Photography for Assiut Costuming Book has Begun!

I’m so pleased to share with you our progress on our new book. We are in the initial design and preparation phases.  During the months of March and April, I’m making costumes, with the aim of completing one full head-to-toe look at a time. To make this happen, I’m matching assiut pieces and garments to their models. As I discuss designs with my team of dancers, I’m taking into account the style and taste of each dancer, the information that I need to communicate about construction and design, as well as balancing the amount of assiut I have to work with. It’s a bit of a puzzle, and I’m reveling in this challenge.

Using the Studio Davina Planner

Back in December, I announced to my “Studio Davina” Facebook group that I was putting together my own custom calendar. I work in quarterly cycles, and this Small Business Planner gives me a place to park and process all the information I’m gathering together during the production of the new book.

Now that we are swiftly approaching the end of Q1 for 2022, I’m starting to plan which sheets I need to print and bind for my Q2 planner. I’m finding that I’m using some of the pages in quite surprising ways. For instance, in the image above, I’ve used the 6 months on a page to sketch thumbnail flats. In my Q2 planner, there will be many more spreads of this layout to accommodate more brainstorming of ideas.  The printable planner pages are available on Etsy and since they are completely undated, they are useful anytime you want to take your planning to the next level.

Documenting the Assiut Before Cutting

Through the end of April, we’ve planned photoshoots to document this collection. Alisha Westerfeld is our principal photographer for this book with her good camera and the best lighting we can manage in my office.  But both of us are sharing our progress over on our Instagram Feeds. That is where we are sharing outtakes and behind-the-scenes shots in nearly real-time.

Clockwork Alchemy

On Saturday, Alisha and I will be heading to a local steampunk convention where we will be participating in a belly dance show.  Later, I’ll be presenting the talk “Belly Dance: 1893 til Today.”  If you are in the San Francisco/Bay Area, and looking for something to do, come join us on Saturday afternoon in Burlingame, Ca. Learn more about Clockwork Alchemy 2022 by following this link.

Alisha will be wearing a new deluxe assiut ensemble.  Since she’s one of the co-authors, it only seemed fitting to make her ensemble our first of 30 or so looks for the book. Posts on the design and construction coming soon!

Perhaps we’ll see you on Insta, Facebook, or live at an event soon!
Dawn Devine ~ Davina 
March 14, 2022