Imagine having a team of belly dance mentors willing to coach you through your belly dance journey. You might want their help and advice on selecting music, venues, costume or props. Perhaps you would like to hear about the pit-falls and problems of dancing at each different type of events, or the correct etiquette for classes and workshops. Maybe you would like their thoughts on your costuming, or some tips on putting together a web site, or managing your social networking. All of this and more is covered in Becoming a Belly Dancer, from stage fright to retirement, ATS to Zar. Becoming a Belly Dancer is a stagecraft handbook that provides valuable information, learned-in-the-trenches tips, and guidance for belly dancers who are ready to take the step from student to performer, or from performer to professional. Sara Shrapnell, author of "Teaching Belly Dance" and Dawn Devine, author of "Cloth of Egypt" and 13 other belly dance and costuming books, including the bestselling "Embellished Bras" and the now classic "Costuming from the Hip", have collaborated to produce "Becoming a Belly Dancer". Between them, they have more than 50 years of combined experience as performers, teachers, dancers and costume designers. Alisha Westerfeld explored the established and upcoming talent of the Bay Area to bring her beautiful photography to every page of this project. International belly dance celebrity and costume designer Poppy Maya adds her own special brand of "Additional Awesomeness" to the book, and the input of a young dancer, currently making her living through belly dance. The authors hope to bring the warmth, support, and humor of a teacher in absence, a true friend and a trusted advisor who has only one main goal: you. They want to focus on helping you be the best prepared physically and mentally for the challenges of performing for friends, family, the dance community, and the greater society, both in person at public venues, and via media available on the internet. The book covers improving your dance skills, good practice habits, preparing physically and emotionally, critiquing, picking your music and venues and dancer etiquette. In addition, the book includes extensive sections on costume design and selection, sewing and no sewing costumes, accessorizing, hair and makeup and presenting to the world the very best belly dancer that you can be."Becoming a Belly Dancer: From Student to Stage" is a useful and inspiring tool that will help belly dancers to be ready for the big day, so they can dazzle, impress and wow with talent and style.

Costuming from the Hip is a comprehensive reference for anyone who works with Middle Eastern dancewear. Dancers, costume makers, designers, and historical re-enactors will like the many illustrations, historical patterns, construction techniques, and hundreds of hints and tips. This 118-page book will take you step-by-step through measuring your body, researching your costume, laying out the patterns, fitting it, and accessorizing your creation. Topics covered include: * Making your measurement chart * Turkish coats, kaftans, and thobes * Veils * Jewelry * Designing for every body type * Coin, tassle, and cabaret belts * Bras and cholis * Shirts, vests, and blouses * Men's wear * Going professional. The book includes a glossary and an extensive bibliography.

Beyond Moves, Combos, and Choreography

Easy Sew Belly Dance Costumes, Seven Belly Dance Essentials: This booklet is a guide to pattern making and sewing your own belly dance garments. It provides step-by-step instructions on how to make patterns and sew foundation items that make up a dancer's wardrobe. Aimed at the beginner or improver belly dancer it shows you how to create: harem pants, circle skirt, over skirt, bra and belt set (bedlah), veils and yashmak. The booklet assumes you have basic sewing skills such as making a hem, sewing a seam and using a sewing machine. The author of this guide Karen Pilkington-Puddephatt Karen is an experienced creator of belly dance costumes. She approaches the subject from being a belly dance performer, teacher and costume seller. She spent many years trawling the costume bazaars of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey and opened the first belly dance shop in England. This booklet is a culmination of many years experience resulting in easy to sew and stylish designs for you to make.

Are you ready to teach belly dance? Are you looking for ways to change up your teaching techniques? Are you keen to find a fresh approach to bring to your existing classes? This is the book! Sara Shrapnell will help you set up, plan, teach and enjoy your belly dance classes. From exciting games to make learning fun for your students, to understanding the individual needs, desires, and hopes that each dancer brings to class, Sara will help you hone the learning experience to achieve their goals. This book touches on every major aspect of the teaching process including: * Tips for finding the perfect teaching venue* Promoting yourself as your teacher* Planning interesting semesters * Methods for developing comprehensive lesson plans * Understanding your students aims and goals* Providing useful praise and critique* Teaching to a variety of learning styles* Organizing your own events and troupe* Picking music that connects to the learnerAlso includes a glossary, handouts, and sample waivers.Sara Shrapnell has taught belly dance for more than a decade, presenting thousands of belly dance classes, both in the UK and US. She teaches privates, groups, workshops, and provides coaching for dancers and teachers worldwide. www.LetsBellyDanceUSA.com

"The Belly Dance Book is a collection of articles by 17 top belly dance writers. This is the nuts & bolts of belly dance with articles on history, current events, costuming, make-up, spirit, music, product reviews and more. Great for dancers of every level, and anyone interested in dance, costuming, history or theater."--Amazon.com viewed Feb. 24, 2021.

Experience the Joy and Delight of Creating Amazing Wedding Cakes from Scratch. Lorelie Carvey will show you how to make and decorate the perfect wedding cake. The award-winning pastry chef has spent over thirty years perfecting her techniques and now offers advice that will ensure a sweet memory for your bride's special day. From the first idea to the spectacular result, Carvey guides you through everything you need to know to make the ultimate dream dessert. She includes her favorite recipes, like her chocolate buttermilk cake, hazelnut cake, chocolate mousse, lemon cream cheese, Italian meringue buttercream, and so much more. Carvey personally perfected each recipe during her baking career. In addition to recipes, Carvey clearly and comprehensively explains and demonstrates (with detailed photos) the baking and decorating techniques so you can create your unique cake design. With her own guide to ingredients, cooking methods, baking utensils, and decorating tips, you'll have everything you need to create a magnificent wedding cake that will be remembered and cherished by everyone. Your purchase comes with benefits including...a membership to Lorelie's exclusive cake support group, step by step video, a discount coupon for Cake Stackers, printable guides to pan sizes with number of servings, cups of batter, baking temperatures, baking times and cups of icing to frost and decorate. It also includes a guide to bakers measures and equivalents, emergency substitutions, cake ingredients, functions, fails and causes, a photo tutorial of delivering your cakes, plus cake decorating ideas and instruction.

Focusing on Egypt during the period 1760 to 1870, this book fills in some of the historical blanks for a dance form often known today in the Middle East as raqs sharki or raqs baladi, and in Western countries as "belly dance." Eyewitness accounts written by European travelers, the major primary source for modern scholars, provide most of the research material. The author shapes these numerous accounts into a coherent whole, providing a picture of Egyptian female entertainers of the period as professionals in the arts, rather than as a group of unnamed "ethnic" dancers and singers. Analysis is given of the contexts of this dance--that was a legitimate performing art form in Egyptian society appreciated by a wide variety of audiences--with a focus on actual performances--and a re-creation of choreography.

At the Arabian Nights Bellydance Festival, Murder takes Center Stage... When lifelong friends Ginger and Susan took their first bellydance class on a dare, they never dreamed they’d end up performing in public--let alone getting mixed up in murder! Now a famous dancer has been stabbed to death with her own sword, and the police believe a good friend of theirs is guilty of the crime. As they go behind the scenes of the off-beat world of bellydance, they discover that beauty and glamour can hide some very dirty secrets. What they don’t know is that they are up against a killer who is playing for extremely high stakes, and who won’t hesitate to strike again!