{"id":3498,"date":"2015-10-02T16:34:22","date_gmt":"2015-10-02T23:34:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/?p=3498"},"modified":"2015-10-06T12:18:36","modified_gmt":"2015-10-06T19:18:36","slug":"5-reads-for-a-lazy-fall-afternoon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/2015\/10\/5-reads-for-a-lazy-fall-afternoon\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Reads for a Lazy Fall Afternoon"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"5<\/p>\n

Fall is here, and there is nothing quite as satisfying as cuddling up with a cup of hot apple cider, a comfy blanket and an interesting book. \u00a0Over the summer, I\u2019ve been collaborating on an upcoming book entitled, \u201cBecoming a Belly Dancer: From Student to Stage.\u201d \u00a0I\u2019ve been tasked with putting together a suggested readings list for this upcoming book. \u00a0This project involved re-reading old standards, exploring new titles, and crafting a select bibliography to get the reader started if they are planning on continuing their research and exploration of our dance art. So without further ado, let me present a few faves for lazy-day reading.<\/p>\n

The Belly Dance Handbook: A Companion for the Serious Dancer by Princess Farhana.
\n<\/b>If you are on a trajectory into the stratosphere as a belly dance star, or if you just want to read a really good book about belly dance, then get this book! I\u2019ve read this book a couple of times, first casually for entertainment.\u00a0Then I sat down and really savored the information in the book. It\u2019s full of great \u201cfrom the trenches\u201d tips on how to manage a belly dance CAREER. \u00a0But this book is also an enjoyable read. \u00a0Princess Farhana is warm and\"A7B193B4-36EC-463E-9913-1227161CF46C\" generous in the text. \u00a0She doesn\u2019t just tell you what you need to do, she tells you why. \u00a0She tells great stories that really illustrate the often not-so-glamorous behind the scenes world of the belly dance profession. \u00a0You will laugh out loud, you will find yourself saying \u201cawwww,\u201d and don\u2019t be surprised if you also have a few \u201cAh-HA\u201d moments as you work your way through this book. \u00a0My personal favorite section is the costuming section, but I really think the professional insights throughout this book are worth their weight in gold.<\/p>\n

Buying this book directly from the author provides her with the biggest financial payback for her hard work! Visit her website<\/a> to pick up your copy, and be sure to tell her I sent ya!
\n\"BellyDance-Cover\"Bellydance by Keti Sharif<\/b><\/p>\n

This is my favorite general reference guide book to the art of belly dance. \u00a0Keri Sharif did a great job in putting together this overview of belly dance. \u00a0It\u2019s a quick read, with lots of beautiful imagery, and lots of information about what makes this dance unique. \u00a0Bellydance provides a lot of interesting background information about the history and development of the style. \u00a0But the thing that I love most about this book is the delicious full-color photos. \u00a0Sometimes it might be a little difficult to read because of the lush layering of text and imagery, but frankly, I actually enjoy that. \u00a0I\u2019ve had this on my shelf for years, and still pick it up and casually thumb through it to look at photos.<\/p>\n

Bellydance<\/a><\/p>\n

\"BellyDanceReaderCover\"<\/b>
\nThe Belly Dance Reader 1 and 2 edited by Lynette Harris of Gilded Serpent Magazine<\/b>
\nIf you want to read some of the most current research, thought, and trends in dance today, check out the pair of anthologies produced by Gilded Serpent eZine. \u00a0The articles vary in topic and length and there\u2019s a topic that will appeal to almost anyone involved in the community of belly dance. There\u2019s information on history, culture, process, theory, costuming, and much, much more. From academic scholars to celebrity dance stars and everything in between, Lynette really searched out pieces that showcased the broad diversity within our art form. \u00a0Even if you don\u2019t agree with every point of view, it\u2019s great that these books present a variety of opinions.<\/p>\n

The Belly Dance Reader 1<\/a>
\nThe Belly Dance Reader 2<\/a><\/p>\n

\"614936BF-B5AA-4762-8F3E-525D9CA97668\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The\u00a0Art of Manipulating Fabric<\/b><\/p>\n

For my fellow costume making junkies, be sure to get a copy of this amazing book. The two best ways to save money on costuming are:
\n\u2022 To do it yourself
\n\u2022 To use less expensive materials creatively to create visual interest, texture and contrast.<\/p>\n

This is the best books for introducing the art and technique of fabric manipulation. It’s so good, it’s required reading for my costuming students. I\u2019ve found this book endlessly inspirational, and go back to it again and again.<\/p>\n

The Art of Manipulating Fabric<\/a><\/p>\n

\"C79F3885-40A2-4841-A3A7-54A3611574CC\"Bead & Sequin Embroidery Stitches
\nby Stanley Levy<\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve looked at the crusty goodness of imported belly dance costumes and thought, “maybe I could do that,” then this book is a great start. Although the author was writing with textile and fiber artists in general, the methods presented in this book provide a good foundation to use for progressing towards the more complex designs. Informative and inspirational for budding costumers, and an essential for any costume designer\u2019s bookshelf.<\/p>\n

Bead & Sequin Embroidery<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"41ZoBc+54bL\"I want to shout out to my collaborator Sara Shrapnell of \u00a0Teaching Belly Dance<\/em><\/strong>, a great book for budding dance instructors and my co-author on the upcoming Becoming a Belly Dancer<\/em><\/strong>. \u00a0These titles and many more are included in the suggested reading portion of our book. \u00a0 Visit her website<\/a> for more information on her past, current, and future projects.<\/p>\n

To follow the development of Becoming a Belly Dancer, from Student to Stage<\/em><\/strong>, you can sign up for\u00a0our mailing lists, and come over to FaceBook<\/a> to join the conversation.<\/p>\n

Happy Costuming and Dance!
\nDawn Devine ~ Davina
\nOct. 4, 2015<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"<\/a>

Fall is here, and there is nothing quite as satisfying as cuddling up with a cup of hot apple cider, a comfy blanket and an interesting book. \u00a0Over the summer, I\u2019ve been collaborating on an upcoming book entitled, \u201cBecoming a Belly Dancer: From Student to Stage.\u201d \u00a0I\u2019ve been tasked with putting together a suggested readings […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3500,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/BAB-PostCard-FINAL-Jesse-WEB.jpg?fit=216%2C486&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2YZtR-Uq","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3498"}],"version-history":[{"count":36,"href":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3498\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3543,"href":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3498\/revisions\/3543"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}