Photo credit M Enright
I strive for costumes that are the physical manifestation of the dancer's persona, never distracting the dancer with a poor fit, safety pins that pop, loose ornaments, or synthetic fibers that trap heat and sweat. I often fall short of the perfection I seek. Nevertheless, when something does not work, I eventually take it apart and try again. When it does work, I feel great joy watching the result help bring a performance alive.
I sew for my daughter, Ruric-Amari, and for the members of her dance company, Samovar. I have come to the point where I have the technique to do almost anything. What I want to do is create costumes that tap into both the subconscious understanding of ethnic line and decoration AND the modern desire for kinetic freedom. My main tool is a limited palette of shapes. Folkloric garments are made of simple shapes in order to use every scrap of fabric from a rectangular loom. What these simple shapes also do is force me to create incrementally and with understanding. I find that solving design or fabric challenges with simple shapes can make for emotionally complex costuming. I like this.
Another, unexpected, benefit of learning to design with geometric shapes is that I have become much more creative with scraps and the many odd pieces of fabric that other people bestow upon me when they decide they won't use them. The shape triggers design associations, and the costume possibilities present themselves. Wonderful!
The costumes on this web site are, therefore, divided into basic shapes. Most of them are designed to be made by people who are outfitting themselves or friends in a hurry. Other pieces are a little more complex. All of them incorporate the simple but custom adjustments that I have developed to make the garment fit better, stay in place, accommodate a range of sizes or last longer. I am not a slave to authentic ethnic design; I have no problem adding details like darts or a slanted shoulder to make the resulting garment more attractive to Western audiences without destroying the power of the primitive loom-based geometric shapes.
Enjoy the web site. Feel free to link to it. The content is copyrighted. Do not steal it, words or pictures. If you want to contact me: MauraZebra @ gmail.com (Remove the space before and the @ if you copy and paste the address.)
- Circles
- Burnoose
- Skirts
- Pants
- 3/4 veils
- Skirts
- Rectangles and Trapezoids
- Beladi Dress
- Rectangular Veils
- Tie Belts
- Yarn belts
- Pants and Bloomers
- Skirts
- Tops
- Coverups and Coats
- Dog Bed
- Drawstring Bags
- Tie Belts
- Triangles
- Tribal Bra
- Combinations
- Skirts
- Vest
- Pants and Bloomers
- Vest