If you'd like to perform the Zeina choreography or
a similar piece of theatrical Oriental dance, the costume that
I recommend is a classically styled bra and belt with a lot of
ornamentation. By “classic styling,” I mean something that
doesn't look too specifically trendy. I also mean something that
doesn't look cheap--a costume that fits you really well,
looks elaborate, and has finished details.
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| Photo by StereoVision: http://www.stereovisionphotography.com/ |
Personally, I almost always prefer
minimalist costuming, but for Zeina I think a really fancy
costume helps to set the mood and communicate that you're doing
something that has a very high level of refinement. You're looking
for the belly dance equivalent of “white tie” attire. If you
prefer more modest costuming, I think a body stocking--either transparent or opaque--would be fine, but I probably wouldn't go with a dress unless you have some personal reason for preferring to wear one. I think the
iconic nature of the bra and belt set is more in line with the kind
of romantic fantasy in which Zeina is anchored.
Another thing I recommend for this
piece is jewelry, and, if it's an option for you, wearing your hair
down. Again, usually I prefer to go very clean and very minimal, but
for this project I specifically choreographed and rehearsed with hair
and with jewelry taken into account. When you rehearse, make sure
you try out any jewelry you're going to wear. This is always a good
idea anyway, but especially for Zeina you should make sure that
you can run the dance with the jewelry you want to wear. For me, bracelets in particular were problematic. If you plan to wear bracelets, you may find that they fly off during some
of the faster arm gestures, or that when you are working
with your hair you get snagged. If these are issues, either tweak
the choreography, or tweak the jewelry.
I want to show you one jewelry trick in
particular that I use to manage necklaces.
You'll see here on this top I've sewed little elastic loops. These are to thread the necklace through, to keep it anchored down so that it won't whack me in the face or get untidy. I just used elastic cord, but you can also use covered hair rubber bands. Just select a band of the right size in a non-clashing color, slip it over the strap, and then put a few stitches around the band to hold it at the right place.
You'll see here on this top I've sewed little elastic loops. These are to thread the necklace through, to keep it anchored down so that it won't whack me in the face or get untidy. I just used elastic cord, but you can also use covered hair rubber bands. Just select a band of the right size in a non-clashing color, slip it over the strap, and then put a few stitches around the band to hold it at the right place.
One other thing: everybody always asks
me about my gold shoes. The shoes I'm wearing for the Zeina Step-by-Step video were made by
Miguelito, but the company is no longer manufacturing this style. I don't
know of any other source for metallic leather ballet shoes – if you
have a source, please let me know.
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