Thread: Can a costume make--or break--a performance?

I recently had an eye-opening experience about costuming that is causing me to take a look at my costume closet with a new, critical eye, and even contemplate selling some costumes (egads!)

Of course, I blogged about it :)

I'd love to hear from other dancers who have had this epiphany, and what you've done to make sure that every costume you have "makes" your performance...the conversation has already been started a bit in the blog comments, so please post there or here. Really interested to see what everyone's experiences have been

Can a costume make–or break–a performance? | RAQS and the City: Najla's Belly Dance Blog

Can a costume make or break a performance? Yes. It provides a starting point for the audience (unacquainted with your work) to begin building an impression of your presentation. Your costume creates an ambiance allowing the music to evoke emotion from the audience.

For a dancer, a song may inspire different emotions, on different nights, in different venues which may inspire a different costume. A well chosen costume allows the audience to clearly see the music in motion.

Originally Posted by SuzanneAzhaar

A well chosen costume allows the audience to clearly see the music in motion.

This! I feel like I've gotten the mood, venue, emotion, style thing down in the past, but it's finding (and highlighting) that motion through costuming that's driving me now.

I believe it can.
The audience's very first impression of you is what sticks. Badly fitting costumes send a message of unproffesionalism.

Just as you might tailor your performance to fit the audience and occaision, your costume needs the same consideration. For example your slim fit costume might work better where you are closer to the people and dont have much space.

Ive posted a link to your blog on my FB costumes page too.
Alibelly Costumes | Facebook

Besides a poorly fitting costume appearing unprofessional, it also can me anxious, because I don't want to accidentally show or be shown parts of the body that the costume is supposed cover.

Also, a costume I don't like or have bad associations with will make me feel less good. I don't know if it'll necessarily break the performance, but I think it won't allow for a great performance.

I think people tend to do better when they feel they look good; no one likes to look bad when they present themselves in a performance. In college, I had a friend who made a special point to look stylish on test days, because she thought that mentally helped her. I'm sure it didn't hurt!

I was just thinking yesterday about skirts and how they can make a huge difference. I am dancing to some classical Arabic Orchestral music today and there was no question for me that I was wearing a circle skirt, because back in the day there was more playing with the skirt, lots of small kicks and swirls which just don't read in a straight or trumpet skirt.

By the same token, a good dancer should be able to perform in a pair of yoga pants and tee with a hip scarf and have the crowd go wild!

{{{HUGS}}}

Originally Posted by tahiradancer

By the same token, a good dancer should be able to perform in a pair of yoga pants and tee with a hip scarf and have the crowd go wild!

{{{HUGS}}}

I have done some of my best work dressed just that way!

Deborah

I'm not sure a costume alone can make a performance- you will always need the albility and musicality to do it justice.

A costume can definitely break a performance though. I don't think that's true in the context of picking a minimalist Egyptian costume over a swishy tribaret set, to borrow your example. Rather, I'd think of too-long straps, or unflattering style, or imminent wardrobe malfunction as being what breaks a performance. Like others have said, a good dancer should look like a good dancer whether she's in a Bella or jeans and a hipscarf.

It can definitely break it. Wearing a costume that is not appropriate for the song, the theme, the venue, etc.... can weigh heavily on a dancer's performance. So can wearing the wrong color, an ill fitting costume or a costume that stands out more than the dancing. A dancer should want to be remembered for her performance more than for her costume.

As for making the performance, I don't think so. A costume that fits well and enhances the dancing is expected in all cases and shouldn't be considered a check in the plus column. However, dancers that wear costumes like the above-mentioned would get points deducted.

just my $.02

I believe it's a lot easier for a bad costume to ruin a good performance than a good costume to fix a bad performance. Costumes that are distracting--ugly, indecent, ill-fitting, dirty, falling apart, etc., just plain don't belong on stage. (Obviously "ugly" can be in the eye of the beholder, but once in a while someone will upload an UBDC that is pretty much universally agreed upon to be a visual trainwreck.) I think it's also possible to have a costume that is such a mismatch with the style of dance that it detracts from the performance, but how much of a problem that is would depend on how discriminating the audience is, how mismatched the styles are, and the nature of the show. Doing a Saidi number in a multi-song set in a Bella because you didn't have time for a costume change isn't in the same category as doing one song, and it's a folkloric debke at a Lebanese cultural festival, and you wore one of those Aziz dangle-pompom-Flintstone miniskirt costumes. The first is acceptable but unfortunate. The second would be clueless and weird.

