Hello Gang – Happy New Year!!!
This blog post kicks of a new series for 2016: Makeup Monday!
Throughout 2015, I have been working on the forthcoming book, Becoming a Belly Dancer: From Student to Stage, I realized that my “makeup skills set” was better than I had pegged it. On a scale from one to ten, I always fancied that I was a good solid 4. However, it turns out, that all the classes I’ve taken with professional makeup artists, my experience in modeling, dance, and theater, and that my skills-set might actually be somewhere around a 7, or somewhere between B+ to A-.
As Sara, Poppy, Alisha and I developed the content, it became clear that only a FRACTION of our combined knowledge about makeup could fit in our designated pages. But rather than let that content disappear or hoard it to ourselves, we’ve decided to share the info via our blogs.
Thank you for your continued support of my publications and projects! I hope you find these makeup articles interesting and inspiring!
Happiest of New Years!
Dawn Devine ~ Davina
January 4, 2015
generous in the text. She doesn’t just tell you what you need to do, she tells you why. She tells great stories that really illustrate the often not-so-glamorous behind the scenes world of the belly dance profession. You will laugh out loud, you will find yourself saying “awwww,” and don’t be surprised if you also have a few “Ah-HA” moments as you work your way through this book. My personal favorite section is the costuming section, but I really think the professional insights throughout this book are worth their weight in gold.
Bellydance by Keti Sharif
Bead & Sequin Embroidery Stitches
I want to shout out to my collaborator Sara Shrapnell of Teaching Belly Dance, a great book for budding dance instructors and my co-author on the upcoming Becoming a Belly Dancer. These titles and many more are included in the suggested reading portion of our book. Visit her 
This weekend I went to an event, a hafla hosted by Adira, of Adira Dance and Costume in Willow Glen, CA. Once a month throughout the summer, Adira transformer her parking lot into a performance space, and invites dancers from all across Northern California to come and dance. This Saturday, it was my turn, and I took the stage as one half of a duet called “Swirl,” the name I use for all of my group dancing experiences. Zemira, aka Alisha Westerfeld, my co-author and photographer on Cloth of Egypt.
Before Istanbul was Constantinople, it was called Byzantium, and I took this name for this collection of easy-to-wear costumes. The style is tribal fusion, a multicultural blend of textiles, coins, and jewelry components from along the caravan routes of the spice routes and along the silk road of Asia and North Africa. Ribbons from India, jewelry from Morocco, Coins from Iran, all came together to form these costumes. My personal mission was to make garments that would hold up to the rigorous life of dancing outdoors at festivals, historic events, on the beaches and around the campfires. They were sturdy, made from materials that could be hand washed and laid out to dry, ready for the next performance.
I adored dancing at Renaissance festivals and other living history presentations. At a festival, you might have to wear your costume for 4, 6 or even 8 hours in a row, longer than you would wear a spangled glam costume for a restaurant. They need to be flexible, and have give. And, they need to be made from period inspired materials.