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I almost didn't ask Asifa el-Bah'r to contribute photos to my photo gallery of full-figured dancers because at a size 16-18 (1X) I consider her to be a bit too slim to truly qualify as a full-figured dancer. However, her taste in costuming tends to run along the lines of outfits that would look fabulous on plus-sized people too, so I felt she still qualified as a good role model.
As you look at these pictures, you'll notice that every one involves wearing some sort of covering over the midriff. This isn't about shyness or body image -- Asifa el-Bah'r explains that torso covers can also be an excellent costume choice for slender dancers:
To me, torso covers are neither cop-out nor apology; the right type can be a performance advantage. Subtle, precision torso-muscle movement is more visible from a greater distance through a sheer bodystocking that contrasts with the skin, or a dress midsection with movable ornaments attached, than it is on a bare abdomen. I've seen this effect on ALL body types.
The White Moroccan Dress
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Asifa el-Bah'r found this lovely dress in a South Miami Beach boutique. Necklaces and belt were assembled from components found in an accessory store for less than $40. Who says cotton is a humble fabric? This cotton Moroccan dress flows gracefully, has a rich texture and a subtle sheen, and feels great to dance in. Asifa el-Bah'r reports:
This picture is from her first performance with this dress in a South Florida multi-troupe recital in 1996. She also wore this costume for her live-music solo in 1998 at the Rakkasah dance festival in California. |
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Blue and Silver Bedleh
"Bedleh" is the Arabic word for "suit", and Egyptian dancers use the term to refer to costumes in the bra/belt/skirt style.
| This lovely photo of Asifa el-Bah'r in her blue and silver bedleh was shot by Larry Quick in southern Florida. |  |
As you can see from the above photo, even though its components are the basic bra/belt/skirt set that intimidates many full-figured dancers, this costume looks great on her because of how she has accessorized the total look. She commented:
I've always insisted that it's your costume's job to make YOU look good, NOT the other way around. These things are possible with just a little extra effort. Insist on it!
Asifa el-Bah'r winced at the $425+ price tag on this silver bra/belt set, but it was so rare to find something that fit her coloring, her aesthetic taste and her body all at once that she grabbed it up. She did add a little extra trim width around the decolletage to make sure her cups wouldn't runneth over.
The tissue lamé skirt has permanent accordion pleats and a subtle black moiré pattern and was part of her very first performance costume. She bought it as an evening skirt at Ross for something like $24.99; to make it "hip-hugging" she just undid the zipper a little ways and hid that under the belt -- the plastic zipper wasn't prone to slipping at all.
As for accessories, the body stocking began as a mesh shirt from a South Miami Beach boutique, and she dressed it up with sequins and fringe. The sliding waist chain is cobalt glass and faux oval pearls that she strung herself. The turban is a "Cindy Silks" tie-dye semicircular veil, which comes off later in the routine for combined cane-and-veil moves.
Green And Black Silk
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Sometimes an idea to improvise will just hit you, and the results can be great! That was the case with this green and black silk costume. Photo by Larry Quick of southern Florida. |
Asifa el-Bah'r describes how this costume came to be as:
I came to the workshop with just the black rectangular coin scarf you see here as a belt. During the course of the day at the vendor booths, I picked up a triangular coin scarf that matched the belt, a mint-green "Cindy Silks" veil with matching accent scarves, and a couple of braided-yarn coin sashes from Artemis. There was an informal fashion show that night and I thought: why not see how all these go together? I covered a strapless bra with the longer accent scarf, used a coin sash for a halter strap, turned the veil into a skirt, piled everything else on and voila! This picture is from that fashion show and everything was COMPLETELY held together by safety pins!
With some sewing and a few more embellishments, she later wore this for her taiko drum solo at Rakkasah, a California belly dance festival, in 1997.
Asifa el-Bah'r With Rising Phoenix Troupe
The dancers in the photo below, clockwise from top left, are Akasha, Katina, Asifa el-Bah'r, Sherezzah (troupe director), Joani, and Adena bint Sherezzah.
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In this picture, Asifa el-Bah'r poses at the 1996 Oasis Dance Camp with a troupe she used to dance with, Rising Phoenix, based in the Miami, Florida area. |
She wanted to include this picture in the photo gallery as an example of how a troupe can welcome a whole spectrum of body styles from delicate to voluptuous, and have everyone look good in a well-chosen troupe costume.
Oasis Industrial
| This costume was another stroke of serendipity. When Asifa el-Bah'r went to Oasis Dance Camp, all the campers were asked to bring a picture for the bulletin board. |  |
Here's how she described what happened next:
I brought one from one of my Industrial Bellydance performances at Fallout Night (End Up club, San Francisco). The event featured post-apocalyptic costumes, lots of weapons work, music consisting of guys growling and banging on salvaged truck parts, etc.
So some folks at Oasis were curious about what that looked like, and I hadn't planned anything of the sort, and the show was the next day... but I did have some industrial-music tapes in the car... and some black harem pants with a fringed practice belt I'd bought from Mesmera... and a black mesh-paneled one-piece swimsuit from K-Mart... and a big jangly chain-mail-esque necklace from the previous night's flea market. I made a quick trip to pick up a camouflage scarf for some veil work, and a heavy dog chain to use in place of a shawl for some of the Schikhatt moves Zahra Zuhair had taught that morning; sketched in some "tribal markings" (Anarchy and Biohazard symbols) with my trusty eyebrow pencil... and the Show Went On.
Related Articles
For further thoughts on this subject, see the articles below.
- Belly Dance Photo Gallery, Leyla Lanty: Part 1. This is the first article in this series. It features another photo gallery showcasing Leyla Lanty from the San Francisco area and her costume collection, including many additional ones from Cairo.
- Belly Dance Photo Gallery, Leyla Lanty: Part 2. Leyla Lanty models additional beautiful made-in-Egypt costumes from her collection.
- Belly Dance Photo Gallery: Asifa el-Bah'r, Part 2. Photos of additional costumes from Asifa el-Bah'r's collection, most of which she at least partly made herself.
- Belly Dance Photo Gallery: M'shisha al Fo'awi. M'shisha makes many of her own costumes, and assembles others from inexpensive components, proving that you don't have to spend a lot of money to look great.
Acknowledgement
This article originally appeared in the Middle Eastern Dance topic area of the Suite101 web site on May 4, 2001. It is reprinted here with permission from the author. Please visit Suite101 to enjoy additional articles about belly dancing.
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August 17, 2001