OTOH, I worry that students sometimes attribute magical powers to costumes by thinking an expensive costume automatically makes you look like a better dancer. No, it makes you look like the same dancer you were before in a nicer costume. True, there is a psychological component to dressing up. Having a costume you think you look fantastic in will boost your confidence, and that shows up in your stage presentation, but if you have serious underlying technique issues (you can't find the beat, or your shimmy looks more like a seizure), even the best costume in the world can't fix that. Personally, I'd rather be favorably surprised by a performer in a student-quality costume who dances like a pro than be disappointed by a performer in a pro-quality costume who dances like a student (assuming a minimal threshold for stageworthiness in either case). As I've said before, don't let your costume write a check your dancing can't cash. If the costume is wearing you, something is wrong.

Finally, yes, the construction of the costume itself can make a difference in its impact. Beyond the obvious issues of fit, sometimes a small change in positioning can make a noticeable improvement in how the costume reads to the audience. Knowing where and how much fringe needs to hang on your body to maximize your movements is no trivial matter, especially in a modern, minimalist costume. I suppose that was one of the advantages of the classic fringemonster look--there was so much fringe everywhere, something was bound to shake in the right place.

Like everyone else, I think an inappropriate costume can break a performance. A couple years ago at a dance event I did a solo dressed like an ancient Egyptian. Right after that, my teacher said that everyone was going to perform a troupe number to fill up time because the next two performers on the roster didn't show up! So, I went out and danced with the rest of the troupe dressed in my ancient Egyptian costume when everyone else was wearing their bedlahs and skirts. There was no time to change costumes because this was a spontaneous change in the lineup. I felt like a total jackass because my costume stood out so bad. That was also when the cameraman for the local TV station showed up, and I think that was the video clip used on the news.

Originally Posted by Tourbeau

As I've said before, don't let your costume write a check your dancing can't cash.

LOVE this!

Yes to Tourbeau. You can rarely rescue a poor performance with the merit of a fabulous costume alone but a costume can make you feel good about yourself and lift your dancing. It can set the tone for your performance and if the package of costume,music and technique works it's the most satifying thing for an audience.
I have seen very good dancers' performances ruined by ill-fitting, distracting, ill-chosen costuming. Sometimes it's hard to get past that first appearance. If a dancer is neglectful of matching her costume to the music and technique , shows ignorance of what is correct or suitable then even tight technique can be spoilt.
Belly dance in performance is about entertaining and the costume be that a simple skirt and choli top or the latest design from Cairo will put the icing on the cake.

I don't think a great costume can make a performance. But I've certainly experienced that a costume can break a performance. I recently went to an event where several dancers had inappropriate costumes (like lingerie bras), panties or washing-instruction-sheets sticking out... this can be so distracting that you just can't focus on the dance any more.

Also, one girl was wearing a nice costume, but she wasn't feeling good in it, it was probably too revealing for her. She just looked... unhappy throughout the performance.

We've all discussed proper fit and professional aesthetic to death, so I am just going to focus on the "does it compliment the movements" issue which I interpret to be the intention of this discussion.

In my opinion, a good dancer is a good dancer, regardless or whether the costume compliments their moves or not. Good dancing should be able to be spotted whether the dancer is wearing something flowy and fringy to accent every move or whether the dancer is wearing street clothes or whether the dancer is naked. In fact, the better a dancer someone is, the less they need to rely on their costume for their dancing to look good. Flowy long skirts and monster fringe can hide a multitude of technical sins. To a certain degree, I think that is the statement that the modern Egyptian minimalist costumes make. "Look at me, I'm wearing a costume with hardly any decorations but you can still see all my moves because I'm just that awesome."

