MY OTHER CAR IS A BROOMSTICK

It’s a few weeks before Halloween, which has always been my favorite holiday ever...  so, in honor of the season, here is an article about the way I feel about lending out my costumes at this time of year. 

 I wrote this in October 2010, but of course, it still applies!

If you are like me- and if you’re reading this, I’m relatively sure you are- you're already aware that this is the time of year when everyone you know hits you up about borrowing or even renting your stage costumes.

 Call me selfish, call me witchy, or just call me a “Hallo-weenie”… but I NEVER lend my costumes out for Halloween (or  for Burning Man, or any other event for that matter) unless I already know it’s something that could be replaced, or is an item  I could easily part with.

The stage costumes I own, not to mention my crazy collection of circus outfits, pirate hats, robot suits, saloon girl headdresses, feather fans, vintage corsets, kitty ears, rhinestone studded masquerade masks, wigs, super-hero boots, vampire capes, real and fake fur coats- need I go on? - are the "tricks of my trade", not a treat for someone who won't respect them. 

They took a long time and a lot of money for me to collect, not to mention the cost of  maintaining them.

My costume collection could probably have it’s own episode on the show “Hoarders”, but there’s a reason I have all this stuff around: it’s my livelihood! 

These pieces are my tools, my office supplies, and my working uniform... and in most cases, very expensive. But whether it’s an Egyptian  belly dance costume I paid $700.00 for, a vintage  burlesque outfit  or pair of  old character shoes  that I embellished myself, they are professional accoutrements that I can’t do my job properly without.

Oh, I used to be very generous about lending out costumes and costume pieces for non-dancers to use at Halloween parties, but it always ended badly.

Things would come back to me (usually months later) ripped, stained, with burn-holes from cigarettes or wax from candles, or just covered in cheap drugstore make-up or greasepaint from  Halloween Headquarters or The Spirit Store. And some things never came back at all!

Would you lend someone your laptop if you knew they were going to use it-and maybe accidentally leave it- at a club? Would you let a friend borrow an expensive camera to bring to a party where all the guests were going to be falling-down drunk? I thought not!

I think the reason most “civilians” want to borrow costumes is simply because they want to look good… and they also have nothing but the best intentions in borrowing these things.

  But the average person doesn’t realize that for their seasonal party-needs, a $30.00 costume from the toy store would be fine.

Want some help with your Halloween make-up? I’d be happy to assist you.

But don’t even think about asking to borrow my costumes… cause you’ll have to pry them out of my cold, dead hands!

IT'S A WRAP!

 

Tanya Lemani dancing for Captain Kirk and the rest of the team on "Star Trek"

Classic American Cabaret belly dance-also known as Vintage Orientale- is currently having A Moment. The style  is experiencing a resurgence,  becoming very popular with younger dancers , many of whom were not even born when this type of dancing  was in it’s heyday during the 1960's through the 1980's.

When I began my career in the early 1990’s, I was trained primarily in the Egyptian style, but Vintage Oriental was still very much with us, especially for restaurant dancers.  Audiences expected to see a lot of  veil and finger cymbal work.

American Cabaret  doesn’t just use music from one genre or country- it’s a lovely pastiche of many types of rhythms and  songs  from all over the Middle East,  North Africa and Central Asia. Finger cymbals and extensive veil work are a couple of the hallmarks of this style,  and  I often get requests in my workshops  to show some of the  exotic veil wraps  that were used “back in the day”. 

The old-school wrap  Photo: Lapis

If you’d like to experiment with this style, enter with your veil wrapped around you. You can use a separate veil to enter, or just come onto the stage with your cymbals a-blaze.   After an opening piece,  do a slow taxim or chiftetelli  piece,  and incorporate some veil moves.

For starters, try this simple, pretty wrap:

 Extend your left arm out and parallel to the floor. Drape your veil length-wise over it so equal halves hang in front and in back.  Make sure the hems are even and straight.  Pick up the  front half  of the veil and bring it across your chest, tucking the long hem into your bra straps and the left and right sides.

 Tuck the corner of the gathered fabric into your costume at the right hip.

 Now, take the portion of the veil that was hanging on the back of your left arm, gather it up at the far  corner, and tuck that it into the center back of your costume. If you like, you can also tuck the front  part of the veil in at each hip, and blouse it out for a billowy Grecian Goddess effect.

