Category: Belly Dance

Ideas, hints and tips on improving your dance from practice to performance.

Categories
Assiut/Assuit Belly Dance Costuming DIY General

Mixing Faux and Modern Assiut

Swirl is my informal performance group composed of my proteges and myself.  For our spring performance at HaflAdira in Willow Glen, CA, we put together a set of coordinating costumes using a combination of existing costume pieces, faux assiut, and modern assiut.  Here’s how these costumes came together.

Pulling From the Closet

Before we started costuming, we decided to do individual costume inventories.  Zemira had this gorgeous black “Bessie” skirt from the Fat Chance Bellydance studio. in her collection and this was the perfect opportunity to integrate into our trio.  Vakasha owned a Melodia “Mythica” skirt in the black and silver colorway.  I have a Melodia skirt in the same fabric but in the “Cleopatra” cut.  Since these three skirts coordinated beautifully, we decided to use these as our starting out point saving us time and money!

To make a complete a head to toe costume, we decided to unify the look by using matching body stockings.  Zemira and I already had these in our wardrobe and Vakasha picked up hers from Dahlal International.

Faux Assiut from Melodia Designs

It became clear that we were going to have to craft a trio of bras to out of the glorious Melodia faux assiut fabric.  As a team, we invested in an Infinity Scarf to be our sacrificial garment.  I took this tube and cut it apart.  There was enough fabric to create all three bras with a significant amount of cloth left over.

Zemira also bought an Infinity scarf to wear as a hip treatment over her solid black skirt. Since her scarf didn’t have fringe, I elected to use a similarly shaped piece of modern assiut to echo the shape.  Vakasha used a pair of V-shaped assiut triangles for her hip treatment, and when viewed together, they worked in visual harmony.

Custom Bras to Coordinate

To craft our faux assiut bras, we began with underwire and padded bras either from our wardrobes or new from the store.  I really feel that it’s important to get the bra that really works not only for your size and shape, but also to give you the coverage and support that you are happy with.  No two commercially made bras are the same, and the only way to find one that works for you is to go shopping and try on a lot of bras.

Once the bras were in my workbench, I pieced the faux assiut fabric onto the cups, to create three different styles.  Each bra is laid out symmetrically, from different parts of the assiut pattern.  Before I sew, I pin both cups into place to ensure that they match as closely as possible.  Then I hand sew the fabric into place.

Embellishing with Saroyan Coins

Once the faux assiut was appliqued onto the bra bases, we decided to pull some silver coins from our collections.  Vakasha had some leftover Saroyan silver “Nefertiti” coins left over from a previous project. I had some “Venus” coins and together we pooled our resources and used what we had to embellish all three bras. These coins are currently discontinued, but there’s a small quantity left on the Saroyan website.  If they spark your interest, be sure to head over there soon before they are completely gone.

These costumes are comfortable, stylish, and were actually quite affordable.  I was so happy that we shopped our wardrobes and worked together as a team to create these ensembles that we can wear together or alone.  I feel like I have a new capsule wardrobe that I can use as a base to create a variety of different looks.  I’m excited to experiment with different options in the future.

Do you like these costumes?  Check them out in action below.  And remember, if you go to YouTube, be sure to like it if you like it!

Now, I’ve gotta get back to the studio to make another costume!
Dawn Devine ~ Davina
Monday, June 11, 2018

Watch Our Performance

Categories
Belly Dance Costuming DIY General Publications

120 Years of Belly Dance Costume

Mahin and One World Dance & Music Studio Present

120 Years of Belly Dance Costume Design

Digital workshop with Dawn Devine ~ Davina

SATURDAY, JULY 14th  2:00 PM PST

Early Registration for Online or In-Studio Viewing: $15   After July 1st: $20
Reserve your ticket today!

120 Years of Belly Dance Costume Design is one of my favorite workshops to present. For the first time, I’m presenting this workshop to a worldwide audience! If you are interested in belly dance costume history, join me.  Grab a beverage and a snack and attend this workshop from the comfort of your own home.  I hope to see you there!

Workshop Description: 

This workshop will trace the evolution of belly dance costume over the past 120 years.  We’ll use the Chicago’s Columbian Exhibition of 1893 as our starting point.  That year, the US term Belly Dance was coined and a flood of performers arrived from the Middle East and North Africa to perform in the midways shows.

From this starting point, we will move forward in time. Discussing changes beyond the dance arts impacting the evolution of belly dance costume.  From technological advances in textiles, changes in entertainment venues, advertising methods, along paradigm shifts in the greater entertainment industry, we will trace this evolution in images and video.

This 90-minute workshop includes a digital handout. 
Sign up before July 1 for the best price.

