Folk Costumes: Europe

Hello everyone! Today I will make a compilation of some of my old folk costume articles from SDC and this week I will focus on Europe. The countries I will include are: Germany/Austria, Portugal, Russia, Romania, and Serbia. I'm very interested in Serbia and Russia in particular. 

Germany/Austria:

A dirndl is a set of clothing consisting of a knee length skirt, a peasant blouse, and a waist coat/vest and an apron . It originates from Austria. It was originally worn by servants but was picked up by the upper class women in 1870. The full word for dirndl is "dirndlgewand" which means "maids dress".

Portugal:

There are many different folk costumes in Portugal, varying from region to region. I have chosen the folk costume from the province of Viana do Castelo which used to be called Minho.  

The local term for this folk costume is "Lavradeira" or "Traje Domingueiro" which means "Sunday Clothes". Minho folk costume consists of; a skirt that is either red, black or white, an apron called a "Avental do tear", a waist pouch called "Algibeira", a cape called "Capotilha",  black shoes, and a white and blue blouse. Filigree gold jewelry is also worn with the folk costume. Portuguese filigree jewelry is very well made and very detailed usually containing hearts called "Coração Português" or crosses. Silk or lace head scarves are also usually worn with the folk costume.

Lavadiera used to be worn everyday in the old days, but now it is only worn on special occasions. Also the styles can vary between social class and age. 

Romania:

Like most folk costumes Romanian folk costume is not worn very often by regular people in day to day life, however before WW1 many people wore these garments on a daily basis. Romanians still do wear traditional clothes for special occasions and folk events in the present.

Women's folk costume consists of 3 parts: a peasant blouse called a "Le", a skirt called a "Fotă", and a head scarf called "Maramă". 'Le' blouses are white with traditional embroidery and are gathered around the collar. 'Fotă' skirts are long wrap-around skirts that are decorated and are made of wool material. There are a few different names for Fotă skirts depending on the region you are from like "pestelcă" in Muntenia, "cretință" in Moldova, and "păstură"in Transylvania just to name a few. Head scarves called "Maramă" are usually worn with the folk costume, the design varies from region to region. 

Russia:

Russian folk costume for women consists of a kokoshnik which a tiara like headdress, a peasant blouse and a sarafan dress. The kokoshnik headdress is a tall usually crescent shape tiara tied in the back.  Kokoshniks were originally worn by married women with a slightly different headdress for maidens called povyazka. Russian women always wore kokoshnik headdresses on special occasions until the Russian Revolution in 1917. A sarafan is a pinafore dress worn over a peasant blouse. Sarafan dresses can be plain or fancy depending on the occasion. After the 18th century most upper and middle class women stopped wearing sarafan as day to day wear. Most peasant women wore sarafan until the 20th century. 

Serbia:

Šumadija:

Timočka Krajina:

Belgrade:

Serbian folk costume varies quite a lot from region to region.  

The essentials for women's Serbian folk costumes are a embroidered peasant blouse,  a vest called a "jelek" or "zubun", a full skirt and opanci shoes. Coin jewelry is also worn with Serbian folk costume

I hope you enjoyed my article about European Folk Costume. I will make more of these article in the future.

Folk Costumes: Africa

Hello everyone! Today I will be compiling some of my folk costume articles from SDC. This time I will focus on the African folk costumes. Unfortunately because some of the African folk costumes were hard to recreate in the game I only have 2 articles about folk costume from Africa. The 3 countries I will be showing in this article here are Nigeria and Ethiopia/Eritrea.

Nigeria:

Buba and Iro is a 2 piece set of clothing that consists of a Buba (blouse) and waist wrapper skirt (Iro). This set is usually worn with a head wrap called Gele. This set of clothing is one of the main traditional clothes worn by Yoruba women. It is also a common folk costume in neighbouring cultures but has a different name and style than Nigerian Buba and Iro. Women in Nigeria wear Buba and Iro for special occasions and sometimes day to day wear. The Buba and Iros for special occasions are made of exquisite traditional fabrics. Many brides in Nigeria wear Buba and Iro for their traditional wedding with a matching suit made for the groom.

Ethiopia and Eritrea:

The Habesha people are an ethnic group of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Mainly they live in the Ethiopian Highlands and Eritrean Highlands. Habesha is the word to describe a few very similar ethnic groups including Amhara, Tigray, Tigre, Guarage, and Harari. They are of a variety of religions: Orthodox Christian, Sunni Muslim, Catholic and Judaism.

Habesha Kemis is the name of  the dress worn by Habesha women. In English it is called "The Ethiopian Coffee Dress". It is a long chiffon or linen dress that is either white, grey or beige fabric. It usually has very colourful traditional embroidery. Many women wear them with a long matching shawl called netela. These dresses are worn on special occasions by Habesha women and are a big part of their culture.

Thank you for reading, I will publish more like these articles soon. Then I will start on countries I didn't write articles about when I was with SDC. 

-Amy Katrina

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How to Stay Warm in The Winter

Hello everyone! Today my article will be a life hack. As you all know, winter is slowly approaching and it's going to get cold. This article will be simple things to stay warm when it starts to get cold. I live in central Manitoba, one of the coldest places in Canada outside the arctic. I also have been winter camping with Girl Guides and have picked up a few tricks to stay warm. I will list from head to toe things you can do to keep warm. I also have tips for a warm sleep.

Here is how to stay warm using clothing: 

Head: Wear a toque, try to find one that covers your ears. DO NOT wear just earmuffs. Heat radiates out of the head so wearing a full toque will keep the heat in, as opposed to ear muffs where the heat can escape. 