 

Un-wrapping the veil  Photo: Ken Vegas

 To unwrap, take the portion of the veil from the bra straps with both hands and slowly pull the veil way from you, so that the end tucked in your costume’s right hip releases. Play with the veil like this for a few moments, holding it in front of you, moving or spinning slowly. When you want to release the end of the veil that was tucked into the back, simply pull the hem of the entire veil away from you, and it will come un-tucked easily.

SHADOWS AND LIGHT : BODY CONTOURING TRICKS FOR THE STAGE

You want to look as gorgeous as possible onstage, right?  You contour and highlight your face to accentuate your features before you go onstage to make them stand out or recede... For dancers, especially when wearing costumes that show a lot of skin, the same techniques can be applied to the body, to accentuate your muscles and curves. It’s a pretty simple process: whatever body part is lighter will stand out, and those that are darker will recede.

Princess Farhana by Maharet Hughes

 Here are some  cool tips  for cheating just a little bit to get your body as beautiful as your face:

With a full, fluffy brush, apply a thin stripe of pearly white, pinkish bronze or golden highlighting powder down the center of the arms and legs to make them look longer. While you’re at it, dust some of the same powder around the curves of your shoulders,and lightly across the tops of the breasts to make them appear fuller and more prominent.

Shading and contouring is just as easy. For this, you will want to use a matte color. Stay away from pearly or frosty cosmetics, because they attract light, and you will be using your contouring colors on areas which you want to appear to be shadowed.

Use a slightly smaller brush than the one you used for highlighting to dust on a darker contouring shade to the places you want to recede. A rosy brick tone or bronze color that is a shade or two darker than your own skin usually works well for people with fair to olive skin, but using matte brown colors will appear muddy on fair to olive skin. If your skin is darker, don’t be afraid to use deeper, richer browns, but make sure to keep the contour color just a couple of shades darker than your own skin tone.

Drawing a soft, smudged line in the center of your cleavage will accentuate it and make it seem deeper.  Make sure the actual line isn’t visible- blend it well.

For the torso, softly brush the contour color you’ve selected onto all the spots that you want to underscore and shadow, giving the impression of more muscle tone.

Royal Secret Alert: since I do a lot of abdominal work when I belly dance and want to accentuate it, I do this all the time!

Using my contour color, I start by drawing a thin, faint line down the center of my abdomen from the cleavage to my navel, along my abdominus rectus, the long muscle that runs the length of the torso. Then I draw two more vertical lines, one on each side of the muscle.

I suck my breath in hard, look in the mirror, and brush soft contouring color into the hollows that have formed under my top ribs. I start near the center of my bra, and shade the color out towards the sides. After that, I brush on diagonal lines up the inside crest of my hipbones, pointing outwards to accentuate the cut in my obliques to make them seem more defined.

Without blending the contouring color, it will look like you have a long diamond shape drawn on your torso, with three lines up the center, dividing it. Once you blend the darker shade in and soften it up a little, brush a little translucent powder over the whole area to blend it even more. Believe me, it’ll look like you have fantastic abdominal muscle definition, especially in a dark restaurant or on a bright stage.

When I use this trick, people in the audience always comment on how ripped my torso looks…but then, those same people also tell me I have gigantic eyes, too!

All make up–but especially stage make up-is an illusion…so why limit the beautiful fantasy to your face?

*This article is an excerpt from my new book, "The Belly Dance Hand Book", which will be available November, 2013

GIRLS ON FILM

   Most dancers leap at the chance to get on film. We love having our performances documented for posterity, and we always need great promotional shots to get our jobs, so that means we spend a lot of time schmoozing with photographers and videographers.  But in this wonderfully symbiotic relationship between the subject and the people behind the lens, there can be a few potential bumps in the road. 

 You know how sad and short-changed you feel when your name gets left off an event poster, or you aren’t mentioned in a show program?  Or when someone uses your image, but your name isn't on it?  It feels awful!

The sad truth is that dancers commit that very same sin against the people who take their pictures all the time, by neglecting to give credit to the photographer who created their image! Read any dance magazine, check out promotional post cards, show posters or just take a look on Facebook…and what you usually won’t see is a photo credit!

Like dancers, a good-or great-photographer has spent many years honing his or her craft; there are countless hours spent learning and perfecting skills, and a sizeable investment in lights, cameras and lenses, photo-editing programs and other equipment. Many photographers started out being talented and having an aptitude for what they do, but on top of this, a lot went took classes or went to college to perfect their craft.

