Ah, snake arms! That wonderful movement that makes a dancer’s arms look like a sinuous snake instead of human arms with hard bones and joints. Something that looks so very easy that, practicing it at home in front of my shadow, I was sure I could learn. I was wrong. There is more to it than just wanting to move like a snake. No matter how hard I tried or how long I practiced, I could not make my arms look like sinuous snakes. Instead, they looked like human arms afflicted with a serious joint problem.
There is a trick to it, one that I still have to remind myself: Do not hold your arms out straight! Reach a little bit forward. It’s an illusion that your joints dissolve while dancing. They stick right in there with you, and your bones stay stiff in between the joints. It’s how you turn those joints that makes the difference, as I realized the first time I recorded myself with a cell phone video camera.
Then there’s smoky eyes: that wonderful mysterious look of exotica. I can do that. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! With hours of practice, I can now make myself look like I’ve been punched in both eyes (though not necessarily with the same force in both eyes). Occasionally I get it right, which is pretty exciting. I got it right for a Hafla last winter. I haven’t gotten it right since. Today I allowed myself ninety minutes just for eye makeup, as I had, for some reason, agreed to dance at a seniors’ lodge with some other dancers. The eyeshadow went on unevenly and I looked lopsided. I washed it off and started again. This time I smudged the eyebrow pencil into the eyelids, and washed it all off again. And again.
Did you know that even if you’re using the best makeup remover and being very gentle, after you’ve washed it all off a certain number of times your eyelids turn red?
I decided that no matter how the next attempt turned out, it would have to do. Besides, I’d already run over my allotted time. It looked okay — kind of extra dark, but oh well, it’s stage makeup. The false eyelashes were not an option for this event as I would have to drive, and the false eyelashes smush up against my eyeglasses which is very distracting for me while I drive. So, I picked up a lovely makeup container that held a nicely-shaped brush covered with a shiny black liquid I thought was mascara. It was false eyelash glue. I had to walk around with my eyes partly closed for several minutes to let the stuff dry so it wouldn’t glue my eyelids into folds.
Imagine my delight to see all the other dancers wearing almost no eye makeup. The lead dancer told me not to worry, most of the seniors had poor eyesight and wouldn’t notice anyway. Funny, that was exactly what I was hoping.
Other than losing one of my bracelets early in my dance, all went well. The lady who’d invited us there picked up my bracelet when she saw it fall and put it safely on a table. I didn’t notice it was missing until two numbers by others had been completed.
Other than having some odd black marks on my left eyelid and under my left eye, plus a strange smudge at the outer corner of my right eye, I got all the make up off within two hours of getting home. The black marks and the smudges remain, and for all I know, will still be there a year from now. So will the memory of some of the audience telling me they enjoyed the dancing.
There’s no business like show business!
confessions of a brand new belly dancer 