bellydancers, tips on dancing with silk veils

Hey isn't this cool? Wow, maybe I'll write a guide on surfing in Hawaii next :)

I love to share tips withyou, the dancer,on how to work the silk veils and create a colorful show for your audience. Like any other dance prop, dancing with veils takes practice, determination, patience, and a sense of humor. Allow yourself time to get to know how silk behaves, it is different than other veil fabrics.
When I teach dancers about silk, I ask them to imagine the veil as a large lung. The lung caninhale or fill upwith air, and then exhales slowly. Allow your veil time to breathe deeply. When you lift the veil, lift your body as well, pretend like the veil is your dance partner and you are holding hands and spinning weightless. Lift slowly, allow the veil to sit on the air, and drop down slowly. Never rush your movements, allow your audience to see every moment of the magic you are making, every ripple of the silk. Make full use of your dance space, audience members are often delighted by the soft tickle of silk as you breeze past them. Um..make sure there are no candles in the room or else a trailing edge of the veil will indeed give your audience a memorable fire presentation :) Crispy bellydancer..no good!

How you hold the veil can make all the difference in the world. If I am dancing in a small restaurant space with two half circle veils, I tuck one end of each veil into my costume belt and create wings. You will need less room to get the veils up in the air, and it's easier on the arms because they can get tired quickly. FLAT PALMS turned up are the key to getting a good loft with your half circle veils, hold the veil in each hand with your palms turned up, open and flat. Sometimes a quick flip of the wrist will help silk lift up. If you have a large dance space, like a stage, you can dance with the veils without tucking them. Spinning helps liftoff as well.


Getting inside your veils to make a dancer sandwich is another technique that is dependent on how you hold the silk. Use scissor fingers..see photo...put one finger in between the two silks and then hold it with your other fingers. Learn to dance with the veils using the scissor fingers and get gefortable with it.


Transitions are very important in veil dance. If you can imagine cursive handwriting, pretend you are drawing the alphabet with your silk in long, large, bubbly letters. Make your circles nice and wide. Don't cut your corners..this will help your dance look smooth and your transitions between each movement look natural.
Practice dropping your veil and recovering gracefully. Silk has a mind of its own and often gets away from a dancers fingers. Think of a few different ways you can gracefully, artfully recover.
Above all else, have fun with it. You don't have to know a lot of tricks to be a great veil dancer. Simple is elegant and beautiful....