Though you might not realize it, many photographers feel as under-paid as dancers do!  We negotiate prices for gigs that we think are fair...and we get bummed out when someone tries to negotiate our prices down.  We reason that our prices are set because we’ve sweated for years in dance classes and rehearsals spent a small fortune on costumes, and it also takes us a long time to get ready for our gigs. 

While you might feel like paying for your photos is expensive, look at it from the photographer’s view point: sweating for years in a photo lab before there was digital photography, spending an entire evening retouching just one image, and that's not even counting all the time and money it takes to book studio time, to set up lights and backdrops…or schlepping all that equipment to a location to do pictures!

 Like any artist, a photographer needs to be credited; just like dancers, photographers need that name recognition so they can get more clients; so people who like the photo will be able to seek out more of the photographer’s work. Giving a photo credit is  a simple professional courtesy, and it’s free – it costs you nothing to take a couple of minutes to do. And with compelling images going viral all over the internet on social media like Facebook and Tumblr and every other site, leaving a photo credit off is not just a disservice to the photographer, it’s practically a crime…so please, take a moment to remember to give credit where credit is due.

 The same goes for videos, especially if they are posted on YouTube.  Even if you paid to be filmed at a dance festival, it’s just considerate and polite to credit the videographer…who needs to work as much as you do…and who loves to be recognized for their art in the same way you do! The videographers who work at dance festivals are there for many hours at a stretch filming the entire show, not just your performance. They rarely even  get a  bathroom break, even if they have an assistant.

  Something else that I see all the time at dance festivals is people talking loudly around the video camera. These thoughtless individuals are often the ones who  are asking stupid questions of the videographer while he or she is working. While you might think that the camera just needs to be set up and sit there, that is far from the truth.  As the camera person works, they are checking contrast as the stage lights change, adjusting sound levels, zooming the focus  in or out, burning the videos onto CDs or putting them on flash-drives. They are probably also  doing the paperwork  for  all the people who didn’t take advantage of the offer to pre order their videos…something that makes life easier for everyone- the videographer and the client!  So please, save your questions for a break in the performance.

 And then there are  also those who like to dissect other dancer’s performances, blow-by-blow, right next to the camera! Even if something nice is being said, if it is being said too close to the video camera, the chatter will get picked up on the soundtrack, pretty much rendering the video un-useable.  At festivals, we all get just one chance to strut our stuff on stage, and imagine what you would feel like if another performer  ruined your video by talking all the way through it!  Whoever does this is being super disrespectful of the performer and  videographer as well. Don't be that  thoughtless person.

 Ok, I’m done with my rant…but pretty please with sugar on top of it remember that photographers and videographers are artists as well, and treat them with the same respect that you would any performer, because they deserve it!

 

FALLING INTO FALL

 Happy Labor Day everyone!
 Eek!  It's the last weekend of summer... how can that be? Back to school, back to work and  I'm rolling into fall with a full schedule, which you can see  below.      

Photo & design by Maharet Hughes

 Many of you have been emailing me asking  when The Belly Dance Handbook will be published.  Excited to announce that the release date for that book is November 11, 2013. I can't wait for you to see it- it's been a labor of love and I hope you enjoy it!

 In the meantime, I have another book coming out  under my given name, Pleasant  Gehman.  It's a collection of  short stories that is a memoir, called Showgirl Confidential: My Life Onstage, Backstage And On The Road. It is published by Punk Hostage Press  at the end of September, 2013.  This book includes crazy  touring and on-the-road stories  from my wild days in punk rock to belly dancing in Egypt, from film shoots to burlesque escapades-you've seen a couple of them on this blog... Both books will be available on Amazon.com and through my website.

Photo by Dusti Cunningham design by Natasha Vetlugin

 I'm also excited to announce that next year, as well as doing my own "solo" dates,  I'll be touring with master percussionist Issam Houshan!  He was the very first drummer I ever worked with and  after years of working separately, we're reuniting.  We've cooked up a bunch of  cool workshops  and we are now booking dates now for next year and 2015.  For info please email:

 princessraqs@gmail.com

Photo: Maharet Hughes

                                                                                                  

 Workshop & Event Schedule

 (so far)  2013-2014

SEPTEMBER 15, HARRISBURG, PA   

Princess Farhana  workshops & show

Info: tonirn97@gmail.com   

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Troupe-Hayati-Belly-Dance/119887311374241

SEPTEMBER 29, HOLLYWOOD, CA

Book Release Party for Pleasant Gehman/Princess Farhana’s

Memoir, “Showgirl Confidential”

Skinny’s Lounge 4923 Lankershim, NoHo 6:30 PM FREE

https://www.facebook.com/events/301983199939593/?ref=br_tf

OCTOBER 4-6, 2013  ST. JOHN. NEW BRUNSWICK, CANADA 

Princess Farhana workshops & shows

Info: http://www.naturalmovesyoga.com/

OCTOBER 10-13, 2013  AUSTIN, TEXAS

Bahaia’s  Camparet- Cabaret Dance Camp!

