Last night was the first Raqs Boheme, a monthly third Friday bellydance show I'm now running. My friend Bellatrix - hair and makeup genius - came out and after the show we got to talking about the importance of stage makeup, and pondering as to why more dancers, especially in the Midwest, didn't get it.
It's an odd phenomenon; and while it's not universal, it's common enough to be noticed. A fear of too much. And here's the thing - it's very hard to wear too much, especially for a bellydance performance; particularly when it comes to a bellydance performance on a stage. And there are two key factors in this.
#1 - Your audience is not right up on you. There's usually a good amount of distance when your elevated on a stage, which automatically makes facial features a little fuzzy.
#2 - Stage lights WASH YOU OUT.
A great example, below is a video of my performance at Gothic Prom in St. Louis this past January. You'll notice that while you can see my face - eyes nose, mouth - it's not overblown and overdramatic.
I'm visible, but I don't look like a scary Elvira.
And here's a photo, closer up, shortly after with friend and Genius Photog Carrie Meyer. You can see a little better how much makeup I was actually wearing, and in all honesty I should have been wearing more.
No. Not likely.
So if you're in the Midwest, or willing to travel to Kansas City - you had really ought to take Bella's makeup class at Warrior Weekend on April 21st. It's an amazing informative class full of great technique and advice for the novice as well as the expert. And it's only 18 dollars.
Coincidentally, I'm teaching the same day, later in the afternoon - Modus Operandi, which I quickly described last night as "Practice technique and emotional whodoo."
That's right. Emotional Whodoo.
And now back to our regularly scheduled corned beef and green beer...
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