Bharatanatyam Makeup Tutorial

For quite a few years I couldn’t really understand why Bharatanatyam makeup looked so different compared to other makeup.  For me it was pretty much the regular foundation, eye liner , kajal and lipstick. I didn’t even know words like contouring and different makeup look even existed.

After a lot of trial and error I have slowly started learning to do Bharatanatyam makeup all by myself.

So let’s get started.

Items you need:

1. Concealer

2.Foundation

3.Eyeshadow palette

4.Kajal

5.. Lipstick

6. Makeup brushes

7. Cotton swab

8.q- tips or ear buds

Step 1: Dab on concealer and spread with a brush or fingers

Step 2: Apply foundation and blend well with a sponge or a brush.

Step 3 : Pick a primary color for your eye shadow.

Step 4 : Pick a secondary color for eye shadow. I chose pink to give a warm undertone to the gold previously chosen.

Step 5 : Use a blending color like white gold to blend these two colours away. Put the eyeshadow on the center or your eyelids and blend away.

Step 6 : Darken eyebrows using black eyeshadow.

Step 7 : apply eyeliner. One very important step in Bharatanatyam make up is to ensure the lower eye is lined properly to form a winged outline.

Step 8 : Correct imperfections using makeup remover and Q-tip.

Step 9 : Apply kajal along the inner corner of the lower eyelash for better outline.

Step 10 : Apply blush. Try and stick to only the apple of your cheeks and not too much otherwise thou stand the risk of looking like a bunny rabbit 🙂

Step 12: Apply lip liner and lipstick, Coat with a layer of gloss for better shine.

Step 13: Accessorise with bindi and white liquid bindi. Unfortunately I didn’t have a long bindi so had to make do with a round one.

Add your required jewellery and your look is complete.

Final look :

 

 

Photography : Anisha Mahapatra

Model:Aditi Manja

Concept and make up : Priya Kumar

The importance of a weekend

Most people have Saturday and/or Sunday as weekends. I pretty much choose my weekend . Earlier I used to take Monday as my weekend and it would get my roommates really irritated because they would see me on a monday morning sipping chai and listening to weird yoga music. 🙂

These days I have been taking Thursdays as my weekend. I mean it is still not technically my weekend as I have my morning Bharatanatyam class , but still it counts because that is the only weekday where I don’t have an evening class.

Thursdays give me  good time to plan stuff for the coming few months. I tend to go on a rut with short term goals and forget about the long term plans.

A couple of updates from my side. First one being that I am planning an annual showcase for all my students I teach by end of August. Second one, and the bigger news is that I am working on one concept for my first ever production. I am thoroughly excited about it. It’s still in the formative stages and right now I am just figuring out logistics and budget. If any of you want to be a part sponsor and feei our production might have potential, please let me know. I’ll be jumping with joy if my entire production can be covered by sponsors itself. 🙂

Other general updates are that I had gained quite a bit of weight last month and I am working towards shedding it soon. My dance teacher told me this amazing recipe which gives you immense strength and at the same time not add to your waistline. I’ll post the recipe in the next post.

Also, I had a reader ask me how to make flyers or posters without photoshop. I’ll be posting a tutorial on that too, very soon, 🙂

Time to hit the bed , goodnight readers !!!

Do It Yourself Costume Look #2 : Indian Contemporary Dhoti Pant

My ex roommate and also my closest friend in Bangalore seems to think I am slowly turning into a hippie. I guess it’s because of the nose piercing I got done recently. But also because she thinks I dress like one. I have always been a big fan of all types of  harem pants. There used to be a time where I would wear only jeans for comfort wear . But after buying a couple of harem pants, I have become very used to wearing only pants of those types. the staples in my wardrobe amazingly are track pants, harem pants, shorts,jasmine pants and dhoti pants. They go with all tops and can look really bright and colorful . I am mainly fond of their fabric which is mainly cotton or Lycra mix.

I really like incorporating dhoti pants into dance performances. It’s got ideal combination of looking Indian but at the same time providing enough room to do a lot floor work . (Unlike lehengas, which restrict you only tno standing movements . Not saying I don’t like lehengas though)

There was one such time where we were in a crisis of costumes and we decided to create dhoti pant. In my previous post I had added picture of a few girls dancing in green and black.

Today I am going to create a modified dhoti pant which you can wewhere any Indian contemporary dances using a tank top or a gurjari work blouse. Gurjari is this handloom brand which sells beautiful fabric work from Gujarat. I am big Gujju by heart, so I absolutely love the work.

Anyway, let me start with this tutorial and hope you like it.