Neck: Wear a wool scarf. Wrap it around so it covers your whole neck. You can pull it over your mouth if it is windy or you are walking

Torso: Wear layers. Start with an undershirt that you tuck into your pants (this will keep the heat in). Then add a shirt, then a sweater preferably something warm like wool or polar fleece that can zip up to your neck.  Then your winter jacket of course. Zip it up all the way.

Hands: Mittens. Layer them so you have at least 2 pairs on. Stay away from gloves. Gloves separate the fingers and the fingers can't keep the heat in the same. If you want to wear gloves, wear them inside your mittens. Materials for your mittens also matters, try for wool, thermo material or leather. If you layer them, put the wool mittens on first.

Legs: Wear leggings or long-johns underneath you pants. I also know people wear their pyjama pants underneath their pants. Wear pants that are thicker like denim or corduroy. If you have ski pants, then wear your ski pants over your regular pants.

Feet: Socks. Preferably wool or polyester wool. Do not wear cotton, because cotton wicks up the moisture from your feet and will just make your feet colder. Wear 2 layers of socks if it is really cold. For even more warmth, tuck your pant leg into your socks. Finally, wear winter boots.

Now I have some tips for sleeping:

-Sleep with a hoodie on, and pull the hoodie up over your hair, like I said above heat escapes through the top of your head.

-Wear Socks, and tuck your pyjama bottoms into the socks.

-Have many blankets to layer. I have 4 blankets in my room all different thicknesses and warmth levels.

-If you have money buy an electric heated blanket

-Do not put a space heater close to your bed, that can be dangerous.

-Sleep in the fetal position, this keeps all the heat towards your body

I hope you benefit from this list. I'm always cold so I know all the tricks for keeping warm. I have used these tips while camping and at home. I know lots of people who are also always cold, and this list is for you. 

The History of Classical Dance in India

Hello everyone! I found an old assignment from Mr. K's class on my computer that I can make into a blog post. It is about the 8 Classical Dances in India and the history behind them. This assignment was a PowerPoint, so I have modified it for this post obviously. I will include videos of each dance that I linked to in the original PowerPoint. I made this assignment for Grade 12 World History. I hope you enjoy this article even though it is old work and not that in depth.

The History of Classical Dance in India

Indian dance has many common elements, like gunghroo (anklets with bells, Murda (ancient sign language).
The dances are all ways of telling sacred Hindu stories through movement and Murda (ancient sign language) and are based on Natya Shastra from 400 BCE

Classical dances are all performed in Temples. And royal courts.

The classical dances are considered elemental, Bharata Natyam being fire, Kuchipudi being earth, Odissi is water, Mohiniyattam being air, Kathakali is sky.

Most of these dances were supressed during the British Raj. There has been a modern rebirth of these dances.

Odissi ଓଡ଼ିଶୀ

Oldest surviving form of Indian dance. Oldest evidence of Odissi is found in a cave called Manchapuri, where carved images of dances in 2nd century BCE. Odissi was originally a dance preformed at temples, not just Hindu temples but also Jain and Buddhist temples. Female dancers called Maharis were considered wives of the god Jagganath and devoted their lives to dance.

Bharata Natyam பரதநாட்டியம்

Also known as Sadir Attam
Bharata Natyam originated in the golden age called the Sangam of Tamil language arts.
Many dancers were Devadasis which has caused much controversy in its rebirth.
Bharata Natyam owes it’s modern rebirth to 4 brothers who documented it, Chinnayya, Ponnayya, Vadivelu, Sivanandam or the “Tanjore Quartrate” as their called in the dance community.

Kathak कथक

The name Kathak comes from Kathakas, which means storyteller. Kathakas were storytellers that passed the dances along to their children.
This dance was preformed in Mughal courts, by female dancers. Kathak has a lot of Persian influence.
Kathak was also preformed by tawaifs, as seen in the Bollywood movie “Umrao Jaan”.

Kuchipudi కూచిపూడి

Started in the village Kuchipudi Krishna, Andhra Pradesh.
Like other classical dance it is preformed in temples. Kuchipudi is a blend of Odissi and Bharata Natyam.
The dance was hidden so the Devadasi’s wouldn’t pick up this dance.
A unique part of Kuchipudi is dancing on a big brass plate with diyas(candles) in both hands while balancing a small water vessel on their head.

Mohiniyattam മോഹിനിയാട്ടം
Mohiniyatttam is preformed by women only. It was started in the 17th century in Kerala. Like the Tamil “Sangam” age, this period is considered to be the golden age of Kerala arts.
The name Mohiniyattam comes from the word Mohini meaning ‘enchanting women’ and Attam wich means dance. Put together it means “dance of the enchanrtess”

Kathakali കഥകളി

Like Mohiniyattam, Kathakali Originated in Kerala in the 17th century. Preformed by men only. The stories they tell through dance are based on the gods Rama and Krishna.
The dance lends from 2 other very similar dances “Krishnanattam and Ramanattam”
Kathakali uses lots of makeup and costumes.

Manipuri मणिपुरी नृत्य

This dance originates from Manipur, close to Myanmar. Based on tribal dances. Like Kathakali many of the stories are  about the god Krishna. Most preformances are about the ‘Raslila” story of Radha and Krishna.
Manipuri dancers do not wear ghungroo (anklets)

Sattriya সত্ৰীয়া নৃত্য

Sattriya is from Assam. It originated in the 15th century. It was created by the saint Srimanta Sankardeva. Like other classical dances it it telling stories through dance.
Sattriya wasn’t considered a classical dance till 2000

Sources:
www.wikipedia.org
www.youtube.com
http://onlinebharatanatyam.com
http://indiandancestyles.net

http://www.edmontonragamala.ab.ca