PDA

View Full Version : Lost a bunch of hair tonight... sigh...



school of fish
May 29th, 2016, 01:11 AM
It could have been worse, I suppose...

So, I'm a bellydancer - that's my profession. Tonight I was doing a gig and my hair got tangled up in my costume - right near the beginning of my 30min set. I tried to free the strands while performing but realized in the moment it wasn't going to happen, so I just kept on dancing and went on with the show. When you're paid to perform the show must go on!

When I was done and back in the changeroom I realized I actually couldn't get out of my costume, my hair was so wound up in the bra fringe. It took me a full 20 minutes to extricate myself and my snarled hair from that bra. I was as gentle as I could possibly be, trying to free one strand at a time, but it would have taken hours to unravel every strand that way. I was forced to stretch and break strands in order to free others, and although I did eventually separate myself from my costume without the help of scissors, there's a LOT of my hair left wound up in my costume and on the floor of the changeroom!

I fingercombed it into relative tidyness and once I got home I carefully detangled it - combing it out wasn't too bad given the circumstances. It's up in a bun now for sleep.

I'll have to assess in the morning how bad the damage is. The parts that got tangled are at the front, and were already shorter and wispier compared to the rest of the length. I may have to chop them into a chunky layer if it's damaged enough that it's going to be a tangle-hazard... I need to sleep on it before I decide anything.

It certainly could have been worse, but I wish it hadn't happened at all, haha!!

MINAKO
May 29th, 2016, 03:18 AM
Not gonna lie i actually laughed a bit reading your story but admire your professionalism. Don't worry about it, it's probably less hair missing than it looked like and pretty unnoticable since it ripped off instead of being cut. I had similar accident with chewing gum and felt really bad about it but once i tried to find the damaged section again i couldn't even see anything. Also won't make any difference to circumference unless it was an entire hand ful that came out.

lapushka
May 29th, 2016, 04:38 AM
Oh gosh, that sucks! Baby it well, and you'll recover. Is it out of your hem at the bottom or did it get tangled mid-shaft (even worse).

Mademoiselle
May 29th, 2016, 05:41 AM
Omg :( I hope it is little damage that did to your hair!

school of fish
May 29th, 2016, 05:50 AM
Thanks guys :)

MINAKO I have to admit - I wasn't exactly laughing but even as I was standing there madly (but gently) pulling at strands, desperately trying to save my hair (in timely fashion so I didn't have to spend the next 3 hours in that stuffy changeroom), I did see the humour in my plight. As my fingers worked on the snarl, my mind was working out how to leave that venue gracefully with my bra velcroed to my hair...

lapushka it 's more at the ends than higher up - sort of on the canopy section at the front/sides - but unfortunately those ends were already shorter than my hemline from previous damage, so they're even shorter and more susceptible to further damage now. When I have blended layers (either by design or by damage) my hair is considerably weaker than when it's all one length.

I conditioned it well and am now waiting for it to dry - then I'll see how bad it really is. It probably did look like a lot more than it actually was, although with hair as fine as mine I feel I can't afford to lose any, haha!

school of fish
May 29th, 2016, 06:00 AM
Omg :( I hope it is little damage that did to your hair!
Thanks, I hope so too! It's at least behaving okay as I've combed it out both dry and damp. Now that I've conditioned it I'll have to see once it's dry if it looks weird enough to need cutting in another chunky layer at the front section where it happened...

Silverbrumby
May 29th, 2016, 08:07 AM
First off I'm so sorry. I've had multiple things go wrong as a belly dancer over the years. Retired now :) I hope you can afford to retire that costume or sell it and replace it with something more hair friendly. Also have you considered wearing head hands to keep hair back when performing? I've never had hair as long as yours but I'm wondering if that could help.

My former troop was Awyah. If you look under Katarina Burda on your tube with troop name you'll see some videos. Lot's of long haired gals in the troop.

https://youtu.be/7zkSaF9Ua2c

school of fish
May 29th, 2016, 08:57 AM
First off I'm so sorry. I've had multiple things go wrong as a belly dancer over the years. Retired now :) I hope you can afford to retire that costume or sell it and replace it with something more hair friendly. Also have you considered wearing head hands to keep hair back when performing? I've never had hair as long as yours but I'm wondering if that could help.

