TAV Creations is a custom sewing and design business operating in Ottawa, Ontario. Owned and operated by Tracey Vibert, it has been in existence since 1988. Although the speciality of the house has always been bridal and evening wear, Her first love has always been costumes and an expansion into dance costumes has developed since 1995.

Tracey has made many beautiful costumes for many dancers over the years.  Tracey puts on the students shows and local bazaar every year. She has made great contributions to the dance community in Ottawa.  You can visit her web site at the link below.

http://www.tav-creations.com/

Ok let's talk Tatoos. I know it is a mainstream thing these days but I won't be jumping on the band wagon. I am just not a fan of them. I see so many dancers mainly tribal dancers with so many Tatoos. I found this interesting article I thought people would be interested in.

Interesting Historical Facts on Tattoos
By Luchito Ruiz

Tattoo is derived from the Tahitian 'tattau', which means to tap into the body. The first documented account of tattoos came in 1769 from James Cook's expedition to the South Pacific. It was the local practice in Tahiti to tattoo the bottoms of girls completely black as soon as they attain sexual maturity. In Hawaii, locals were found to tattoo a set of three dots on their tongue when they lost a loved one as a mark of bereavement.

Since then, it has been established that tattoos have been around for several thousands of years starting with the unearthing of Nubian and Egyptian mummies and culminating in the 1991 discovery of the famed 'Ice Man' called Otzi, who has been carbon dated back to 3300 BC.

Otzi was found to have a mind-boggling 57 tattoos that included a symbol of a cross on the inside of his knee, 6 straight 15 cm. long lines just above the kidneys, and several lines running parallel to each other along the ankles. The position of these tattoos led experts to believe that they were probably placed there for therapeutic reasons to reduce joint pain.

Female Nubian and Egyptian mummies were found with tattoos that are thought by experts to have been etched as protection during pregnancy and delivery. All the tattoos were found on the abdomen and the thighs and invariably had the picture of the Egyptian God Bes who is the god of revelry and fertility. Egyptian males were found with tattoos of geometrical patterns on their arms and legs.

The Maoris are famous for tattooing their face and head at different stages in their life. The tattoo acts as an identification card that carries information on a person's ancestry, family, status and rank, and personal skills. Europeans in the 1820s used to trade guns for the tattooed heads of Maori warriors. Thankfully, this gory practice ended in 1831 with the ban on import of human heads.

In Ancient Greece and Rome, tattoos were called 'stigmata' and signified a mark of ownership on slaves and also as a mark of criminality. Tattoos were popular with Roman soldiers and the rapid spread of the Roman Empire across the world contributed a lot to the globalisation of the tattoo.

Although tattoos were used extensively during the Crusades of the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries, it disappeared for a while from Western civilization. It is interesting to note that Great Britain gets its name from tattooing; 'Briton' means 'people of the designs' and 'Picts' means 'the painted people'. And the British do hold the distinction of being the most tattooed in all of Europe.

In a recent survey in 2010, it was found that a quarter of the Australian population under the age of 30 sported a tattoo. Tattoos have evolved with growing intercultural influences and now could be interpreted as a sign of religious belief, a declaration of love, a status symbol, or just as a form of adornment.

Luchito Ruiz is a massage therapist who writes on topics that interest him in his spare time. Recently he has been fascinated with the evolution of tattoos and shares a wealth of information in this article on the history of tattoos. Visit Sydney Tattoo Artists and Tattoo Shop Sydney for more on tattoos.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Luchito_Ruiz
http://EzineArticles.com/?Interesting-Historical-Facts-on-Tattoos&id=6938543

Vintage Costumes

I just love vintage costumes.  I am surprised at how skimpy some of them are.  You would think they would be more conservative.  I love the look of the vintage photos as well.  I think my next new costume will be vintage inspired.  I have saved all my grandmother's broaches and old costume jewlery I think I will incorparate them.

Sarah's Costumes

Sarah Skinner is a dancer and photograher from new York.  She now lives in Toronto Canda.  Sarah makes most of her costumes.  On her site you will see all the costumes she has made.  She also gets costumes made for her but I think she makes most of them.  You can find all kinds of goodies on her site shakemyday.com.  I have some of her instructional DVD's and they are great.  I have Love Potion and Luscious.  Here is an example of one of her costumes.  She gives her costumes very clever names. 

Bells Angel

Mom's Creation

 
This is another costume my mother made.  I am so lucky to have a mom that can bead for hours.  For this cosume she made another body suit in blue stretchy mesh, then she sewed beads all over in a paisley pattern.  She hand made the belt with similar colour beads and pattern.  The Skirt is a polyester blend material.  My friend Liz Chaisson Thompson made the skirt.  It is a Tulip style skirt with a big V shaped insert in the back so it really flares out when you turn.

I am not in my twenties and skinny anymore so I like to have costumes that cover up a bit but are still a little on the sexy side.  I don't dance as well if I feel self consious.

I wore a blue bra underneath in these photos.  It looks better with a skin coloured bra adn gives the illusion that there is nothing undreneath.  Cheeky very cheeky.

So Many Costumes so Little Time

What would a belly dancer be without her costume? The costume is such a big part of package. For me the costume has to match the song the choreography and the dancer. It is the creative process and the journey the costume takes. It begins with an idea or a piece of fabric or a piece of jewelry to inspire a whole new costume. Here is a costume that started off as a valour bath robe. It is now called my spider man costume. It got its name because the pattern of the beads. My little nephew saw it and asked if that was my spider man costume for Halloween. This is one of my favorites because it is comfortable and goes with many choreographies and music. The original name it was given was Midnight because of its color. This was made by Liz Chaisson Thompson of Ottawa Ontario.

This costume started with a scarf I bought for $10. The hunt was on for a skirt to match. I think this one was inspired by a costume I saw on the internet somewhere. I wanted a little more coverage than the bra and belt set that you usually see. So I found a skirt at the second hand store for $5 score. My mom made a body suite out of black stretching mesh. We cut the scarf and made the belt that attaches with a grommet, so easy to put on. We cut out shapes and flowers from the remaining material from the scarf and sewed them on to the body suit. The only downfall to having sleeves and a velvet skirt is that your veil can stick to it especially if it is silk. So you can make your own costume on a budget for sure. There are many sites that sell costumes and belly dance attire. I like when the bra is made for me because it is sure to fit perfectly. My complaint about some professional bras is that they are so hard. I don’t understand why they make them so hard.

Bella is a designer from Turkey and her costumes are beautiful. This is one of my favorites. This is a belly dancer from California and her name is Sandra. She is one of my favorite dancers. She wears lots of belly costumes. She sells many of her costumes on her site. http://www.raks-sharki.com/