With that said, there are things you could wear that would completely hide the movement, no matter how good you are. You can't do a belly dance show in a Khaliji thobe, even if it were appropriate, you could shimmy as hard as Fifi and it would still be impossible to see anything under that thing unless you gathered it around your hips. A full black dress against a dark background would also be a problem. One-piece costumes work best when there is something to accent the hips.

We definitely need to stay away from costumes that outright obscure the movement. As for costumes that don't hide movement but don't accentuate it as well as they could, well, you have to be good enough to be able to pull it off.

With all those things being said, for myself I also prefer costumes that do accentuate movement rather than just look pretty, and always consider the way the costume will compliment my dance whenever I am deciding on what to wear for a performance. If I'm dancing to a big, orchestral piece and planning on doing a lot of spins, I like to choose a skirt that flows nicely and spins well. If I'm doing a drum solo, I want a belt with fringe to really showcase the shimmies and hip isolations. I do like fringe and flowy skirts in general regardless of what I'm doing, but I give them more weight depending on how I'm planning on dancing/what I'm planning on dancing to.

I think a costume can make or break your performance, to a degree. A designer costume will not make a mediocre dancer look astounding. And vice versa, an incredibly talented dancer will still shine in a mediocre costume. However, as a performer, I think it's your duty to showcase yourself in the best, most appropriate way possible. That being said, I think certain factors should always be taken into account:

1. what color/style looks best on you. I for one can't wear yellow. I love yellow costumes, but they rarely look great on me. I stick to colors I know I can pull off. I always wonder what's going on when I see dancers that I love and are beautiful wearing colors that don't flatter them... I know this is subjective to a degree, but still... a general idea of what works and doesn't for you is pretty basic.

2. same goes for style/cut of costume.

3. i usually think of song/costume in the same breath. If the song is a positive romantic song, I may skip the all black... if the song is about lost love, I may skip the super "fun" costumes. Also important is what I will be doing for that song: floor work or intense veil work rules out many of my costumes.

4. I also think venue/audience plays a part. if it is a super conservative audience, I may want a more traditional style costume. For a middle eastern audience, I stay away from the traditional bedlah + circle skirt and opt for a more modern costume.

What goes without saying is making sure all of my costumes fit me well. If they don't they get "retired" either by being sold or put into the back corner for adjustment/"diet". Nothing looks worse than an ill-fitting costume. If you are performing, look the part. A proper fitting, flattering costume is a must for proper "packaging" of your performance persona!

Also want to lend my personal experience to the other postings about an ill fitting costume distracting the audience from the dance. Last year I went to a show where a dancer wore a modern, fitted egyptian-style costume. Her shimmies shimmied the skirt practically off of her bottom within the first minute of the 10 minute long performance. Literally the top 2" of her butt crack were showing, much to the audience's dismay and chagrin. She was a lovely dancer but no one remembered/commented on her skill...only on what she had "inadvertently revealed." I know that sometimes costume "malfunctions" happen, but test out your costume for a good minute or two before a performance to avoid incidents such as this one!

A costume sets the table, and then the dancing fills the plates with delicious food.

It contributes to the aesthetic, but bad food tastes bad even on the finest china, and wonderful food still tastes wonderful on cracked, cheap dishes from WalMart.

Putting asside poorly fitting/falling apart costumes or skimpy non-costumes:

I don't think a costume has the power to make a performance the way, say, good dancing does. A well chosen costume should, however, support the dancer's choice of music, venue, degree of closeness to the audience, intention, style of performance, and body type...which is a lot of work.

The wrong costume choice can create a disconnect for me...say a sleek up-to-trend Egyptian costume with 1970"s American Cabaret music. If I see that I will wonder if the dancer knows what she is dancing to, I'll wonder about why she made that choice, and other things that will take me out of the moment and make me look at the parts of the dance and not experience the whole.That being said, if that dancer's movement captivates me, make sense to me, draws me in, that disconnect will only be temporary.

In a nutshell, the right costume can't make a dancer without the musicality and skills and the wrong costume will create some disharmony, but nothing a strong dancer can't make me forget.