Event Q & A:

As questions come via email, I’m sharing the questions and answers below.

Q:  I’m going to miss the lecture, can I watch a replay?

A:  Yes – but only if you buy your ticket before the lecture.  A replay will be available for all ticket holders for a month after the presentation for you to watch or rewatch.

Q:  How is this class being held?

A: This class is being shared via Zoom on the day of the event.  When you buy your ticket, you will receive an email with details on how to join the talk on the day of the event.
Hot Tip:  Download and install the Zoom conference software before the event.  It’s available for desktops, laptops, tablets, and phones.  Visit their website and follow the directions for your device.  

Q: How do I view the event replay?

A: Once the talk is over, Mahin will place the location in a private place and send you a link to view the presentation.  The link will be available for view for 30 days after the event.

Q: How do I buy a ticket?

A: This workshop is sponsored by my hostess Mahin of One World Dance and Music in Phoenix, AZ – You can follow this link and buy a ticket on the studio website.

If you have additional questions about this workshop,
feel free to email me and put “RE: Workshop Question” in the subject line!

This workshop is jam-packed with information for the belly dance costume enthusiast.  This is my passion and my life’s work and I’m so excited to be sharing it with you!

I look forward to seeing you at the talk!
Dawn Devine ~ Davina
Friday, June 8

Categories
Assiut/Assuit Belly Dance General

Weekend Dance Roundup – Bean Scene & Bras for the Cause

Hello Gang!  I thought I would take a moment to share a pair of events I participated in over the weekend.  I was fortunate enough to be invited to perform at a local dance show on Friday night and to join a belly dance cheer team on Saturday evening.  Here are some of the highlights of these events.

Friday Night: The Bean Scene

One of my favorite local events is hosted by the group and takes place at The Bean Scene in Sunnyvale, Ca.  They host several shows throughout the year, inviting local dancers to sign-up and perform.  The coffee is delicious, there is no cover charge, and we always have such a great time hanging out and enjoying an evening of dance.

Along with a line up of talented local pros, teachers, and students, I was delighted to find out that we had two touring celebrities joining us!  The beautiful Rosa Noreen of Portland, Me and Sophia Ravenna of Seattle, Wa.  I caught a few video clips of these fantastic performances and shared them on Instagram.

Rosa Noreen

Aryn

Sophia Ravenna

Davina

I choose to wear burgundy assiut and swing a cane.  You can catch my performance over on YouTube.

Saturday Evening: Pleasanton “Bra’s for the Cause”

On Saturday evening, I joined my co-authors Sara Shrapnell and Alisha Westerfeld to cheer on the walkers for “Bras for the Cause.”  This 5k walk supports breast cancer research.  Each year, Sara Shrapnell gathers together a group of dancers to form a cheer team.  We were at the 1-mile marker, dancing and entertaining the walkers. The participants came in some amazing costumes, whimsical embellished bras, and stopped to take photos, dance, and grab a chocolate kiss or two.

Community fundraisers are always so fun to do!  I look forward to participating in this one and many more in the future!  Here we are striking a pose at the end of the event.  Once all the participants have walked past, and the sweeper limo went by, we headed off to have an author “power meeting” over hot chocolate. All-in-all this was a fun event!

There were many folks in great costumes, but most of my photos were quite blurry.  Here’s the “Bra King” posing with Zemira.  Because he was there taking photos, we got a chance to pose with him before the walkers reached our location.  If you are interested in joining Sara for some of these fun community events, visit her website and signup for her mailing list to get notifications about her future events.

Now I’ve got to go and do some belly dance laundry and give these assiut robes a good wash.
I hope you have a great first week of May!

Happy Costuming and Dance
Dawn Devine ~ Davina
April 30, 2018.

 

 

Categories
Assiut/Assuit Belly Dance

Make Your Own Belly Dance Bras – Must Read Blogs & Vlogs!

Today I ran across a fabulous bra-making tutorial on the Assiut Group on Facebook.  I really enjoyed her tutorial, and I thought it would be great to make a list of a few other of my favorite bra tutorials from around the web.  If you are looking to create a masterpiece from Assiut, or if you are more sparkle and glam, there are many different styles to choose from in this collection.

Brick House Designs – Assiut Bra Resize

When I saw this blog post shared on the Facebook assiut group, I immediately went over to take a look!  Not only is this tribal bra full of crusty coin and chain goodness, it has some beautiful assiut base cloth.  Her mission was to take a larger cup size down to a smaller size is a fairly common alteration in my studio, and it’s nice to see how another designer tackles the project.