My former troop was Awyah. If you look under Katarina Burda on your tube with troop name you'll see some videos. Lot's of long haired gals in the troop.

https://youtu.be/7zkSaF9Ua2c

Nice to meet a fellow bellydancer!! :D I'll have a look at your troupe on YT later today :)

A headband would be a good idea but my hair is so slippy I can't keep one on without major pinning (which brings on damage) and it's not a good look for me anyway ;) I also use my hair in my dance a fair bit and dance khaleeji fairly often, so I am resigned to a certain amount of attrition just due to the job.

I had taken an extended maternity these past 2 years (which has been great for the hair-growing ;) ) and had been wondering if it was time to retire, but as I'm dipping back in things are looking good for more performance so I may be at it a while yet. If that's the case I'd better develop some new hair-saving strategies while I'm working!

Complexity
May 29th, 2016, 09:18 AM
Ouch. So sorry that happened to you, sof. Hopefully it won't be too bad once it dries. Maybe try half ups? That way you could kind of get it out of the way, but still use it.

littlestarface
May 29th, 2016, 11:28 AM
Oh that sounds painful, I wouldve just cut it then pull *rubs head* pulling sounds so ouchy.

Silverbrumby
May 29th, 2016, 11:29 AM
Big fan of khaleeji and my god can they toss the hair. I was great at the finger snaps lol. Slippery hair is impossible to put a headband on. Keep dancing! I finally retired at 43 but have had a lot of folk troupe offers in the bay area. My dance teacher, troupe leader, is still going strong at 76.

I think dancers are softer, more nuanced, after having a baby.

nakima
May 29th, 2016, 11:47 AM
So sorry to hear about your hair. I'm sure it will be ok just baby it as much as possible and if you do sale the bra like silverbrumby suggested please put a warning label on it ha! Just kidding.

sumidha
May 29th, 2016, 12:00 PM
Oh wow Silverbrumly it's a small world on the internet, I've heard of your troupe (might have possibly seen them perform at Black Point?) and know some of those musicians. :)

school of fish I'm sorry that really sucks, but kudos for keeping it going despite the hair disaster.

Arctic
May 29th, 2016, 12:03 PM
Sorry that this happened :(

The one hundred dollar question is, how to avoid it in the future? Was this a new costume? If not, has it caused problems before? If not, what was different this time? Was your hair different, like curled?

school of fish
May 29th, 2016, 12:05 PM
Big fan of khaleeji and my god can they toss the hair. I was great at the finger snaps lol. Slippery hair is impossible to put a headband on. Keep dancing! I finally retired at 43 but have had a lot of folk troupe offers in the bay area. My dance teacher, troupe leader, is still going strong at 76.

I think dancers are softer, more nuanced, after having a baby.

Totally agree with you about the nuance after childbirth - I have 2 kids (10yrs and 2yrs) and I found more depth and meaning in my movement after having those two, and even more so with some age :)

I'm 43 myself - that said I look younger than my years, especially in performance makeup, and I still enjoy performing so I'll keep doing it as long as I'm hireable ;) I have a lot of folkloric training too, which I believe really maximizes versatility and longetivity in this art form :) Knowing your folklore totally makes you a better bellydancer!

76 eh? Awesome!!!

school of fish
May 29th, 2016, 12:13 PM
Sorry that this happened :(

The one hundred dollar question is, how to avoid it in the future? Was this a new costume? If not, has it caused problems before? If not, what was different this time? Was your hair different, like curled?

Exactly - I've been thinking the same, how to avoid in future. The costume was new to me but I've danced with that sort of bra fringe before, and I've been curling my hair this way recently for gigs with no issue. I think this was just a one-off tactical error on my part - I did a move that sort of dragged my hair too close to the fringe, and too early in the set (so it tangled more and more as the show went on). Before ditching this costume I'm going to work with it a bit more and see if some more mindful hair positioning will avoid this in future.

MINAKO
May 29th, 2016, 01:50 PM
I wasn't making fun of you, it just reminded me of myself and how i percieve these situations in a very dramatic manner when in fact the damage wasn't even detectable the next day. Of course i haven't seen exactly what happened and how much of your hair you had to sacrifice. My apologies if my posts came off as if i was joking in your expense.

school of fish
May 29th, 2016, 02:28 PM
I wasn't making fun of you, it just reminded me of myself and how i percieve these situations in a very dramatic manner when in fact the damage wasn't even detectable the next day. Of course i haven't seen exactly what happened and how much of your hair you had to sacrifice. My apologies if my posts came off as if i was joking in your expense.

Oh goodness no, don't worry! I totally took it as intended, not at all as laughing at my expense :) I know what you mean though - tone can be easily misconstrued across the written word.

