Once upon a time, I was invited to dance in a show at a venue I’ve never been to before. I figured, I’ll wear something simple and easy. I didn’t stop to think about the potential environment, and choose a costume that was completely black to make some tribal jewelry really pop. Well – I arrived to discover venue featured a tiny black-box style theater with minimal golden top light and one big spot. Then I remembered the old axiom of the entertainment world. When in doubt about the venue, don’t wear black! While restaurants are filled with different colors, textures, if you’re dancing in a theatrical environment, the odds of dancing on a black stage with black curtains is very high. Many small theaters use deep flat black for its neutral, non-distracting environment that is affordable to keep up. I did the show, and got some great photos of myself, if I like floating head shots. Perhaps my life lesson remembered will help you choose your costumes with better results!
Happy Costuming!
Dawn Devine ~ Davina
Aug. 7, 2015
I’m please to announce that Andelee, over on the website has just published my article 
I enjoy working with modern assiut and I often use my sewing machine for seams and hems. Many dancers like to open the side seams of their assiut garments from hem to hip for maximum freedom of movement. Most ready-made assiut robes, however, arrive stitched closed to the hem. Although assiut doesn’t fray, a clean smooth well stitched hem will hang and move better.
3 – Use your iron – Using your chalk line as a guide, fold and press your new hem in to place.
4 – Pin parallel to the hem – After your fabric has cooled off pin your new hem into place. I like to
6 – Sew slowly – Always go nice and slow so you can control the shape of the seam and pull your pins out as you sew. To remove your pins easily, simply use your thumb to capture the heads of the pin and as the machine pulls the fabric through, your thumb will pull the pin out of the cloth. This technique works best when using big-headed pins with brightly colored heads.
Love assiut robes, but aren’t sure how to style them? How they should fit? What type of belt would look best? Here is a collection of videos direct from the source, Egypt. These dancers illustrate different approaches to head, hip and jewelry embellishments. In all cases, the performers accent their hips with belt and usually either partially or fully cover their hair. Just remember, when you buy a new modern assiut robe, it will come in a very boxy square cut. As these dancers clearly illustrate, the preferred Egyptian fit is tailored to a slightly loose but body-skimming cut.