Jo has a great eye, not only for the design of this costume piece but also for the step-by-step photos that she shares in this post.  I particularly love that Jo has chosen to share how she’s pieced the design together from fountain motifs.  She really maximized the number of silver embroidery stitches would show beneath the rows of coins.  Be sure to watch her video on a portable device to get the full effect!

Jo, many thanks for the shout-out for my book too!  That made my day!

Joanna Dyndor – Tribal Belly Dance Bra out of Recycled Materials

Are you making a tribal fusion style of bra using recycled, upcycled, and repurposed materials?  Then this is a vlog for you!  This lovely costume piece is by Joanna Dyndor.  Her video follows her process of using a heavily embroidered ribbon scrap, a handful of beads, ruched fabric, and repurposed chain.  The result is a lovely performance bra in shades of brown, tan, and cream.

Hanaan Tribal – Tribal Bra Tutorial

This blog post steps through the process of taking making a halter style top with tie back. This assiut bra elegantly uses a basic silver-dotted fabric accentuated with coins and gilets.

One of the common problems for dancers looking for new costumes is the lack of options at larger bra sizes.  If you are a dancer who can’t find bras for bigger curvier women, this is a great example of how a lingerie bra can be transformed for more zaftig physiques.

Shushanna Designs – How to Cover a Bra

This illustrated costuming tutorial walks the reader through how to cover a basic belly dance bra using Shushanna’s technique.  Virtually every lingerie style bra needs to be covered before it’s embellished and this method really works.  If you learn best from step-by-step illustrations this blog is not to be missed!

Sparkly  Belly – Ultimate Bra Tutorial

Mao has created a great free resource for dancers interested in creating their own glam-style belly dance costume bras.  There are many more free and paid tutorials, demos and classes available on her site.  So if you are more sequins and stones, rather than coins and chain, than this website is a great resource.

Studio Davina – Bra Tutorials

Of course, over time I’ve put up a few bra demos/tutorials as well.  Here are a few featured here in past blog posts:

Student Grade Belly Dance Bra – Need a cheap and cheerful costume for a student performance?  Need the costume fast and affordable?  This is the style of bra I teach in classes for students who need a “one-shot” bra suitable for performance with a minimum investment.  The key?  Start with a lingerie bra the color you want and simply embellish the cups!  Read more details.

Designing a Lavender Bedlah Ensemble – Although this four-part tutorial is for a bra and belt set, the bulk of the images and directions are about the bra. There are a lot

I constructed this bedlah set using more hard-style professional techniques for the bra and belt.  This is a very different approach from the student grade costume in the post above.  It’s nice to have some different approaches to reach for that accommodate different budgets and timelines. Read more details.

Three Day Assiut Challenge – When I was working on the build for the book “The Cloth of Egypt” I made this costume for a last minute show.  I wanted to promote my upcoming book, and yet, I didn’t have an assiut costume that fit!  So I took my sewing kit with me on the trip and made the costume in the days leading up to the show.  While this wasn’t my first assiut bra, it was the first made for the book!  Read more details.

Embellished Bras – The book

Of course, If you want to read the book that accompanies my basic bra building class, it’s available on both Amazon and on Etsy (if you want a signed copy)

If you already own a copy of my Embellished Bras book, thank you very much for supporting my business!  But I really believe in the motto, “There’s more than ONE way to do it the RIGHT way!”  It’s always nice to explore the internet looking for new tips, tools, and techniques.  I’m always open to learning new methods, especially if they save time and/or money!

If you find any wonderful resources, be sure to let me know.  The best way to share costuming information is either by joining me in the Studio Davina Facebook group, or you can drop me a line via email – davina@davina.us.

Happy Costuming!
Dawn Devine ~ Davina
April 16, 2018

 

 

Categories
Belly Dance Costuming DIY General

Yearly Business Review: Costume Design in Studio Davina

2017 Year End Review: Sewing & Design

This year I re-opened my costume shop for business. My aim was to build-up a nest-egg to fund the purchase of materials and supplies for my next big book project.  So I planned to make a costume each month during 2017. I was so successful lining up projects that I’m booked through the middle of next spring!

Over the past year, I’ve also tried to put up blog posts that documented the construction of these projects. However, now that I’m in the middle of my year-end review, I realize that I failed! I was so busy making costumes, that I didn’t always document the process efficiently.

A few times I have a lot of photographic documentation of the building process, but don’t an image of the final costume on the model!   While I didn’t quite make this goal, I am pretty happy with the quantity and quality of the costumes I made. Here are a few of my favorite costuming projects for 2017.