Originally Posted by Hawazin

... washing-instruction-sheets sticking out... this can be so distracting that you just can't focus on the dance any more.

My absolute, all-time, top-of-the-list PET PEEVE. I've gone up to total strangers on the street and told them that their tag is out. On a performer of any sort, it's unforgiveable! I know I'm over the top with this, but ... c'mon!

Yes definately. Dancing is a visual performance art-the costume is a big part of that.
For example I remember seeing a well known dancer from the US over here at a festival in the UK. her dancing was great but her costume was a total disappointment-it was boring, the sort of thing anyone might wear. A star dancer should look like one-sometimes being contraversial or different is part of that.
We are performing for people to watch-and that doesn't matter if its at a hafla, in a restaurant or on a stage.

ooh Candi.. you have opened up a new dimension to the discussion.. costumes and expectations.

I see this as something which appears to differ greatly from one country to the next. The fashions and expectations vary alot.. what seems 'gorgous and stunning' in one country can appear dated and 'Aunt Fanny' in the UK.

Originally Posted by *Shira*

A costume sets the table, and then the dancing fills the plates with delicious food.

It contributes to the aesthetic, but bad food tastes bad even on the finest china, and wonderful food still tastes wonderful on cracked, cheap dishes from WalMart.

Ah, I love food-related metaphors ;-) And, I'd like to suggest a slight variation: A bad wine will taste bad, no matter what glasses you drink it from. A good wine glass may make a cheap wine more enjoyable, but never make it fantastic. A great wine will be great in cheap glass from Ikea. However, if one wants to appreciate all its intricate flavors to their fullest, a Riedel (or some such) wine glass is often an even better choice for the most satisfying overall experience.

ETA - and, I believe it is similar with costumes. A bad dancer will never be great, but a nice costume is likely to make her performance more enjoyable. A great dancer will be fun to watch in jeans and a t-shirt, but for the best stage experience, an appropriately great costume that fits her performance is going to add to the audience's experience.

I agree with the general consensus.... I don't think costume's can make a peformance. Not in the least


But I think a bad costume that doesn't mesh well can really off put the audience.

I actually did my first official gig last Friday night- and I don't have mounds of crystals or beads- I had 2 very simple costume's- one with hardly anything on it- but a long dangly thing and a bit of a train on the skirt- and the other one had chain swags- I think its more elegant and pretty than the first- but my boyfriend said its pretty- but it doesn't show the movement at all- I didn't like it. And he knew I had worked on that one- it was obviously the more complicated of the two even in its simplicity- so saying that I knew ment it had to be just not as good to watch (and he is by no means an expert but he knows me)

and I had great crowd reception on both resturants (double thingie) and I got a lot of compliments from the staff as well.

I'm by no means amazing- but I think showmanship trumps expensive costume's any day.

Interestingly enough,yesterday at Cairo Caravan we had the conversation that the public is swinging back towards wanting the bra / belt / skirt combo as opposed to the sleeker costumes. One dancer here who performs frequently said she had noticed that the costumes she is pulling out of her closet more and more are the few hold overs from when she started dancing 11 years ago. Not the ones which she, as a dancer. loves.

Of course, some of us spent the day networking with older, retired dancers, stalking their closets! ;-)

{{{HUGS}}}

I understand exactly what your boyfriend was pointing out in your blog post, and I came to the same conclusion a couple of years ago.

I admire sleek couture costumes, but as an architect's daughter, I was always taught that form follows function. And the function of a bellydance costume is to enhance the dance.

I've been studying how each costuming element fulfills its function. Fringe amplifies movements. Short or lightweight fringe, especially if each piece is tipped with a large end bead, amplifies shimmies. Shiny fringe (coins, sparkly bugle beads, pailettes) amplify vibrations (as do rhinestones IF the lighting is right). Long fringe takes big, preferably twisty movements to get going but then swings mightily. Etc.

Bare midriff shows off undulations, but so do shiny fabrics IF they're very fitted. Belts that are cut straight across the hips really show off vertical hip movements like mayas better than those cut at an angle. Full skirts showcase spins and twirls, slit skirts can enhance poses, while fitted and mermaid skirts are more effective at framing the figure of the dancer than her movements.

