Book Description
1918. Contents: What has India Contributed to Human Welfare; Hindu View of Art: Historical and Theory of Beauty; That Beauty is a State; Buddhist Primitives; Dance of Siva; Indian Images with Many Arms; Indian Music; Status of Indian Women; Sahaja; Intellectual Fraternity; Cosmopolitan View of Nietzsche; Young India; Individuality, Autonomy and Function.Withover 25 plates, figures and illustrations. ... Read more

Book Description
Volume I, Book 18.Warm-up/cool-down exercises. How to perform belly dance floor movements while sitting, kneeling, reclining. ... Read more

Book Description
Volume I, Book 17.Introduction to partner dancing with a cane.Learn to combine traditional Middle Eastern folk dance steps with cane motions. ... Read more

Book Description
Volume 1, Book 13.Student choreographies for a variety of Middle Eastern dances:"Raks Araby", "Drum Solo", "Aman Aman", and "Farhat Shabab". ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Please save your money!
Honestly... you will get better choreographies after 3 months in a basic beginners belly dance class! I'm not sure why the book is geared for the 'Advanced Student Dancer', but your money would be better spent on music or a video! ... Read more

Book Description
Volume I, Book 22.Introduction to Egyptian-style fire dancing incorporating hand candles, tray candles and candelabrum. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Good basic candle book
This is a nice little soft bound book introducing the various forms of candle dancing. She discusses choreography, choosing props, origins and traditions, and hints and tips for making your dance lovely. She does include safety tips, as well as stick figures to explain basic choreography. ... Read more

Product Description
Contains 15 songs for an intermediate pianist, with rhythmic notation for finger cymbals, tambourine and bongoes. All of these tunes are recorded on Ameraba record album AM 2501 "Strictly Belly Dancing, Vol. 4". ... Read more

Product Description
How to make harem, gusseted and draped pants for belly dancers: "tips, tricks, and techniques for making exciting pants for the dance." ... Read more

Book Description
Bedlah, Baubles, and Beads is a book about designing and crafting the elaborate bra and belt sets worn by contemporary belly dancers. Also known as "dance oriental" and "raks sharki," belly dancing has numerous sub-styles that are defined not only by their movement vocabulary, but also by their distinctive costuming.

The first part of the book provides a conceptual framework by starting with a history of this costuming style and its origins here in the United States. From there, it concentrates on introducing the reader to design principles, methods, and techniques for developing figure-flattering styles.

The second part presents the materials, tools, and processes for putting together an elaborately decorated bra and belt set. Step-by-step illustrations for applying beads, a fabric shopping guide, and directions for constructing the bra and belt bases are all illustrated with descriptive diagrams to aid the reader.

Finally, the book finishes with a portfolio of styles and ideas for expanding the performance wardrobe. From skirts to accessories, these chapters introduce the essential garments that transform the bra and belt into a complete costume.

Detailed topics include:

* Step-by-step illustrations of beading techniques, including back stitch, couching, tambour beading, scatter beading, and more.
* Directions for making high-quality bedlah, from concept to finished costume.
* Techniques for developing beading patterns using clip art sources and transforming images into dynamic designs.
* Fitting and covering bras and belts.

An extensive bibliography and a list of mail-order resources is included. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Bedlah, Baubles and Beads
I'm an experienced sewer and found this book very useful and informative. The instructions are clear and simple. The information highly valuable and practical. Fantastic resource!

Good, clear instructions - makes you want to sew!
Inspiring!It has great notes on different styles and ways to flatter your figure, and clear directions on making your own costume for the moderately crafty.The beading section is highly recommended.I hear her website is good, too.

Excellent book on the principles of design, construction and embellishment
As someone that is new to belly dancing I was surprised at the prices of the costumes.Being an avid do-it-yourselfer, I decided to figure out how to make my own.Unless you count 7th grade home economics I have never made a garment in my life, nor have I had any sewing training.This is not to say that I don't sew at all, because I do.I have made lined Roman blinds, pillow covers, duvets, and slipcovers for the v-berth of a boat.Garment sewing has been something that I avoided because it seemed far too complex.This book has given me the confidence to give costume making a whirl.

This book is extremely well written and very easy to follow.The directions are very clear, even for a novice sewer like myself.The book covers the following information:

PART - DESIGN
1. History
2. Contemporary Styles of Costume
3. Principles of Design
4. Designer's Toolbox
5. An Analytic Approach to Designing Bedlah
6. Designing for Every Body
PART II - BEDLAH CONSTRUCTION AND EMBELLISHMENT
7. Bra Construction
8. Belt Construction
9. Surface Embellishments
10. Beading Techniques
11. Developing Beaded Designs
PART III - COMPLETING THE LOOK
12. Skirts and Pants
13. Accent Garments
14. Dresses and Gowns
15. Accessories and Embellishments

The section on the contemporary styles of dancewear is very enlightening.The costumes that the author identifies go way beyond what a new belly dancer is aware exists.The author's drawings have opening up a new world of possibilities to me.

The principles of design outlined by the author are extremely helpful.The author managed to answer questions that I didn't know that I had.Once I read about the right and wrong way to proportion things, and emphasis different areas it all made complete sense.

Everyone can learn from the section on how to design for your specific body.We all have areas that we want to emphasize or de-emphasize and the author explains exactly how to go about it.

The author covers Bra construction in this book. However, I recommend her book "Embellished Bras" for a more complete dissertation on the subject.Embellishment of the Bra and Belt are the most difficult parts of the costume.If you can get those done you are home free.

Overall, I thought I knew what I wanted to make until I picked up this book.Now I am thinking my first costume will be an Indian costume from Sari fabric.The options are endless once you have this book for inspiration and instruction.I highly recommend this book to any dancer.

