our costuming if not needed!

like I said, just making suggestions (I find it too much fun to browse all those sites!!) ;)

Dahlal : (but maybe too gypsy indeed) :
Floral Burnout Shawl
$35.99
Burnout Satin Shawl w/ Fringe
S10-03SC
$19.99

I think moondance charges a lot of shipping though...

Zoë is really not into studying huh ;)

damn, i have been caught! ;)

the more suggestions the better!

oooh Zoe that peacock idea is cool! could look nice all the same (in different colors? i love the pink, purple, green...
and there's white too! eBay.be: Beaded Triangular Silk Velvet Peacock Scarf Shawl White (objet 230478401486 Fin: 30-mai-10 07:22:11 CEST)

those could look really pretty with a peacock feather hairclip.
something like this http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_v97ED1JOKK...+Hair+Clip.jpg
(those are really easy to make, too!)

also, jewelry in those colors are really easy to find. and the makeup looks good on everyone :)

i'm loving this idea, actually!! if we don't do it for this, i'm definitely keeping the idea for later :D

i'm totally FOR the peacock scarves girls/// for another choreo. i'll try to find time this summer to work on something more gypsy-isch, with big skirts etc. a skirt dance or something. i think for the current song, we need something more classical in feel.

a skirt dance ..l;,

cool! :D

if you want to stay classical, and want to aim for the 'goddess/priestess' look as you said, several of us students agree that white + gold is the best option.
there are tons of ways of obtaining it.
coin belts:
eBay.be: Gold Metal Coin Waist Belt Belly Dance Gypsy Ladies (objet 260609427023 Fin: 31-mai-10 07:55:23 CEST)
eBay.be: Gold Metal Coin Waist Belt Belly Dance Gypsy Ladies (objet 260609744714 Fin: 02-juin-10 20:46:40 CEST)
or the kind of hipscarves with tons of paillettes, i think KotN has them (and, if you want to play with a pastel color, it's possible to do so with the background color of these)
eBay.be: New Belly Dance Hip Scarf Belt Purple Gold coins Trims (objet 250640581019 Fin: 27-juin-10 05:17:15 CEST)
or something beaded like this
eBay.be: Belly dance belt red & gold - new style - beautiful !! (objet 390200520536 Fin: 04-juin-10 05:11:51 CEST)
but that's more difficult to make matching armbands to fit.

or simply gold lycra-type fabric

i agree white and gold go beautifully together. but it's not going to POP under the lights?

i'll look at the links, thanks