I am at heart a practical sort, and as careful as I try to be to preserve every strand, at the end of the day it is hair and it grows back :) Actually I'm always amazed at the things we'll do in the context of performance that we would NEVER do in real life - like knowingly allow your tangle-snarl to worsen as you keep doing your show or walking barefoot across a greasy restaurant kitchen floor to dance barefoot on a floor where people have dropped food and drinks and God knows what else... hahaha!!!

As for my hair, I can see a difference but I doubt the rest of the world would. I haven't lost any length, just have some additional layering now that I'd been working hard to grow out... but it'll grow again, it's just hair ;)

MINAKO
May 29th, 2016, 02:53 PM
Yes it will blend in again sooner than we think even of it's very visible. I had a friend in highschool with very ling hair who was absolutely careless about it, had strands burned off by cigarettes ALL THE TIME and just ripped her hairties out not minding any tangles. I was in constant cringe mode watching how she handled her hair but i always looked nice regardless.

I think as a performer you momentarily can switch into an entirely different personality, which is a good thing. I never danced but can say similar things about modeling expirience. Like i'm the most introvert and self concious person ever, but as soon as it's about being professional i act entirely different.

school of fish
May 29th, 2016, 05:07 PM
...
I think as a performer you momentarily can switch into an entirely different personality, which is a good thing. I never danced but can say similar things about modeling expirience. Like i'm the most introvert and self concious person ever, but as soon as it's about being professional i act entirely different.

Absolutely. I think that's true of performance in any discipline - we sort of enter this bubble world where societal standards no longer quite apply as such and aspects of our personalities that in everyday life may be the undercurrent rise to the surface. Models, dancers, actors - anyone who must embody and convey persona as part of the craft understands the bubble ;)

Phanaferous
May 29th, 2016, 06:15 PM
School of fish so sad to hear about your hair snafu! And hi from another bellydancer. :waving: I've never gone pro, but started bellydance in college and kept up with it ever since with only a few breaks. The backs of my costume tops have been on the sparse side for this very reason. Plus I figured it was a waste of beads or sequins that no-one would ever see under my hair.

school of fish
May 30th, 2016, 09:42 PM
School of fish so sad to hear about your hair snafu! And hi from another bellydancer. :waving: I've never gone pro, but started bellydance in college and kept up with it ever since with only a few breaks. The backs of my costume tops have been on the sparse side for this very reason. Plus I figured it was a waste of beads or sequins that no-one would ever see under my hair.

Hi fellow bellydancer!! :D So nice to meet others here who do this dance!!!
The backs of my dance bras are plain too - this happened on fringe that was on the cups, haha!! I've always made sure the backs were fringeless for the sake of the hair as well, I couldn't even imagine having to get out of a tangle back there :p

I want to thank each and every one of you who have offered your kind words and a sympathetic ear :) As it turns out the damage hasn't been too bad, and I think I can probably just carry on with my usual trimming schedule without having to get creative to even things out ;) And I'm definitely going to work on some alternate hair movements in light of this little episode and try to ensure that this doesn't happen again (and perhaps reconfigure the bra fringe in necessary) :D

Silverbrumby
May 30th, 2016, 10:07 PM
Oh wow Silverbrumly it's a small world on the internet, I've heard of your troupe (might have possibly seen them perform at Black Point?) and know some of those musicians. :)

school of fish I'm sorry that really sucks, but kudos for keeping it going despite the hair disaster.

Hi sumidah, wow, it is a small world. I didn't do the black point much but Mira and I think Elizabeth strong, Zoe jakes and a few others did it a lot. All great gals.

school of fish
June 2nd, 2016, 08:02 AM
Just wanted to give a post-script on my weekend hair-ripping debacle - it really wasn't so bad in the end! :D

I finally drummed up the stomach to remove the tangle of ripped-out hair from the bra fringe this morning (I had just left it there until now :p ) and once it was all out it really wasn't so much. Maybe the equivalent of about 2 weeks worth of sheds? Now of course those aren't natural sheds - that's hair lost either ripped from the ends or out of the root - but still, given the potential for disaster it could have been so much worse!!

So you good people were right, it wasn't as bad as it looked :) Thanks for the support, everyone! :D

sumidha
June 2nd, 2016, 12:11 PM
Hi sumidah, wow, it is a small world. I didn't do the black point much but Mira and I think Elizabeth strong, Zoe jakes and a few others did it a lot. All great gals.

Elizabeth is my all time favorite dance teacher!