Costumes from Studio Davina 

Shalimar’s Lavender Garden

Perhaps my favorite moment is when someone comes to me and says, “Make me something beautiful.”  This year, I’ve had the privilege to make seven head-to-toe ensembles.  The lavender garden costume I made for greater San Francisco/Bay Area belly dancer Shalimar earlier this year.  In March, I documented the design and construction of this three-piece set in a series of blog posts in case you want some “Behind the Seams” info on the project.

Designing a Lavender Belly Dance Bedlah Series
Step 1 – Lavender Bedlah – Planning the Design
Step 2 – Lavender Bedlah – Bra Bands and Straps
Step 3 – Lavender Bedlah – Belt Base and Bra Covering
Step 4 – Lavender Bedlah – Finale

Shalimar’s Candy Pink

I was happy to work with Shalimar on a few other projects including a lovely candy-pink costume composed of a traditional rhinestone encrusted bedlah set, skirt and finished with a set of matching sleeves using my own custom pattern.

I am pretty happy with the way this ensemble turned out. However, I must admit there was some design drift.  So though it became a lovely costume, the original skirt didn’t coordinate with the pink and “white” design of the bra and belt. So, we postponed the lovely floral skirt, and instead, I made this goblet style skirt. Consequently, I’m working on another bedlah set made from the same base pink material but which will be covered with a floral georgette fabric. In January, I look forward to snapping photos of Shalimar in this georgette floral costume. If you want to read more about how I made these sleeves, check out this blog post.

Costumes from Studio Davina – Anara’s Assiut Tribal Bra

I also worked on a few individual garments including the final garment for our the Kickstarter campaign for the launch of Becoming a Belly Dancer: From Student to Stage.  So-cal based ATS dancer Anara backed us at the highest level, and I made her a shiny and crusty tribal-style assiut bra. While she was in town for a visit, she dropped into Studio Davina for a photo shoot with Alisha Westerfeld.

Costume Rehab Projects 

This year I’ve worked with more than a dozen different clients to upgrade their wardrobes. They ranged in complexity simple refurbishments changing the linings hooks and eyes on a bedlah set to complete overhauls and two bra enlargements. Rehab projects require a different style of creativity. It’s a challenge to take an old costume and transform it into something beautiful and wearable.

Costume Rehab – Azura in Wine

Bra enlargements are the probably the most common major alteration I regularly undertake. This year, I performed three “bust augmentations” for naturally well-endowed ladies.  Perhaps my favorite was this beautiful berry-toned two-piece bedlah owned by the glamorous Azura of the greater San Jose area.  This designer-made costume was gorgeous, but she had never been able to wear it.  With a little ingenuity and the sacrifice of a few costume accessories, Azura finally got to wear this beauty on stage!

Costume Rehab – Zemira in Blue

For belly dancer Zemira, I transformed a very long beaded lace skirt with a matched pair of sleeves into a bedlah set. The skirt was purchased from Adira Dance and Costume in Willow Glen, CA.  It was crazy-long, and no one wanted it, even when marked down to practically free.  I picked up the skirt for a song, cut it down and shaped the side seams to fit Zemira’s curvy frame. Then I used the scraps and covered a bra. I took a lot of photos of this project, but I never got a blog post written about it. Instead, I shared a lot of the in-process images in my Facebook group, Studio Davina: Behind the Seams.  If you’re interested in hearing more about my sewing projects in real time you can follow posts of my on-going work.

A Race to the Finish!

As 2017 draws to a close, I am finishing up three last remaining projects. So I’m working a few hours every day on one costume rehab project, one new three-piece belly dance costume, and an assiut cocktail dress.  It’s a race to the end of the year!   Can I finish before 2018 arrives?  I hope so, but if not, these dancers will certainly enjoy having new costumes to dance in in January!

Top Left: Zero Waste Georgette Skirt – Top Right – My essential hand-sewing tools
Bottom Left: Assiut Swing Dress  – Bottom right: Costume Rehab: Berry/Black/Gold

Ready Made Costumes and Accessories

This year, I’ve been so busy working with clients, that I haven’t been stocking my Etsy store with sewn costumes and accessories.  Early in the year, I had some assiut hair accessories up available in the shop, but they sold.  As a one-woman workshop, I have a limited number of hours each day to sew. During 2017 I focussed on working one-on-one with local clients.

Visit my Etsy store for sewing patterns, books and more.

In 2018 I’m looking forward to getting ahead in my build schedule so I can make some assiut hair accessories and costume pieces for my Etsy store. In the meantime, you can find my sleeve patterns, printable downloads of the new coloring book over my store.

 

I’m looking forward to making many more costumes in the coming year!
But now I suddenly have a serious hankering to sew!

Happy Dance and Costuming!
Dawn Devine ~ Davina
Dec. 18, 2017