For the past six months, I’ve been using a makeup styling technique taught to me in a workshop by Sara Shrapnell, author of Teaching Belly Dance, and my co-author on the upcoming, Becoming a Belly Dancer: From Student to Stage. In this book, we are sharing our top tips for progressing your dance journey from the classroom to public performance. (( Are you a dance teacher? Check out Sara’s book over on amazon.com and be sure to visit Sara’s site here))
As belly dancers, we need to wear stage-worthy makeup. When it comes to the eyes, the goal is to be bigger, bolder, darker, and brighter than you would be in your daily life. One way to achieve this effect is to lay down a good monochrome base layer of eye shadow using black, white, and mid-grey. Your mission, is to have a perfectly perfected, eye look, that you can then quickly add color to at your event venue.
Left: Poppy Maya, international dance professional, has used this technique to create the look at left. The black, white and grey base was topped with purple eyeshadow, and finished off with black liner and false eyelashes for maximum drama.
Of course, you might be asking, why would someone want to wait to add color until they got to their performance space? Well, there are many answers to this question, but the most important three include:
• You don’t know what the lighting will be like. Often, you don’t know until you arrive at your performance venue what the lighting will be like. From harsh florescent, to dim pseudo-candle lit, bright stage spots, to flashing disco-ball spots, its a good idea to assess the lighting and apply that last pop of color to suit the conditions.
• You have a costume change. If you are performing twice, you might want to start off performing with your monochrome look for your act 1, then change gears with a bright pop of color for performance 2.
• You have several costumes to choose from. When you’re performing in a line-up with other dancers, it’s a good idea to pack one or even two backup costumes. Why? Well, if a line-up of 8 dancers has five in red, you might want to wear a different color to stand out from the crowd. Alternately, you might taking a gauge of the audience and choose a costume based on their taste.
Of course, you might be totally familiar with your location, wearing one costume, and performing solo, in which case, adding color at home might be fine for you. Using this monochrome base will help you modulate your color tones, forming a tonal base upon which to add the rest of your colors. One single shade of eyeshadow, suddenly looks like three subtle – and perfectly matched – nuances.
The essential ingredient necessary for creating this look are a trio of white, black, and mid-grey eye shadows. Many makeup companies have created trios, quads, and larger eyeshadow palettes that feature this particular combination of neutrals. You should select a product and formulation that suits your skin, your taste, and your pocket book. We’ve already done some of the research for you, and have gathered together some of the best drugstore/discount shop brands that are useful for laying down the monochromatic base.
The complete directions for creating this makeup look is in the book “Becoming a Belly Dancer: From Student to Stage,” and we are anticipating a holiday 2015 release. But don’t wait for the book to come out to give this technique a try. Pick up a smoky black, grey, and white shadow set and start experimenting. If you feel like showing off, share your eye shadow experiments with us over on our FaceBook Group!
Dawn Devine ~ Davina
September, 25, 2015
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.
