What is fan dancing?

tempest devyne · #1 (**permalink**) 11-07-2008, 08:59 AM

Don't worry I'm not having a funny turn...I know it's someone waving fans around usually with great grace.

But my google alerts brought up an article this morning that included this line:

"Think of if you've ever seen the dancers with the giant feather fans, they're burlesque dancers," Tomten said of the performance style".

And it made me think that several times Fleur has mentioned that she doesn't call her fan dances....burlesque. And I can understand what she means I think, provided the fan dance isn't some sort of a bigger parody. One of my longer term projects is a groovy granny fan dance though I still having great problem getting knitted 'feathers' right for the fan I'm working on...I think by the time it ever gets anywhere near a stage I probably will be picking up my pension in reality.

Aaaaanyway, I digress....

So what I want to know is - the pure fan dance, the thing you've seen video/pics of Sally Rand doing, or Michelle L'Amour or oh so many other famous and not so famous performers do......do you call that 'burlesque', and if not, what do we class it as?

These things interest me

(and I'm sure there's no right or wrong answer to this)

Fleur du Mal · #2 (**permalink**) 11-07-2008, 06:02 PM

OK, as I got name checked (^_^) I feel like I need to answer.

In my mind, a fan dance is not 'burlesque', in that usually, it does not parody. My fan dances are simply dances, but they usually involve a bit of tease in the classic 'hide and reveal' method of which I am very fond. However in modern times, 'burlesque' has become an umbrella term, under which people will classify parodical character pieces, straight striptease, balloon pops, fan dances, even circus acts, and various combinations and permutations thereof. And the fan dance is a classic, iconic, enduring image, and one of the main images that is conjured up in the mind when someone says the word 'burlesque', or thinks of the predominantly American 40s/50s scene. I find them to be fantastic acts for non-burlesque-savvy audiences, because even if you don't know what burlesque is, everyone knows a fan dance when they see one, and immediately you have a context within which to place burlesque (time period, area, wider genre, etc.). So, although fan dances are not strictly burlesque, I think they're great as an introduction into the genre.

Saying all of this, one of the projects I'm currently working on is a burlesque of fan dances, which will include both elements ^_^

blitzgrrl · #3 (**permalink**) 11-07-2008, 06:03 PM

I always thought that it was the Fans themselves that were the parody? making fun of the fashion of the upper classes etc.

I love my fan dances (and have surprised a couple of people who were expecting the slow graceful style of fan dancing - as opposed my rock, metal and Caribbean ones) In fact I suppose I could say mine were a parody of the much more typical type. Which would place it into Burlesque.

blitzgrrl · #4 (**permalink**) 11-07-2008, 06:04 PM

Ooh after Fleurs post I'm now wondering - what would balloon style acts count as?

tempest devyne · #5 (**permalink**) 11-07-2008, 08:46 PM

Yeah I wondered about balloon acts too - although these seem to be done far more often with humour and/or the balloons being made to represent other things.

I know there are some more graceful balloon pop routines, more akin to the graceful fan dances (Michelle L'Amour's for one).

I just think it's interesting as they don't necessarily fit into the parody and other categories we think of burlesque......they come under the burlesque banner but are something slightly different. The same with certain circus acts too.

Mind you, seeing as I now live by Jo King's definition of burlesque - "it's whatever the **** you want it to be"

then I will continue to class them as part of the burlesque armoury.

I just thought it was an interesting thing to ponder....and more interesting than doing the washing up