Where do you start with this genre? “Raqs Gothique” grew out of the Goth movement, which, over the years has embraced dark retro, punk, medieval, Victorian and “Steampunk” attributes. Then add bellydance to any of the facets of Goth culture and you get Gothic Bellydance, or “Raqs Gothique”.
In other words, there are almost as many versions of goth costuming as there are genres of bellydance itself.
Perhaps the best known Gothic style dancer is Tempest. She draws from all of the above styles with a dark and humourous twist — and she teaches a mean workshop on using film noir attitude in your dancing!
I have seen her dance in dark flapper attire with Doc Martin boots, pantaloons and lace in granny boots – and a very spooky Lovecraft inspired outfit.
Other Gothic dancers wear what could be mistaken for just dark colored bedlah of the Egyptian or Turkish varieties. Others use a dark tribal as a base — it’s really the mood of the dancing that makes something Gothic, rather than the costuming. (For example, Tempest’s ode to Theda Bara costume is white, but no les Goth for the color!)
Tempest’s 20s style routine to “Whatever Lola Wants”
Ariellah at Black Heart’s Ball…
For more, just search “Gothic Bellydance” on youtube and marvel at the variety!
And raring to go. The workshop was a glorious success. I learned a lot about sacred dance traditions from Artemis Mourat. Want MOOORE!!! And Donna Mejia is a wonderful teacher that had me feeling like I was back in my old college professional dance classes. Yeouch. Talk about sore! I set off my clicking hip for the rest of the vacation, which wasn’t very fun, though. Chelydra’s Mood Swings class took one simple combination and demonstrated how to tweak it to perform in different moods – subtly smoldering, smoldering, “perky”, and er… “cute.”
The show was a hit. Beach Blanket Beledi is never an “ordinary” bellydance/raks sharki, orientale dance show. The only rule of the workshop/show is “have fun” and I can verify that everyone I met there was following that rule to the letter. I can’t reveal details yet, as we’re doing the routine again at Blue Moon’s Haflaween in two weeks. Then I’ll make sure to get pictures and share. At breakfast on Sunday the rest of the troupe apparently were told multiple times that if we put out a dvd they’d buy it. I was VERY glad that I had ordered the dvd of the class and show. Looking forward to getting it now.
Everyone’s performances were beautiful. And so much fun.
And I’m almost done with the model for a new square geometric pillow design for Golden Circle Designs… So look for that being available in the next month or so. I’m trying to remind myself that model stitching counts as work, so even though I didn’t open the computer all weekend, I still accomplished stuff. Much stuff, actually. And I got home to find the fabric for a Winter mat model waiting for me, so I’d better get stitching on that, too!
I promise to sit down and pull together actual stitching or dancing posts tonight or tomorrow. I’ll be back on a regular posting schedule soon!
So I have, theoretically, been building a turquoise bedlah, as several past posts have demonstrated. Right now, however, it’s stalled.
The fabric is over the bra, I’ve got the base shape for the belt found, but not cut out, and I’m supposed to be stitching the sequins onto the bra. But I just haven’t’ been able to bring myself to do it. It’s not like it’s all that difficult, either – or maybe it is. I’m a perfectionist. Spacing of sequins is NOT a perfect science. Nor is it supposed to be. They are, in this pattern, just supposed to cover the silly thing and sparkle. But I keep expecting more – mostly, I think, because I’ve been doing appliques so much. And it’s driving me batty.
With wardrobe malfunctions! Everyone goes through something similar at some time in their life, I think. As Mom would have said, “builds character!”
Note: All pictures in this post are courtesy of Megan H. Freeman.
In my case it was a misunderstanding of the logistics of my current weight loss — I’ve lost 2 inches in my hips over the past few months and nothing around my waist. This takes my nice hourglass figure – the curves of which served to hold up my skirt – and turn it into a cylinder – not conducive to skirts staying up.
Note to self (and other dancers) if you are in the process of losing weight, do NOT trust even a full dress rehearsal — pin – pin- pin your costume. It will be the part you’re least worried about that will snap. Keep a professional attitude, smile, turn, wave and leave gracefully if necessary.
Oops. See how low that skirt is falling?(So are the pants!)
New Comedy Schtick!
No, I didn’t lose my costume onstage – if in doubt, turn hitching it up into a comedy schtick! But apparently it was closer than I thought it was! And yes, I was wearing underwear, but luckily it didn’t come to people seeing it.
So there!
Costuming malfunctions I’ve seen over the years include everything from the loss of a false ponytail to my skirt, to broken bra straps, to a ballerina who lost the entire bodice of her tutu in the middle of a backbend — that recovery took grace under pressure and has been my gold standard for continuing over the years. If she can handle that, I can handle almost anything. So there!
At breakfast on Sunday the rest of the troupe apparently were told multiple times that if we put out a dvd they’d buy it. 
I was VERY glad that I had ordered the dvd of the class and show. Looking forward to getting it now.