Step 1 :

Use a broad dupatta which is about 45 inches in width. Normally in the market you would get two width options, called “panna” in Hindi. One is 36 inch and the other is 45 inch.  The dupatta used in the photo is made by my mom ten years back for some stance show of mine. She bought one marble saree and cut it in two halves and made two dupattas.

Take the dupatta around the waist and pull it behind till both the ends are equally placed.

 

Step 2 :

Tie a small knot behind to keep the dhoti in place. You can put safety pins too. I have just tied a double knot here.

Step 3 :

Take the left side of the remaining dupatta and bring it in front in between the legs, almost resembling the Marathi Style Saree except for the fact that this will be brought to the front from the back. Pleat the remaining dupatta and tuck it in using safety pins as shown in the picture.

 

Step 4 :

Take the right side of the dupatta which was behind and pleat it behind and tuck it in such a way that we have two sets of pleats, one in the front and one behind.

Final look :

As a last tip, if you are looking to buy dhoti pants or harem pants, there are two places worth going. One is Tibeten plaza in brigade road. Also the roadside shopping of Commercial Street is sure to get you beautiful, comfortable pants.

Happy Shopping !!! 🙂

Please give us suggestions so that we could improve and make better tutorials.

Photo Courtesy : Anuj Krishna

Model : Madri Mankad , yet again 🙂

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Do It Yourself Costume Look #1 : Greek Goddess

In continuation to the previous post , we decided to start off with the easiest look possible. This  costume can be worn as a contemporary dance costume or even for the next party you want to go to. No one will know the difference .

Things you need to create this look –

1.Tank Top or a Tube Top

2. Leggings or cycling shorts (depending on comfort)

3.Single dupatta (2.5metres cloth of 36 inch width or more)

4. Cloth belt or any belt of your choice

5.Hair Accessories

Let’s get started.

Step 1:

Take a dupatta of 2.5 metres or more depending on color and fabric desired. I would suggest using materials like chiffon or georgette which is reasonable as well as flows well for contemporary dances. I took a dupatta from a salvar-kameez set.

Step 2 :

Fold the dupatta into half and tie a knot in the centre of the dupatta. You can alter the length of the dress according to the knot in the centre. If you are looking to create a shorter dress than tie double knots . The bigger the knot ,the cuter your dress will look .Also if you want an uneven length look then do not tie the knot in centre but off the centre which will create the uneven look.

Step 3 :

Secure with a safety pin on one side to ensure the dress stays and doesn’t come in the way of dancing .

Step 4 :

Repeat the process on the left.

Step 5 :

Add a belt to add definition to the waist. I tied a bow behind to make it look cute . You can also use strings and braid it into a belt and tie around the waist .

Step 6 :

Finish off with an accessory . You can add flowers on the head or take a coloured thread and add on to the forehead and finish the Greek goddess look. (My puppy walked in when we were taking pictures and hence she too decided to model for this look,you can see her in my arms)

Final look :

Hope you liked this costume look.

if you have any suggestions or ideas please feel free to write to us at :

priya.kumar.0707@gmail.com

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Photo Courtesy : Anuj Krishna

Model : The ever gorgeous Madri Mankad

PS : This is the first time I took pictures,edited them, and blogged with my new IPad mini. Love how compact this is!!!:)

 

DIY Costumes : How to Create Costumes Last Minute at Home

I have stopped keeping count on the number of times that I have relied upon a tailor to finish my costume on time and they have ditched me last minute. That moment when he says the costume is not ready and you have less than three hours before starting a show, and all you are left with a total state of panic, horror.

Right from my college days, I had this fascination for Dupattas or Scarves and for most of my college events where everyone was supposed to look pretty, I would create my own dress using multiple Dupattas in contrast or similar colors. There were many such times where my state of wardrobe-of-pretty-dresses would only have a few shorts/track pants and t shirts or tank tops. I love dressing up but the Gujju instinct in me stops from spending too much on clothes.

Most of the times I went to the market and bought 3 metres of chiffon cloth of a particular color, or bought two Chunnis at some local store for Rs.70 each , would come home, wear a pair of leggings and a tube top and start draping the Dupatta the way I would want. And would finally put a belt on top to add definition. I have done that even with blouses and created beautiful patterns using the help of my roommates.

After I became a full time dancer, I encountered one such situation where I discovered how to make a dhoti pant and team it with any top.

Can you observe the pant that all of us are wearing? While it actually looks like a readymade Bharatanatyam costume,

it is actually totally made using just a piece of cloth. In my next post, I will be posting a detailed photo tutorial of how to tie this Dhoti pant at home. Its my birthday tomorrow and I am already excited so going to prep for it!!! 🙂

Goodnight readers!!!