Fantastic!
This book is more than just directions for putting together bras and belts! Davina does a wonderful job starting in Chapter 1 as she gives the reader a brief summary of the costumes seen in the US over the past 100 years.

The true jewel in this book is going to be Chapter 3! Davina provides invaluable insight on the principles of design and wonderful examples of how it can translate to the cabaret bra/belt costume.Even if you have no desire to ever pick up needle and thread, you should read this book and make it a practice to sketch costume ideas on your personal croquis, as it will help you discover what looks good on you and what doesn't all without having to spend hours trying on various costumes!

Best of the series so far
Of Dawn and Barry's series of Belly dance costumes books, this one is the best and most comprehensive. A good basic book explaning costume elements, design basics and simple construction techniques. As a very useful chapter on how to emphasise each dance move and enhance a dancer's physique through design details. Line drawings illustrate most the complex ideas although a few sewing stitches could have used pictures, too. An excellent addition to any library for the dancer or costumer alike. ... Read more

Book Description
This book brings a new approach to the study of the arts of the Middle East. By dealing in one volume with dance, music, painting, and cinema, as experienced and practiced not only within the Middle East but also abroad, Images of Enchantment breaks down the artificial distinctions -- of form, geography, 'high' and 'low' art, performer and artist -- that are so often used to delineate the subjects and processes of Middle Eastern artistic culture.

The eighteen essays in this book cover themes as diverse as Bedouin dance, the music of Arab Americans, cinema in Egypt and Iran, Hollywood representations of the Middle East, and contemporary Sudanese painting. The contributions come from scholars and critics and from the artists themselves. Together, they present a wide-ranging and holistic view of the arts in their social, political, anthropological, and gender contexts. ... Read more

Book Description
Dalya Cohen-Mor examines the evolution of the concept of fate in the Arab world through readings of religious texts, poetry, fiction, and folklore. She contends that belief in fate has retained its vitality and continues to play a pivotal role in the Arabs' outlook on life and their social psychology. Interwoven with the chapters are 16 modern short stories that further illuminate this fascinating topic. ... Read more

Product Description
Although most people do not speak of theater and Iran in the same breath, dramatic expression has always been a fixture of Iranian culture. Some 2500 years ago, kings and commoners alike were regaled by comic theater in the form of dance and mime, accompanied by music. The dancers often wore masks, a vestige of an earlier era when such dances were enacted as religious rites. Comic drama also took a slapstick form, in which social situations were lampooned and people ridiculed by imitating their accents and behavior. Yet another ancient dramatic art was that of puppetry, now known to have exist much earlier than its attested date of about 1000 CE. Only glove and string puppets were popular in Iran; though briefly practiced, shadow puppetry failed to win a following.Like comic dance and mime, narrative drama originated in religious rites. Over time, religious ceremony evolved gave rise to a popular secular epic tradition that was very popular in pre-Islamic Iran. The bard enjoyedan important place in social life, and the verbal arts of poetry, storytelling, elegy and recitation thrived, often accompanied by music. In Islamic times, this art form continued and was given impetus by elegies and public recitations about the heroic deeds of ancient kings. In addition, Iran produced the only form of Islamic religious epic drama (ta`ziyeh-khvani), which reenacts themartyrdom of Imam Hoseyn.In traditional Iranian theater, there was no real difference between high and low culture, although artists attached to the royal court and sponsored by the rich tended to be more competent than those who performed for the public at large. With the exception of religious and narrative drama, written texts were seldom used. The artists—whether comedian, mime, puppeteer, elegist or storyteller performed both in public and private spaces.European theater, with its reliance on a written text and normative rather than improvisatory acting, arrived in 1878 and was part of the modernization process in Iran. It enjoyed a hey-day in the early years of the twentieth century, but has experienced many ups-and-downs since then. Today, it once again enjoys great popularity. At the same time, traditional theatre is being rediscovered, and playwrights are using some of its forms to develop indigenous modern Iranian theatre—a melding of the deep past and dynamic present.Cover painting: A mime dance by a group of professional entertainers accompanied by musicians, ascribed to Mirza Mohammad al-Hoseyni, Iran 1613. Courtesy of Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution. ... Read more

Book Description

Any discussion that incorporates two such very different cultural institutions as the Jewish-Israeli theatre and the Palestinian theatre, must of necessity entail separate approaches, while at the same time also encompass the inherent ties between the two cultures. The Jewish-Israeli theatre is a complex and developed system in which the dispute with the Palestinians constitutes just one of the important components in its repertoire; while the Palestinians theatre, both within and outside of Israel, is still in the initial stages of consolidation. Dan Urian brings together these two approaches in the introduction of this special issue of Contemporary Theatre Review, by relating to the Palestinian theme as it appears in the Jewish-Israeli theatre and by attempting to characterize the Palestinian theatre in general.

Book Description
An astonishing variety of theatrical performances may be seen today in the eight countries of Southeast Asia--Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. James Brandon spent more than three years observing and interviewing troup members in these countries. He describes twenty-five of the most important theatrical forms, grouping them according to their origins as folk, court, popular, or Western theatre. He considers the theatre from four perspectives: its origins, its art, its role as a social institution, and its function as a medium of communication and propaganda. Brandon's wide-ranging and lively discussion points out interesting similarities and differences among the countries, and many of his superb photographs are included here. ... Read more

Book Description
Harry Gelber examines centuries of colonial interaction and argues for a close link between revolution in 18th-century Europe and the development of Asian nationalism from the 19th century onwards. He reviews how the adoption of European industrial and financial practices encouraged the spread of European ideologies in general. Asia's adoption of national self-determination and decolonization changed the balance of international power. ... Read more