Princess Farhana, Bahaia & Sa’Diyya

http://bahaia.com/

OCTOBER 25 &  26, 2013 WASHINGTON, DC

 Belladonna Presents: Raven’s Night “Villains”

PrincessFarhana show & workshops

Info: http://ravensnight.com/2013-performers/

OCTOBER 29, 2013 HOLLYWOOD, CA

Tiara Tuesdays Belly Dance Showcase 7:00pm

Moun Of Tunis 7445 ½ Sunset Blvd

Hollywood, Ca 90046

Reservations: (323)874-3333

NOV 4,  2013 NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CA

Princess Farhana  presents Amani Jabril CD release party

Skinny’s Lounge 4923 Lankershim Blvd. North Hollywood, CA

http://www.amanijabril.com/

 NOVEMBER  8, 2013, UPLAND, CA

GOTHLA US

“Darkly Sparkly”  Glamour Garage

 w/ Princess, DeVilla & Dusti Cunningham

 make up, photo posing, mini photo session

www.gothla.com

NOVEMBER 25, 2013  HOLLYWOOD, CA

Tiara Tuesdays Belly Dance Showcase 7:00pm

Moun Of Tunis 7445 ½ Sunset Blvd Hollywood, Ca 90046

Reservations: (323)874-3333

DECEMBER 8, 2013, ALHAMBRA, CA

 Old Scool Cabaret sets by Princess, Aubre, Ninschka

 Vino/ Trios, 47 Main st. Alhambra, Ca  7pm

 DECEMBER 10, 2013 N. HOLLYWOOD, CA

Second Annual “Jingle Belles Holiday Extravaganza”

 Skinny’s Lounge 4923 Lankershim, NoHo, Ca

6:30 PM $12.00

  Please bring an un-wrapped toy suitable for ages 3-12

2014

  MARCH 20-23, 2014 OCEAN CITY, MARYLAND

Art Of The Bellly

Princess Farhana Drama Queen  Intensive March 20

 Workshops & show March 22& 23

info: http://www.artofthebelly.com/

APRIL 18 & 19, 2014   EUGENE  OREGON- WITH ISSAM HOUSHAN

Info: www.medge.org

May 3, 2014  TULSA, OK

Princess Farhana Workshops & show

(Details TBA)

MAY  30, 2014  , TOPEKA, KANSAS –WITH ISSAM HOUSHAN

JULY 11-13, 2014  EL PASO, TEXAS –WITH ISSAM HOUSHAN 

TIPS FOR CREATING AND REMEMBERING CHOREOGRAPHY

 Some dancers have a knack for creating, analyzing and remembering choreographies; others…well, not so much!  I've been getting a lot of emails asking for tips on self-creating dances and  also retaining the steps in choreographies that others have written...so here are some tricks that will help you work on your own, train yourself to remember sequencing and remember all the information in the dances that others have created.

 Creating Your Own Choreographies:

 TRUST YOUR SUBCONCIOUS TO HELP YOU VISUALIZE MOVEMENT

Before making a set choreography to a piece of music, let your “inner dancer” take over. Play the music you want to work with and just improvise to it a few times.  Chances are, your right brain will take over and create lovely movement appropriate for the music you are hearing. The right or artistic side of the brain is associated with expressing emotion, listening to or creating music, recognizing faces, colors and images.

LOOK FOR THE PATTERNS

Once you’ve done some improvisation with the music you’ve chosen to choreograph, you’ll probably start to see patterns in your movement, so write them down and hone them into “natural” combinations.  Choreography is never just a string of unrelated movements, so by working organically, you will definitely see the relationship of each movement, which will help with the flow and transitions. Take notes on what steps you’re using, so you will remember them- you can always add on to them or embellish upon them later.

BREAK IT UP

Evaluate the structure of your song, breaking it into segments such as Introduction, Verses, Choruses, Bridge and Finale. If you’re working with a drum solo, do the same thing with repeating patterns and rhythmic changes.  One you’ve divided the piece into segments, you’ll have a clear picture of what needs to be repeated, or where you can add in variations. This way, you’ll also have bite-sized chunks of the full song, and can work on each section individually until it gets fully ingrained mentally and in your muscle memory.