The Multitasking Dancer

Having spent the last two and a half years (almost) being a full time dancer I have seen how important it is for a dancer to not only know dancing, but a lot of other things as well.

In no priority order, they are as follows :

1.Make-Up : Dancer or no dancer, everyone knows the magic of make up. This takes second place (first being dance itself). You won’t find a make up artist at every performance you go to. And not just performances, even photo shoots or video shoots. Not everyone can afford a good make up artist so it is very important for you to know how to do make up. And the more versatile your make up skills can get, the more glamour and drama you can add to your stage presence. So if you are heading a troupe for a performance, whether or not they know makeup , but you definitely should. This makes you a more well-equipped leader (or well-armed, may I say so)

 

2.Music/Video Editing : I can’t begin to explain the importance of this one. I edit approximately five music pieces a day and know how much of a handicap it can be if one does not know music editing. And trust me, editing is the simplest thing to do. One does not need to have complex softwares and have any technical skill to do music editing. There are two parts to music editing softwares one should have .

a)Audio/Video Editing Software : I use Windows Movie Maker for normal music editing like clipping and merging music samples. I have a netbook and it can get really stuck if you are trying to use multiple softwares. For more advanced editing like changing tempo or noise removal I use Audacity. Both are freely available and can be installed in your computer.

b)Audio/Video Converter : A lot of times, especially using Movie Maker there are a few audio/video formats which are not compatible with your software. It is always handy to have a audio/video converter in that case. The most common compatibility issue I have come across is the .mov video format which is the default format in every camera. Windows Movie Maker cannot be compatible with .mov. I have this software called Any Video Converter. I accidentally found this software on the internet one day when I was struggling to publish a dance workshop video. This is the best software I have on my computer because it converts Anything into Anything (and trust me, I am not exaggerating). This is a lean, mean, hassle free software which converts all types of video and audio formats. I am so thankful for the creators of this software for not only making such a cool software but also being kind enough to keep it freeware. You can download it from the following link. http://download.cnet.com/Any-Video-Converter/3000-2194_4-10661456.html

c)Youtube Downloader : Something to download video from youtube incase you heard good stuff there. I don’t really have a software that I use but have this cool website called http://www.keepvid.com where you just copy paste links of youtube and can get your desired format. I generally use .flv to download simply because it is the fastest. Incase I need to use some piece of music, then I just take this .flv video to my favorite Any Video Converter and convert it into audio.

d)Itunes : This is simply because I am a huge Apple fan and I have realised the importance of having a Macbook to do any kind of creative work on the computer. Itunes has a very vast collection of different genres of songs you can hear and then buy the ones you like the most. But if you don’t own a Macbook, you can try the different websites like raaga.com for Indian Music or last.fm etc. to hear music.

 

3. Costume Design : Costumes can make or break your performance. There can be nothing more disastrous than a bad outfit for a performance. And in today’s competitive world of dance where every dance company is coming up with such innovative ideas, one has to keep up in terms of fashion and costume design. The knowledge of fabric, costume ideas, comfort in costumes etc. all are important. What I do. Keep checking out photos on http://www.pinterest.com and http://www.highheelconfidential.com . Also I buy a lot of second hand magazines (Indian and International). I am especially fond of this magazine called LFW(London Fashion Week) magazines from Shivajinagar, Bangalore for Rs.20 each. Also please find a tailor who can cater to your needs. I have found a couple, but it requires tremendous amount of patience to explain what you want and you might not get the desired output. I am one step away from buying a sewing machine due to the sheer helplessness at times. But if you do find a good tailor, stick with him/her and tell him you’ll get him good business 😉 

4.Communication Skills : You can’t be a good teacher if you can’t explain. You cannot impress audience if you cannot speak the right things. Learn terminology of body parts. Get skilled in understanding right left directions and learn to invert them. For example, when I am normally teaching I always askall to take out their right hand and I take out my left hand (mirror images are much more useful than lateral inversions). Also, as a choreographer/budding-dancer-wanting-to-start-a-dance-company one has to be able to talk well to corporates/event management companies . This is the same thing like most company interviews, they might see your skill but they will definitely check your communication skills. But again, we always have exceptions. I know of a lot of people who don’t have the best communication skills but are brilliant dancers. My only take is that those dancers can get even better and gain more PR if they have communication skills. 

Keep all these points in mind, but remember, do not forget to practice your dancing , because your dancing needs to be top notch for everything else to fall into place.