It should be a whole area of study!

Originally Posted by Lauren_

I've been studying how each costuming element fulfills its function. Fringe amplifies movements. Short or lightweight fringe, especially if each piece is tipped with a large end bead, amplifies shimmies. Shiny fringe (coins, sparkly bugle beads, pailettes) amplify vibrations (as do rhinestones IF the lighting is right). Long fringe takes big, preferably twisty movements to get going but then swings mightily. Etc.

Bare midriff shows off undulations, but so do shiny fabrics IF they're very fitted. Belts that are cut straight across the hips really show off vertical hip movements like mayas better than those cut at an angle. Full skirts showcase spins and twirls, slit skirts can enhance poses, while fitted and mermaid skirts are more effective at framing the figure of the dancer than her movements.

It should be a whole area of study!

Yes! This is exactly the kind of consideration I like to give when picking a costume and matching it to a particular song.

Originally Posted by Lauren_

I admire sleek couture costumes, but as an architect's daughter, I was always taught that form follows function. And the function of a bellydance costume is to enhance the dance.

But bellydance costumes really have a dual function: to enhance the movements of the dance and to flatter the body of the dancer.

Straight-cut belts may emphasize mayas, but V-cut belts visually lengthen the torso. Full skirts may amplify spins, but mermaid skirts create the illusion of height and balance wide hips.

The ideal costume would both highlight movements and complement the figure, but sometimes you have to rob Peter to pay Paul.

Originally Posted by Lauren_

The function of a bellydance costume is to enhance the dance.

I've been studying how each costuming element fulfills its function.

When I tell people about the times I've danced for naturists (people who engage in social nudity and nude recreation), one of the first questions I get asked is, "Did you have to dance naked?"

The thing is, nudists recognize the point you made - clothing CAN serve a legitimate function. One such function is sunscreen or keeping warm in cold weather. Another such function, in the case of a dance costume, is indeed enhancing the visual imagery of the dance. Jingling coins, swaying fringe, and swirling skirts all have their role to play in creating the imagery. And the nudists who have hired me in the past absolutely wanted the full package of imagery, costume and all.

I'm honestly a bit confused by many of the responses here. I don't think any of us is under the delusion that a good costume will make bad dancing better- that has been hashed out SO many times.

I am also going to disagree with a lot of folks on here. Given that the dancing itself is identical (and good, for the sake of argument!) and given that both costumes are good quality and fit properly, I do think the costume can make or break a performance. A costume does not have to be ill fitting or the wrong color to be unsuitable for a particular performance. Different dance styles accentuate and require attention to be drawn to different body parts in different ways. That sleek Egyptian piece the OP used which did not compliment what she was doing that night may well have worked wonders for a different style of performance, or on a different body type.

Yes, good dancing is good dancing no matter what you wear, but I can't see it if it isn't complimented by the costume. It is a package deal. It can also take a LONG time to figure out what kind of costuming works for your own body for different performance styles. It is an artform in itself! I also want to note that a costume can compliment your body and showcase your dancing even if it isn't a blingy, expensive $1000 costume. the right kind of exercise gear with the right kind of hip scarf can do the same thing, if attention is paid to what actually suits you and what you are doing. I had the unfortunate opportunity to model what does NOT accentuate my body/movements when I woke up 20 minutes before the workshop I wanted to attend last Saturday and grabbed the first gear that came to hand- OUCH! I know of what I speak! I did switch hip scarves half way through so I could bear to look at myself in the mirror!

Originally Posted by Ainsley

But bellydance costumes really have a dual function: to enhance the movements of the dance and to flatter the body of the dancer.

Straight-cut belts may emphasize mayas, but V-cut belts visually lengthen the torso. Full skirts may amplify spins, but mermaid skirts create the illusion of height and balance wide hips.

The ideal costume would both highlight movements and complement the figure, but sometimes you have to rob Peter to pay Paul.

Absolutely agree- and this is why making my own again is SO appealing... if only I could find the time!