 Memorizing Choreographies Created By Others:

REPETITION IS YOUR FRIEND

Don’t be shy about asking your teacher, troupe director or the person who created a solo piece for you to repeat sections as much as is necessary. Repetition will help you remember the choreography physically and mentally. Drill the piece endlessly facing the mirror, and away from it, so that your muscle memory takes over.

CREATE  NICKNAMES FOR MOVEMENT

 This seems a little wacky, but when we nickname a person, it means we’re feeling comfortable and getting to know them. Same goes for choreographies- calling each movement or section by an unforgettable and visual name will actually help you become more familiar with it! Instead of something like “sixteen counts of turning hip drops”, use a crazy title for the section like “Slutty Genie”, "Weird Horror Movie Sequence" or “Michael Jackson Saidi”.  It’s a trick that is actually a treat for the mind’s eye, and will help you to remember each section.

USE EYE CONTACT AND BODY AWARENESS

Both of these techniques will help you to know where you need to be at any particular point in your group choreography. Catch the eye of a troupe mate; be aware of distance and placement as you form different patterns within the group.

For Any Type Of Choreography, Group Or Solo:

Write everything down on the spot, then type up the notes after you get home. This will not only give you something to refer to, but the writing and copying will also help your brain adapt to everything your body does.

Focus on just one aspect of the choreography each time you dance it. The first time through concentrate on the footwork only, the second, third or fourth time give attention to the arms, hips, upper body or whatever.

Once you feel comfortable with the choreography, videotape yourself doing it, facing towards the camera and away from it. You can also ask your teacher or choreographer to do the same. Seeing the dance performed both ways will help you remember it fully, and you’ll also be able to follow along exactly to the version done with the performer’s back to the camera.

 Last but not least, trust yourself. By relying too much on your teacher, choreographer or troupe mates, you run the risk of being unable to perform the piece by yourself!

  You can do it!

PREENING YOUR PLUMAGE: CARING FOR YOUR FEATHER PROPS AND COSTUMES

Princess Farhana by Clint Marien

 Oh, we  dancers love us some feathers!

 Whether you’re rocking a showgirl  headdress,  a lusciously fat boa, humongous  Sally Rand fans, or  wearing  a costume trimmed with feathers, they always look  sensational onstage. They waft through the air looking elegant and ethereal or flirtatiously accent every shimmy; the phrase “shake your tail feathers” comes to mind! 

Beautiful, high quality  plumed costumes, props and accessories are also expensive.

In order to keep your costumes and props in tip-top shape, should definitely know should know how to maintain them.  One of the first things you need to remember about caring for your feather boas and fans  is that they  pick up oils from your skin quite easily. Your  natural sebaceous oils will stick to the feathers and attract more dirt.  Always wash your hands before using your fans or wearing your boas. Also, don’t wear any  potentially sticky or oily body lotions when using these props. And remember…lip gloss is literally  The Kiss Of Death onstage – not just cause it will mess up your feather  props and costume pieces, but because you’ll spend the entire show spitting errant fluff out of your mouth!

 

Here are some tips on maintaining your feather props and costume pieces:

SALLY RAND  FAN   AND OSTRICH PLUME FAN  STORAGE , CLEANING & TRANSPORTATION

Store your  plumed beauties in one of those long, sturdy locking plastic containers-Rubbermaid makes a terrific, rectangular  giant sized one…you can usually fir a couple of sets of fans in these without cramping them. Make sure to lay the feathers into the container  with the plumes facing up so you won’t break the spins.  These containers are easy to find at places like Target and Walmart. Before sealing the box for storage, make  sure to add in cedar chip sachets or  plenty of cedar balls to prevent insect infestation- moths adore fans!

Stubby Screwdrivers

 Check and maintain your fans thoroughly before each performance. Keep a  Fan Emergency Kit with you in your bag  whenever you’re gigging. It should include an extra  hex bolt  in case the one on the butt-end of your fan blades gets stripped,  a tube of  crazy glue in case your feathers start releasing from the staves,  and some pliable craft wire and a jewelry pliers. You’ll also need  a “stubby screw driver”- an adorable teensy tool that often comes with both a straight  head and a Phillips ( star-shaped) head. They’re really  inexpensive  and even come in bright colors like purple, pink and aqua!     You can even add a 3^rd string to the other two, closer to the screw end of the blades.  

