Thread: News from Istanbul - dancers and costumes

Merhaba!

Got back from another fab week in Istanbul, some of it I shared with Willow Chang from Honolulu.

Besides enjoying the shopping and cultural treasures, we also went to see dancers and I continued my research for costume designers.

Here are some of our findings:

We went to Kervansaray for the Turkish Night Show. They had 4 bellydancers that night of which 2 were not to our liking. Yildizay I had seen before, but she must have had too much botox, she could hardly move her face and therefore lacked expression. Plus her arms were quite odd at times. The last dancer was so forgettable I don't even remember her name

The two dancers worth watching were Serap Su and Asena.

Serap Su clearly enjoys her dancing and she does the most amazing cane work. She told me "my cane and my arm are one unit"

http://www.bhuz.com/album.php?albumi...chmentid=23632

Asena is quite unique in her ways. Some like her style, some don't. I enjoyed her show, she has presence and musicality.
The biggest shock for us was when she entered... and she looked like Annie Lennox! Very short, blond hair! And a bad boob job, poor girl...

http://www.bhuz.com/album.php?albumi...chmentid=23631

I promised some people that I would check out San Eil (pronounced slightly like Chanel) Moda Evi and I did.
The shop is quite easy to find, two stations by tram from the Gran Basar and a few minutes walk take you there. It's in one of those business complexes that have many different shops and trades.
Great costumes (though some a bit on the "carneval" side of coloring) and reasonable prices! I really recommend them. I tried on various costumes that I liked and mostly didn't buy anything because it was my last day and my luggage was already full...
Some very original design ideas plus others that look a bit like rip-offs of other costumers.
Only Turkish is spoken - but by now I have become quite good at pantomime :-)
Definitely worth checking out.

http://www.bhuz.com/album.php?albumi...chmentid=23633

Another good find is BellySu - a collaboration between a former Bella seamstress and the dancer Serap Su.
They made a wonderful white costume for me. I only sent her some pictures for ideas and she started working on it right away - without having my measurements! And surprisingly it fit quite well! Now that's what I call a professional
They too are in a business complex, close to the Osmanbey metro stations. Very convenient (also if you are on the way from or to Bella ).
They went out of their way to finish the costume for me in time.
Recommended!

http://www.bhuz.com/album.php?albumi...chmentid=23634

I must get a better picture that will do this costume justice - it's really very sparkly!

http://www.bhuz.com/album.php?albumi...chmentid=23636

And just for those who can't get enough of pictures, here's a skirt that I got for a bra-belt set that Legend costumes made for me last year.

http://www.bhuz.com/album.php?albumi...chmentid=23635

MEISSOUN

Meissoun..your white costumes is delicious and ever so slightly naughty.in the best possible way

Thank you for the update!

One of my fellow dancers just got back from shopping at San Eil Moda Evi. It was easy to tell the source of "inspiration" for some of the costumes she bought, but there's also something uniquely...er...goofy and carnival about their interpretations that oddly appeals to me.

One of the San Eil costumes I tried on had big fabric flowers all over it - when I saw it I laughed out loud. If the belt had not been too small, I would have totally bought it. (I am a sucker for flowers....).

And another fun costume was covered with short pink fake fur into which the rhinestones had been planted.

They really have some wicked ideas of themselves for sure!

MEISSOUN

Thanks for the info! Wish I could go!

Thanks for the info Meissoun.

Your new white costume is absolutely *stunning*.