Category: Publications

Books, Articles, Patterns and Writing Projects by Dawn Devine ~ Davina

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General Publications

Costumer’s Notes – Spring ’09

Costumer's Notes, Spring 2009 Print Edition

Costumer’s Notes – Spring ’09  – Print Edition in .pdf format

 

Costumer’s Notes, Spring 2009 Print Edition

Back in the spring of ’09, right before Rakkasah West, I revisited the notion of publishing a printed ‘zine again.  I was transitioning from the old eZine format of Costumer’s Notes into a blog.  I was excited about the prospect of having something new in print, I started working on a compilation of older previously published articles. In less than a month, I hammered enough material together to create the first print edition of the Costumer’s Notes magazine since we went onto the web in the late ’90’s.

 Many of the magazines I wrote for between ’97 and ’05 have gone out of print.  Wiggle Hips, Belly Dancer Magazine, Habibi and Cymbal are now gone. So I blew the cobwebs off of a few of my favorites pieces and put them together into this print edition. Although there are more than a few typos, and some awkward page layout issues, I had a blast revisiting my old articles as I worked on this project.  In under a month, I went from concept to product.

Once I was “done enough” I printed out a pile of this edition.  You may know that one of my favorite mottos  is  “done is good”  which really means I’m always two typos away from perfection. But I was happy to have this project done and I took copies of it to a bunch of dance events before I eventually ran out and it too went out of print.  But now, here on my blog, I’m delighted to bring it back to share with you in digital form.

What’s next? My vision for future editions of Costumer’s Notes magazine is to create a far more lush, colorful and beautiful digital magazine. With this goal in mind, I’m working on all new content. Although at this time, I have no idea how long it will take to bring this magazine to life, I’ll let you know when it’s ready so you can check it out too.  In the meantime, enjoy this blast from the past.

Costumer’s Notes Spring 2009 – Print Edition in .pdf

Categories
Publications

News & Notes for Mid July

Bedlah, Baubles & Beads
Bedlah, Baubles & Beads is now available here on  and  Amazon.com.

Hello Gang,

I’m going to take a few moments to tell you about the exciting things that have happened in the past two weeks. The first is that I’ve been down in San Diego visiting friends, family and attending two events. The first event, SAMEDA Faire is hosted by the belly dance club here in San Diego. The event is tomorrow (as of this posting date) and it promises to be a great show. I’m planning on covering the event for Gilded Serpent as part of my ongoing “Trend Report” series of articles. If you live in Southern California, especially in the San Diego region, I highly recommend joining SAMEDA! Check out their website for more information about their events, find teachers, places to see dancing, receive a great monthly newsletter, and more! http://www.sdsameda.com/ The other event I’m attending is Comic-Con International.  It’s amazingly huge and a ton-of-fun.

I’m pleased to announce that while I’ve been in San Diego, that the newly renovated Bedlah, Baubles and Beads is now available both here on my website and on Amazon.com.  The new cover is gorgeous!  A talented young graphic designer, Kristina Rheinholds,  based out of San Francisco transformed the old black-and-white art work into a gorgeous new cover.  If you visit her portfolio page – be sure to “appreciate” her work.  You know that I do!    Our next project together is the upcoming Belly Dance Costumes to Color book in .pdf.  The illustrations are drawn, the tentative layout looks great, and the text is in editing.  Be sure to subscribe to my mailing list to receive a link to a free copy when it’s done.

 

Belly Dance Costumes to Color - Sample Page in Progress - 20 page downloadble .pdf - Coming Late August. Free for newsletter subscribers or in the no-strings-attached version for $3.95.

 

 

Categories
Belly Dance Publications

Belly Dance Magazines, Newsletters & Blogs

Belly Dance Magazines, Newsletters & Blogs – Belly Dance Information in the Information Age.

Do you subscribe to a belly dance magazine?  I must admit, I do!  I find it enjoyable to read articles written by dancers in far-flung areas with different perspectives, views and ideals.  I learn things, live vicariously through travelogs that document exotic trips, and am frequently amused by the warmth and humor that pours forth from our community.   There are dozens of magazines to choose from in print and eMag format, and at the end of this article, I’ve a not-quite exhaustive list of readily available print publications.

But in this era of the internet, there is much-much more information available.  Today, social networking has taken the world by storm, and thousands of dancers are logging on to FaceBook, starting Yahoo Groups or are blogging away about their unique experiences.  There are monthly newsletters, quarterly magazines, daily email missives available on a myriad of topics.  There is truly a mind-boggling array of resources to choose from.

Digital Magazines
Print magazines have not yet been replaced, but rather, have been enhanced by the development of the digital magazine.  Unlike a print magazine, they take up no space on the shelf, allow you to access large archives, and because they are limited only by the size of their site, they can publish as many articles and authors as the choose. The web’s oldest and largest digital belly dance magazines is The Gilded Serpent – with 1000’s of articles in their ever growing archives it would take an age to read them all www.gildedserpent.com. Other digital magazines include, The Hip Circle www.thehipcircle.com and iShimmy www.ishimmy.com.  Several print publications are beginning to offer digital version of their print magazines at reduced costs and are a greener alternative.  One magazine, Fuse, a tribal/fusion themed mag now offers a digital version www.fusetribalmag.com.  I recently switched, and I love that I can easily store the issues on my computer saving both money and space.

Social Media & Internet Groups
There are numerous message-board based communities that have belly dance groups. A quick web search will turn up thousands of belly dance themed groups on sights such as Yahoo.com, FaceBook, Linked In, Tribe.com and LiveJournal.com to a name few.  If there is a major social community group – there probably is a belly dance presence. Two of the most influential communities exclusively devoted to belly-dance are Bhuz bhuz.com and Belly Dance Forum www.bellydanceforums.net.