I have a specially made carrying case for transporting  my Sally Rand  fans to local gigs, but  a long  document tube or Fed Ex box would work just as well! For  air travel, your fans will undoubtedly need to be checked ( they’re usually too long for the  storage bins in the cabin) so  make sure you pad whatever container you’re using well and include your little tool kit.

 STORING AND CARING FOR BOAS, FEATHERED HEADRESSES  AND FEATHERED COSTUMES

Store your feather boas in the same way  you would your Sally Rand fans or smaller feather fans- in a tightly sealed  plastic container, with cedar chips  to keep moths away.  Depending on the size of the boa, you can use a  round container, the type made for large cakes.  Coil the boa up like a snake ( a BOA snake, of course!) and   close the container. Larger boas might not fit into a cake container, so some gals store their boas in round old-school hat boxes.  When I do this, then I  seal the boa in  a  large plastic bag  with the cedar chips  before putting it in the hat box-  just to be extra careful about insect infestation. 

To store  your headdresses,  I have found that the  easiest way is to place them on a Styrofoam wig stand, and pin them securely onto the wig head itself. I then wrap the headdress in plastic wrap, sealing  it firmly around the bottom of the wig-head, and store the entire thing on a shelf.

 Again, throw in a sachet of cedar chips. If your headdress is large, you can also stick an opened-up wire hanger  or two into the Styrofoam, to  create a “tent”, holding the plastic up so it won’t break or bend the feathers.  You might also have to weigh down the bottom of the stand to prevent it from toppling over due to the height and weight of the headdress.

Feather boas and feathered headresses are simply  the height of glamour- but since feathers are basically an animal ( or rather, avian) product,  they tend to dry out over time  and can become droopy or flattened out and limp. To restore your  boas to  their brand-new fluffiness,  you’ll need to care for them and  maintain them occasionally. 

Grab your boa and briskly but gently  feathers  between your hands. This will shake off any dust as well as  fluff  up the “nap” of the feathers,  making each one  perkier.

Princess Farhana by Maharet

You can also clean the feathers on your headdresses the same way- but instead of using your entire hand, fluff each feather individually with your fingers.

For a costume that has feathered accents, do the same – just fluff the plumes with your fingers.

 Next, steam your  boa or headdress. If you have a  clothing steamer, you can hang the boa up  by one end and steam it this way, being super-careful not to get the  tip of the steamer too close to the feathers- you want the fine mist to cover the  boat, but  you don’t want it dripping wet!  Steam each section of the boa only for a few seconds, until the feathers have opened up.  For a headdress, do this while the headdress is sitting on it’s stand.

If you’re cleaning feathers  that are sewed or glued to a costume, use  your steamer in the same way.

 If you don’t own or have access to a steamer, you can also use a tea kettle or  a large  pot full of  boiling water  to steam  your  boa, holding it horizontally over the  pot or kettle, steaming it in sections.  For headdresses, just make sure to hit  the tips of the feathers with steam- try not to get the crown wet.   I wouldn’t recommend this method for costumes with feather accents, though.

Be very careful not to burn your hands or fingers- steam is just as hot-if not more so- than boiling water!

 Make sure to turn off the flame on the stove burner off while doing this or you’ll be courting disaster… BOAS AND FEATHERS ARE HIGHLY FLAMMABLE!

 WASHING YOUR FEATHER BOAS

 If your boa has become really dirty, you might need to wash it. In this case, make sure  you really  agitate the feathers to get as much dust or dirt off them as possible!  I use lukewarm water  because many dyed fathers are not colorfast.  I use  baby shampoo or a very gentle  dish detergent- nothing too harsh.   Swish the feathers around very lightly in a bathtub that’s about a quarter full. A sink is usually too small for a boa, and you definitely don’t want to break the spine of the feathers by  cramping them into a small basin!    Make sure to dry the boa  naturally,  hanging it by one end from a clothes line of a shower curtain rod.   Once in a while, I’ve hit them with a blow-dryer, but  always on the “cool” setting only.  Also, most boas are twisted when they are manufactured.  Heavier boas, such as ostrich or turkey  ruff  can lose their  twist with use ( or, of course, through washing!)  and should be periodically re-twisted to maintain their appearance.

 TAKE GOOD  CARE OF YOUR FEATHERS,  YOU'LL LOOK MAAHHVELOUS, DAAHHLING!!!!

                                                          

Princess Farhana by Michael Baxter