Crocodile Stitch Hip Band or Bustle

I learned a new crochet stitch called the crocodile stitch.  There are plenty of tutorials for it over on Youtube. It has a great texture that I thought would either make a wonderful belly dancing hip band or a combo bustle/shawl for steampunk. I'm using olive colored Woolease yarn by Lion. I might add more colors for each successive layer but I haven't decided yet. My hips are big so that first row is going to be very very long and it will take a long time just to do one row. When I get further along I'll show photos.

Steampunk Influenced Belly Dancing

For those of you putting together a Steampunk or Neovictorian influenced belly dancing costume there are some examples on this video. Plus it's just very cool to watch. And they interviewed one of the Abney Park guys as well.

Tribal v other types of belly dancing

Following is a question a former student asked me and my answer:



> Hi, Fayme, I know it's been a long time.
>
> Yesterday I did some belly dancing with some
> women who are in the SCA. They do tribal belly
> dancing and I didn't know how to that. Which
> leads me to this question. What is the
> difference between tribal style of dancing
> compared to what we did when I took lessons from
> you?

Ah yes, time marches on.
What I teach is a combination of Egyptian, Arabic, Cabaret and Tribal belly dancing.
Up until about 1987, belly dancers at Renaissance Faires were doing cabaret belly dancing and dressing in that same style.

It didn't fit in too well. So a group in the SF area called Fat Chance belly dance came up with a 'look' they called tribal. It was an eclectic blend put together in the way only Americans could have done, blending together costuming from India, Egypt, Afghanistan, Africa, and wherever else seemed appropriate. Then they started dancing in a synchronized way, all doing the same moves. The closest thing I can think of is the Rockets. Tribal is the chorus line of belly dancing.

Then as the years went on, things evolved even further. More tribal groups sprung up and evolved in different directions. Some of it may barely resemble the tribal style that is credited to Fat Chance Belly Dance. Since I can't see the style you are watching in your SCA group, I can't pin it down exactly. But the background you have should not be too far away from picking up the local style. Just remember tribal is a fabrication, and not historical at all, so don't let them bully you. They'd never document it in a pentathalon for example. Tribal evolved from the steps you already know.

Lately dancing has been evolving in the direction of 'fusion' and including more and more robotics. Some of the new trends can be found on youtube by googling up 'steampunk belly dance', 'fushion belly dance', 'gothic bellydance' and 'raks gothique'.

Hopefully the SCA dancers are teaching you their choreography. If they are then you'll soon see you have a foundation for it.

Steampunk Gloves

A tutorial on Steampunk gloves.


Now you can make your very own.

Steampunk Belly Dance Costuming

This video is short but has lots of inspiring ideas in it. Since my goal is to design a steampunk belly dancing costume for myself, I am keeping an eye out on new videos in that genre.

Belly Dance Shops on Etsy

Hard to fit? Need a custom item? Need cowry hair falls? Bloomers? Harem Pants? Skirts? There are many artists and costumers on Etsy that cater to us. Here are but a few.
AISHAX

Akaisilks

ThreePaintedPeacocks

Shivati

Ants in your pants belly dance

ZelH

AmyOlson

These ought to keep us busy for a while.

Steampunk Belly Dance

This steampunk band with belly dancers is growing on me. They are called Abney Park

Belly Dance and Steampunk

It was only a matter of time before belly dancing and steampunk (neovictorian) melded into each other. Yesterday I watched about 17 steampunk belly dancing videos on http://www.thegypsykiss.com.. They were all gathered off of youtube, so you could just go to youtube and type in appropriate tags. I could also see the burlesque and vaudeville influence. The music is very different. I don't even know where one finds music like that.

When you've been belly dancing as long as I have its refreshing to see something new and different. And the costuming looks like a lot of fun.