Clubs with Newsletters
All over the world dancers come together to form like-minded community groups that produce informal newsletters or professional publications.  Many major belly dance magazines have emerged from humble roots.  In order to access these newsletters, you often have to join a club or simply subscribe.  Two that I personally have participated in are MECDA – www.mecda.org and San Diego based SAMEDA – www.sdsameda.com You should look around for a club near you.

Blogs, Blogs, Blogs
If you’re reading this right now, you’re probably reading my own blog, Costumer’s Notes – www.davina.us Simply use your favorite internet search tool to type in the words that best identify your belly dance style and the word blog, and you will find there are hundreds, if not thousands of blogs everywhere.  Two that I’m following include. Belly Dance Diva – bellydancingdiva.com and Dilara’s Hip Mix – www.hipmix.net.

Newsletter Marketing
Practically every pro dancer now has a newsletter. Part of the brave new world of internet marketing, these newsletters vary in quality from well crafted and informational with articles and useful links, to banal listings of classes and events.  I must admit, I’ve signed up for dozens of newsletters in an effort to learn more.  I particularly enjoy Mahin’s BellyDance Quickies,  www.shes-got-hips.com/Quickies.html and her monthly newsletter which always has cute YouTube links. Another great newsletter is the .pdf formatted Hawaii Belly Dancer  Monthly Magazine www.hawaiibellydancermagazine.com

Of course, (insert shameless plug) you might be signed up to receive my own, costume-centric belly dance newsletter & digital magazine, Costumer’s Notes. I think it’s got excellent content, but I must say – I’m a big biased!  (Psst – The sign-up is on the top right!)

With so many informational options, no one person can read them all. So explore and choose the ones that are best for you.

Good luck and enjoy your hunt,
Dawn Devine ~ Davina

Print Magazines Worldwide

United States:

Belly Dance: A Raqs Sharki Magazine – http://www.bellydancemag.com
Chronicles – http://www.isisandthestardancers.com/
Fuse – http://www.fusetribalmag.com
Jareeda – http://www.jareeda.com/
Shimmy, Spirit of Dance – https://www.shimmyspiritofdance.com
Yallah – http://www.yallahmagazine.com/
Zaghareet – http://www.zaghareet.freeservers.com/magazine.html

United Kingdom:

NADA – http://www.nada.uk.com/Magazine.asp
MOSAIC – http://www.mosaicdance.org/magazine.htm

Australia:

Oasis – http://www.bellydanceoasis.com/

Germany:

Tanz Oriental – http://www.tanzoriental.de
Belly Dance Divas: Annual – http://www.belly-divas.com

Japan:

Belly Dance Japan – http://www.bellydancejapan.jp/english/index.html

 

Categories
Belly Dance Costuming DIY Publications

Belly Dance Costumes to Color – Coming in August

Belly Dance Costumes to Color by Dawn Devine
Belly Dance Costumes to Color by Dawn Devine ~ Davina - Coming in August 2011

Belly Dance Costumes to Color
new eBook coming in August

I’m so happy to announce that I’m nearing the end of the drawing phase of the coloring book I’ve been working on for the past few months.  I’ve spent a lot of time at the drawing table, and have created a lot of good drawings, a lot of bad drawings, and a few that are simply lovely.

Belly Dance Costumes to Color by Dawn Devine
Belly Dance Costumes to Color by Dawn Devine ~ Davina - Coming in August 2011 - Free to Costumer's Noes Newsletter subscribers or $5 for no-strings-attached download.

Over the past few weeks, I have been showing off the working sketches in progress. I’ve had several dancers ask questions and offer me advice about which ones to include, which to delete, and where to make changes.  “What’s wrong with her nose?”  “Are her hands supposed to look like that?” and “I’d wear that!” are all things I’ve heard recently.   But by far the most common question is “How much will this cost?” and “Where can I buy that?”

Belly Dance Costumes to Color is going to be released as an eBook and will be available in August.  For subscribers to the Costumer’s Notes Newsletter – good news – this coloring book is going to be FREE as a thank you for subscribing to my newsletter.   For those who want a no-strings-attached version, it will be available as a $5 downloadable .pdf.  Not everyone wants to read my newsletter and I totally understand, so I’m going to offer these two options.

Drawing pictures of belly dancers has just been a ton of fun!   I’m hoping that my readers and fans will enjoy having this opportunity to get creative with these pages.  I recommend colored pencil or fine-tipped marker, but if you want to use a more traditional crayon, by all means, enjoy!

Me – I’m heading back to the drawing board to see what else pops out.  I think I’m in a folkloric mood today!

I’ll post a few more samples next week.  Until then, Happy Costuming!  ~ Dawn Devine ~ Davina

Categories
General Publications

From Turban to Toe Ring is Back in Print!

From Turban to Toe Ring Front Cover
From Turban to Toe Ring
From Turban to Toe Ring

Hello Gang!

From Turban to toe Ring is back up and available on Amazon.com. It’s the same great content for the DIY dance costumer with a tribal flair. The book is now wrapped in a gloriously glossy full-color cover and in a new compact 8″ by 10″ size. If you already have it – why not click through and leave a review? Haven’t seen it yet – check it out!

We will have this book for sale directly in short order.  So if you want a signed copy, sign up for my mailing list and you will get notified in our Costumer’s Notes monthly newsletter.   In the meantime, check it out From Turban to Toe Ring on Amazon.com.