At the beginning of every year, in January or February, I take 30 belly dancers from many different ports-of-call on a 10-day belly dance retreat, to live, dance and swim with me on the island of Maui. This adventure was born in 1991, when Visionary Dance Productions was on the island filming a new performance video. In one segment, I danced a cheftitelli right into the sea!

This dance proved to be so exhilarating, the experience was so sensational, that I put together the retreat so that other dancers could experience this thrill of what I now dub "sea-faring belly dancing".

What I want to share with you is how I went about constructing my Sea-Faring Belly Dance Costumes.

Costume One, 1991: The image I had in mind for the over-all effect of the costume was to suggest tousled seaweed and sculpted reefs.

I used 9-10 yards of plastic, gumball sized curtain beads in two shades of green, alternating with strings of green and pink; about four yards of opalescent white pearls for accents; a Six Way Bra ($6.00, Night and Day Intimates' catalog); green iris sequins (Jehlor Fantasy Fabrics); lightweight, ribbed, metallic green fabric for the skirt, belt form and headpiece.

Using the same metallic green fabric for the skirt and belt gave me the mer-maid-like effect I sought. The skirt was straight, slit on one side, with a scalloped hem. The belt bad a simple "V" front line. Curtain beads, sewn flat into swirling patterns and then loosely draped, decorated the bottom edges of the bra and belt.

The headpiece was soft-sculptured and made from scraps of fabric. I made headbands and decorated them with drapes of beads, twists of sequins and sew-on jewels. The headbands were tied on crisscross fashion to give a rich, bejeweled, but slightly "ship-wrecked" effect. More loose strands of beads were then threaded through the headbands, draped under the chin and woven into the hair. For additional effect, a couple of the strands of beads were used to fashion simple armbands and then combined with ready-made "slave" bracelets.

Since this was the first time I had designed a costume to go into the water, I made a few mistakes. The skirt's hem was too wide; it filled with sand. After each shooting, the hem had to be opened, emptied and re-hemmed by band. The skirt fabric, once wet, got much heavier than I expected. I found that the elastic was too lightweight and that the side closure seams needed to be much sturdier. The pull of the waves ripped the skirt's side open on my very first dance into the sea.

Salt water is corrosive stuff; it eats your eyelash glue off immediately. It also ate right through the hot-glue I had used on some of the beadwork while constructing the costume. Luckily, I had brought my glue gun and was able to make repairs, but I wouldn't use hot-glue for another water costume. After each shoot, the costume had to be thoroughly rinsed in mesh water, shaped and dried. However, the belt straps (discussed in detail in Delilah's Costume Workshop), kept my belt snugly in place despite the pulling action of the surf and while under the water.

Costume Two, 1992: The theme here was inspired by an old print I have of a "Matahari-looking" woman standing in the sand next to a pirate's bounty.

I started with a pre-made, gold satin-knit bikini, and a couple reels of inexpensive Christmas tree garlands made of cream-colored pearls. I also had a handful of spare "jewels", enough shiny gold knit fabric for a skirt and gold netting for a veil.

Since I had learned how corrosive the sea is, I picked inexpensive materials. Remembering the strength of the surf, I sewed everything with doubly-strong thread and made things tighter than average. This dance is my "give-away", an annual ritual where I adorn my body and dance into the arms of the Great Mother. If the costume doesn't last past the event, that's okay. I'll undoubtedly make a new one for 1993.

The most valuable tip gleaned from this year's sea-faring costume project was how to connect strands of fused beads to one another. There used to be a thing called a "double-sided bead cap" that clasped a bead in each direction, but I'll be darned if I can find one. Glue, as I learned from Costume One, is not a good idea so I tried wire.

By wrapping wire around the connecting strands on both sides of the last bead of the strand, and wrapping length-wise, then around the bead's girth, I made a kind of cage-like clasp. It's undetectable unless you are up dose and it doesn't look bad, even then. The technique serves very well, and is quick as well as cheap to do.

The gold knit skirt was straight with a split up the front and a sash drape. The belt was made from heavy gold elastic strapping and given a jeweled, buckled front.

The prongs on some of the jewels I was using started catching on everything. I cured the problem by veiling the offending jewels in the gold netting, which turned out to look great. By solving the problem, I discovered a very effective new design technique. So don't curse the problems you run into; they open up new ideas.

It was hard to figure out the dimensions for the draping and festooning of the strings of pearls. I had a friend wear the costume while I positioned the pearls and then sewed them on. When she wasn't available, I wore the costume myself and became a contortionist as I sewed those hard to reach places. But, hey, it's good practice for the dance, right? See you on the beach in '93.

Delilah (Seattle, WA ) is a popular dancer and seminar instructor as well as costumer. She has starred in many videos, including a number she has co-produced with her husband. Steve Flynn, through their company, Visionary Belly Dance Productions. Delilah is the originator of the Hawaiian Bellydance Retreat, a new innovation.