Short Hair..How short is to short

[Amulya]

I think some dancers do have bobs, or maybe they were wigs, but I remember having seen pictures.

 

[Marissa-Julia]

Currently I have short hair, maybe a little less than shoulder length? I've been growing it out for a while (I had super super short pixie hair) but my hair takes FOREVVVVVVVVER to grow. And it was recently mentioned to me that if I ever plan to perform I should get a wig or something. It bugged me quite a bit so I'm happy to see the majority here thinks short hair is good on a dancer and that the dancing is what matters most.

 

[Darshiva]

You totally should get some wigs... and crowns and tiaras and headbands and and and...

Options are good and you can never have too much hair bling.

 

[Mosaic]

I've had short hair a couple of times in my life, the last time back in 2000, but the upkeep is too much ( I'm a lazy hairstylist - if i have stand and primp too much in the mirror I get annoyed) so long hair is what works for me, it is past my waist at the moment, needs a good trim (I've been saying that for about 6months) - I know a couple of dancers who have short hair & it looks fine, one of them grew her hair to just past her shoulders & it just didn't suit her, so she cut it short again. If you like short hair wear it with pride is what I think
~Mosaic

 

[Ariadne]

It's really not about how long your hair is but how good it looks long or short. Does the style go with the rest of the costume or does it detract? That's it.

 

[Remus]

I think a short hair or a bob hairstyle would work for the tribal style.

 

[Belly Dancing Housewife]

The women in those pictures are gorgeous with their short hair. But I still think long hair is the best. I've noticed even women who look good with short hair look even better with longer hair. Just my opinion. I've never really cut my hair as I feel so strongly about long hair.

 

[~Diana~]

Many of the girls in my troupe have short hair and it looks fine on them.

 

[Daimona]

One of the ladies in my group has short hair, but whenever longer hair is needed, she puts on a half-wig and get instant long hair in just a couple of minutes.


ETA: And of course, these are also good if you want to add volume to already long hair. If this is the case you'll need to find a half-wig that is as close to your hair as possible, particularly colorwise and preferably not shorter than your own hair. If you have a straight hair but a curly half-wig, you will also need to curl your hair before fastening it. Be aware that most synthetic half-wigs cannot be curled as the heat from the curler will melt the wig. If, on the other hand, your wig is made from real hair it can be curled/straightened along with your own hair.

 

[Bellydance Oz]

My hair is very short at the back but to my jawline at the front. It is just enough to pull back and tie up in a very teensy weensy pig tail which is enough to attach my hair fall to. Then with a nice scarf tied up or a headband the short part at the back it tucked in. Voila - short hair for everyday, long hair for dancing

I've seen photos of you on Flickr and your hair does look great! I've adopted the same solution. I look awful with long, loose hair. So I have a layered bob for every day, just long enough to pull up into a very short ponytail. I have a long fake ponytail (not as long as yours!). It really does look good and I think it adds a certain majesty.

I would like to wear my everyday hair shorter, but I hate half wigs - too sweaty - so the bob works best for me, because it's long enough so all the ends are hidden under the cap of the ponytail. In hindsight, I would've bought one with a clip instead of a mesh cap because they're quicker to attach, but it's not that hard to do. I recommend anyone having the short/long hair debate to try it.

 

[Greek Bonfire]

I think if you have enough hair that moves somehow when you dance, you have enough hair. I have seen some newer clips of dancers who are dancing modern fusion with very short hair, and they look great. But with some dances, you do use your hair as part of your dance act so take that into consideration as well.

 

[BattyBaby]

I've danced for about four years now and I've had a short short short pixie for 3 and a half of them lol. I think long hair gets in my way when I dance and I'm much happier and my movements look much more defined with it cropped.

 

[Roshanna]

That's interesting - I have long hair (mid-low back length at the moment) and I always feel like I dance better when I let it down than when it's in a bun or braid, because it provides feedback for upper body movements and encourages me to make my head and upper torso more a part of the dance, so my dance ends up flowing better.

I remember when I took a baladi/shaabi workshop with Tito a few years ago, he wore a scarf on his head to use as 'hair' when dancing (he specifically said that was why he was wearing it), because he felt that the movement of the hair was an important part of the dance he was teaching us. I suppose it's similar to the way wearing a skirt or a fringey costume can naturally change the way a dancer moves.

 

[Zumarrad]

No hair is too short. You might not get PRO gigs with short hair but the idea that bellydancers have to have long hair is ridiculous. You wear the hair you have and add to it with wigs and scarves if you want to, or not. I think a lot of people forget that when we dance, in this dance form, in its ultimate state, we are not playing a role. We are dancing as ourselves, not some fantasy. Anyone who says I can't dance because I have short hair can go hang.

 

[Shanazel]

I wouldn't know what to do without two or three feet of hair hanging around. One of the cutest dancers I ever saw, though, was a young woman with barely enough length to curl around a pencil. When her troupe did a hair toss, she rolled her head on her neck, too, and looked adorable.

 

[Selene]

My dance teacher has short hair and she always looks fabulous when she dances, here she is:

this is closer to the current length

some years ago

 

[Zumarrad]

She's fabulous! I wouldn't really call that short hair though.

 

[Selene]

Really? I don't know maybe it is not seen as short in general, but for the standards here in Puerto Rico it is. I only know one professional dancer in here with short hair, apart from my teacher, and she dances ATS. The rest of the well known ones (by that I mean the teachers, the ones that go to haflas and festivals, the ones working at restaurants, the ones that go international, etc...) all have hair near waist length. Maybe it is what is trendy here

 

[Shanazel]

Short is a relative term, isn't it? My definitions: bald to ear lobe is very short, earlobes to shoulders is short, shoulder to mid-back is mid-length, mid-back to hip bone is long, hip bone to thigh top is very long, thigh top to knees is WOW, knees to ground is DOUBLE WOW! My current length is just now edging into the WOW category.

 

[Zumarrad]

Funny! Perhaps it's cultural. The idea that shoulderlength hair could possibly be considered short is just mind-blowing to me. Is this also a gendered thing? Is a man with shoulderlength hair considered to have short hair? Surely not. Is it tied to the idea that women ought to have long hair by default?

I guess I also find the measurements of things like earlobe-length comical. I tend to measure hair by actual inches or centimetres till it gets to jawlength really. My hair is about two inches long at its shortest points at present, which to me is now far too long and woolly, but at its longest points it's jaw length. It's heavily layered so can't compare however with a bob which might also contain those measurements. Generally it's about an inch all over but longer at the perimeter of the face. That would be considered short hair anywhere, but it's not super short. If you can get your fingers into it it's not super short.