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Garb
for Dance Performances |
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| The dances that we do in the
SCA come mainly from England, France, and Italy in the mid 1400's to
mid-1600's, or are based on dances from those countries and
periods. If your group is preparing a presentation for an upcoming
event or public demo, you may want to go the extra mile and get them
into matching garb, and I don't mean matching colors and patterns.
Having your dancers in garb from the same period will not only look
good, but it will add to the educational aspect of your performance.
A very good article on garb and dance for specific periods can be found here. Picking a Time Period and Style Look Around The next time you go to an SCA event or a Renaissance faire, take a good look at what people are wearing. What looks good to you? What looks comfortable? What moves well? Most people will be happy to tell you all about their garb - just ask. Garb on Hand Consult with your dancers to see what kind of garb they have. If most of your people have Italian Renaissance garb, then you're better off going Italian. You can fill in the missing pieces by holding garb workshops and having people borrow garb from friends or even from your local SCA group loaner garb stash. You can also try the loaner garb from neighboring groups. Footwear Footwear should also be considered when choosing a time period. The men might have difficulty getting appropriate footwear for some of the styles. Chinese cloth slippers, also called "kung fu shoes" are a cheap fix and work with most of the styles. They can be found for under $10.00 in dance stores. Knee high moccasins also work. They cost about $60.00 a pair and can be found in western wear stores and online. (Cut the fringe off for a better look.) Cruise the thrift stores in affluent communities (they have the best stuff) on a regular basis. You'll be amazed at what you can find and for how little. For those of you with more cash, there are plenty of decent shoe and boot makers online. Click here to share your recommendations. Whatever you get, make sure to test it out your footwear in advance at practice and not during a performance. Ladies can get away with a lot because their feet are mostly hidden by their skirts, and many of them already have mundane shoes that will do the trick. The ladies do, however, need to be careful of flats with hard soles. These can cause you to slip during dancing, which can result in embarrassing falls and injuries. Again, test out your footwear during practice. Fear of Tights Some of your gentlemen may be a bit squeamish about tights. If you're considering "pants-less" styles requiring tights, let the gentlemen know that there are styles that come down well past their bottoms. Help them find something they like. If a guy has decent legs, you can truthfully assure him that chicks would love to see them, but keep it light and don't be pushy. Hat and Headdresses Make sure everyone in the group is wearing an appropriate hat or headdress. During the periods discussed here, no one went about without something on their head. A small amount of research will yield some fantastic ideas. Wow the crowd with those hats! The Dances The time periods of your dances may help you to pick your time period and country. Do a little research on the dances you're doing and find out what time period they are from. Or have someone in your group do it for you. It's a good idea to get your dancers involved in the details whenever you can. Here are some good styles to choose from, and a few other tidbits to put them into perspective:
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