Gaslight Expo 2019 – Cosplay Recap from Christopher Matista on Vimeo.

Gaslight Steampunk Expo
September 30 – October 2, 2021
San Diego, Ca. at the San Diego Marriott Mission Valley
Click for more info

One of my favorite events is the Gaslight Steampunk Expo in San Diego, CA.  Each year, folks gather together to show off all their costumes, props artwork, and well, whatever they think of that fits the theme.  

It’s a feast for the eyes with everything from weird to wonderful, fantastical to just plain fantastic!

This year the theme is Exposition Universelle 1889 in Paris. This time period fits neatly into my primary research zone from 1875-1925. It is also the event where the “Danse du Ventre” made such a sensation. The Exposition Universelle 1889  laid the foundation for subsequent world fairs such as the Great Columbian Exhibition in 1893. 

This year, I’ve been invited by the Gaslight Steampunk Expo production team to put together a collection of slide-history talks for the event.  If you are interested come join me for one (or all) of these presentations:

• Fashion At the Fair
• Danse du Ventre: 1889
• The Eiffel Tower
• Highlights of the Exhibition

For those of you who cannot make it to this event this weekend, but would like to attend a digital version of one of these presentations, be sure to sign up for my newsletter for future details. 

Did you spot me and my buddy, Nancy Hay, clad in assiut in the video above?
Dawn Devine ~ Davina
September 26, 2021  

 

 

 

The Bellydance Bundle 2021 – I’ve been invited back!

Danse du Ventre: 1889

Belly Dance History Slide-Talk with Dawn Devine ~ Davina

90-minute deep-dive digital talk is part of

The Bellydance Bundle 2021

The sale opens October 20th

Click here for more details 

“Danse du Ventre: 1889”

Over the summer of 2021, I took a deep dive into the French archives looking for primary source material about the dancers who performed the infamous Danse du Ventre at the Exposition Universelle de Paris 1889.  During this intensive period of research, I’ve unearthed new and fascinating information about how the dance was presented, marketed, where it took place, and who were the performers.

90-minute pre-recorded history slide-talk broken into three video segments.  This image-heavy slide-talk includes illustrations, maps, diagrams, and photographs that help place these dancers into the context of this world’s fair.  We’ll talk about the famous, the infamous, and the stages where they performed. 

Sound intriguing?  Come join me for this deep dive into a pivotal moment in the history of dance in Europe.

How do you register?  Click this link and sign up to receive all the goodies and notifications when the doors open for the sale. 

2021 Bonus – Downloadable Dance Tracker

As a thank you for checking out our digital workshop and festival, the organizers have put together a really useful bonus. You can use this publication digitally, or print it out, and let the tools and tips help take your dance to the next level.

Sign up to get this year’s freebie, a fabulous Dance Tracker, a free resource to help you journal your dance progress. 

Then enjoy fun bonus content leading up to the sale that opens on October 20, 2021!

Feeling lucky? Win Some Finger Cymbals!

What a fantastic prize!  Enter to win some Turquoise International finger cymbals.  Simply visit this web page and sign up for the drawing.  No purchase is necessary for a chance to win.

Sign up for a chance to win!

Last year I really enjoyed listening to the Yallah Raks Podcast. This year, there will also be another 21 Days of Bellydance Instagram Challenge.  I’ll keep you posted as events unfold!

The Bellydance Bundle: Quality – Value – Knowlege

Since its first year, It has been such a privilege to participate in this amazing event! The Bellydance Bundle offers a one-of-a-kind collection of power-house instructors. In this era of study from home, the Bellydance Bundle 2021 has expanded to include more opportunities for study.  International celebrity performers, master instructors, offering workshops on the myriad skills needed to hone the art and craft of Bellydance.  

Best of luck with the finger cymbal drawing!
Dawn Devine ~ Davina
Sept. 21, 2021

 

I’m so very happy to announce my next history workshop!

“Before Little Egypt:
Mediterranean Dances
at the World’s Fairs 1851-1893″

Saturday, August 28th, 4:00 pm PDT

$25 USD – Live Talk with Q&A via Zoom
Includes: 30 Days Streaming Access
& Handout with talk timeline,
key info, and further reading.

“Doing” Belly Dance History: 1850s-1890s”

About “Before Little Egypt”

 “Assiut Belly Dance Costuming” – The Book Build Begins

Hello Gang!  I’m so excited that the world is opening back up again after the global hiatus. Here in Studio Davina, I’ve begun work on the next DIY costuming book.  Our current working title is “Assiut Belly Dance Costuming in Detail.”

When we published “The Cloth of Egypt” back in 2014, we edited out two entire chapters that didn’t seem to fit.  These lost sections introduced the main elements of belly dance costuming design and construction. During editing, we all agreed these chapters just seemed like an awkward departure from the history and technology focus of the rest of the book. 

Lost Belly Dance Costuming Sections

The last year gave us all lots of time for reflection during the global shutdown. Over the past year and a half, I spent time thinking about how to repurpose those two chapters.  My co-author, photographer Alisha Westerfeld and I had always hoped to release this material. But in the intervening years, we’ve decided to completely scrap that initial text. The original text was written in an explanatory overview style. However, we’ve decided to create a more in-depth and detailed book.

Belly Dance Costume Construction – Step-By-Step Instructions

So what will this book include that isn’t in other books I’ve published?  I’m going to use a similar format to what we did in the step-by-step guide “Embellished Bras.”  As I work on projects I will pause and take in-progress photos to capture the key steps in the process. Twelve full head-to-toe ensembles give me plenty of opportunities to demonstrate all of my favorite design approaches and sewing techniques.  In this book, I will move through each key step in the process of design, from the spark of inspiration to the completed look. 

Need some inspiration for an assiut costume now?  Check out my Three Day Assiut Costume Challenge blog series where I attempted (and failed) to make an assiut bra for a dance showcase.

Acquiring Assiut Fabric

Over the intervening years, I’ve spent time acquiring a fresh new batch of modern assiut cloth.  We need quite a bit of modern assiut fabric to meet our goal to make a dozen head-to-toe costume ensembles and document their construction!  We’ve used some of the proceeds of the Assiut Mask Project to fund these assiut fabric purchases. Fortunately, we’ve worked with a number of dealers on eBay, Etsy, and from the world of belly dance to acquire enough materials for the big build. 

If you purchased an assiut mask from me over the past year, thank you for supporting my next book!  While we still have some materials and supplies left to pick up, we’ve got enough to get started.  If funds get tight, we might pause to make some items to sell or to use as premiums for another Kickstarter campaign as we get a better idea of the size and scope of this new book.  We successfully funded two Kickstarter campaigns for Cloth of Egypt and our belly dance textbook Becoming a Belly Dancer: From Student to Stage which is now available on Amazon.  Of course, Cloth of Egypt is available both on Amazon or directly from me on my Etsy store. 

If you would like to follow my book development regularly, be sure to subscribe to my newsletter.  If you want more status reports and behind-the-scenes photos, come join the conversation over in my Facebook Studio Davina group.  Or come back here to catch a future blog.

Thank you for your continued interest in my ongoing projects.  Follow me here to watch the design process unfold for these next 12 assiut costumes.

Happy Costuming and Dance!
Dawn Devine ~ Davina

ps – Have you checked out the behind-the-scene magazine “Costumer’s Notes” that we put together to commemorate the creation of the book “The Cloth of Egypt?”  Loads of full-color photographs of dozens of belly dance costumes!