im doing a sword dance in 3 weeks, its not only my first sword dance in front of ppl..its my first solo......so i do not want to drop it haha.
anyone have some good idea's for hair styles that might actually help me balance it even more? naturally i have really long straight hair..and that is how i have always practiced with it. i own some fake dreads and i thought about making a few more and throwing them in, maybe making a few shell hair hangs or something....but im scared if i do too much, it will make it "slippery"
in your experience.....does hairspray help or hinder sword balancing?
Adding hair products (including hair spray) definitely HELPS. Clean, shiny hair is bad -- too slippery.
Question -- do you need the sword to spin on your head or just stay straight/parallel?
Also, you might post this question in the Sword tribe...
Then wearing a headband or half-turban might be nice, too. And it'll help it stay in place. You could totally wear your dreads, just make sure to attach them toward the back of your head -- and to practice with them in a few times before your performance.
yea i think im gonna just do a few super long dreads at the bottom of my hair so they aer no where near the top.
i dont own a headband etc. the only thing i own dance wise for the head is a gorgeous tribal piece that goes across my forehead and down the sides of my face...i want to wear it only because i love it haha but i dont know if it will go with my look hehe. that wont affect the sword at all. ill see...
one great thing about belly dance, get to do some awesome makeup and hair that most people never get t odo!! i mean who else wears head pieces that fall down your face? hehe
First, don't wash your hair that day, or the day before if you can avoid it, clean hair is slippery hair; also I took a balance class and we used scarves tied around our heads to keep swords from slipping.
And work on your balance in general. If you can't keep the sword balanced on your head when you dance no amount of extras (short of hot glue or welding) will keep it on your head.
-Try standing on one foot, close your eyes and turn your head from side to side, when (if) it gets easy move your head faster
-Stand with your feet tandem (heel of one foot touching the toes of the other), close eyes and look side to side
What did I miss Lisa?
Can I ask why you chose a sword piece for your first solo?
ooh..we discovered sex wax (for surf boards) is awesome in helping the sword stay put...just rub along where it balances on your head and presto.... just be warned if you wear black with it and balance on your boobs..it may leave slight residue...but is easy to clean off! hope that helps!
LOL I never knew that!!! *goes rummaging through the man's surf kit* One more item of his I can confiscate for the use of bellydance LOL
I just recently did a sword choreography. I have super straight, thin hair, an always need volume, which isn't always an option when wearing a leather headband (which helps immensly with keeping a sword on). I recently bought those BumpIts from a As Seen On TV store. I popped one in, pulled the sides back and pinned them in the back, and stuck big flowers over the pins. Put the leather piece in front of the BumpIt. It was really cute.
I've been using surfboard wax on my swords for years :) It works much better than any other "trick" I've tried.
I have long, straight hair as well.
I messed with some hairstyles last night for a performance tomorrow and settled on two big sock buns with small scarves wrapped and tied at the back. Then I balanced my sword and danced with it on.
I usually practice with a full-ish turban, but to perform, I like to have my hair down. How are you practicing balancing the sword? You should try out whatever you think you want and do a trial run.
I use beeswax on my sword on the balance point and usually pull my hair back (unwashed) with some pomade in it to make it stay put. My hair is pretty fine and curly, so it tends to shift under the sword...
I also keep my sword on my head for a while before performing. It's great for centering when I'm nervous and also helps get a groove in my head where the sword goes. That seems to both help it stay and make it easier to get it where I want it (I sometimes put my sword on my head while spinning and finding the groove helps).
I've heard the scarf/turban/high ponytails (two pigtails that would sit behind the sword) thing but I prefer going pretty bare-headed. Partly because, if your "trick" doesn't work, you're screwed. I saw a performance where the dancer's scarf wouldn't stay in place and she couldn't keep her sword balanced. In my opinion, it's better to just practice balancing. A lot.
Also, don't freak out about dropping it. Dancing with a sword is *hard.* I was just in a workshop with Romka at Tribal Fest (sword duo extraordinaire) and they were talking about how screwing up can get the audience on your side so when you do it right the second time, they get how cool it is that you do it. Don't hesitate to adjust your sword either. It's professionalism. If you need to stop and correct the balance, that's what you need to do. You can even play it off as comedy and tell your sword off or something.
Ooh, I was just in Romka's workshop, too - wasn't it great? And actually, in their performance Mahvi dropped her sword - and she was right, it still worked!
I have a "magic scarf" that is made of stretch velvet, it's almost hard to drop the sword with that on. I just use it as a turban, and either let it cover my hair or let hair falls/braids hang out the back. But I do practice without the scarf, to get the practice and to get the head-groove.
Yeah it was!!! I love them!!! Their performance was also quite awesome. Mavi's recovery is a very good example of dealing with sword problems on stage.
I like natural beeswax to help keep from slipping, too. Also if your sword is very slick on the balance point, scratch it a little with a rat-tailed file or flat file. Don't notch it, just scratch.
Hairstyle ideas: small braids or dreads across the top do indeed work to add "padding" so it doesn't slip or hurt as much. Also pulled-back hair is better than loose hair straight down, which slides around a lot.
Note that if you practice and/or perform with a heavy sword on bare hair (no headwrap or anything), it will damage and cut the hairs on top of your head, leaving you with a little patch with lots of short broken hairs.
A thin headband or cloth of some kind is great for protecting the hair and the head, and helps keep it from sliding.
I have fine, thin, slick hair and my sword is one of the big scimitars. It is murder on the top of my head. I've found my best options are to incorporate a cotton/lurex scarf into my headgear or to use a hairband I bought from this shop
www.etsy.com/shop.php
It's funny, a bunch of us in my area's tribal scene have all picked up headbands from her because they work so well with swords. They close cross the back with a piece of elastic, which I trimmed off and added two ties instead.
I rub mys word with a votive candle (so a variation of the wax theme).
I definitely always spray a spot of hairspray before I dance.
I tend to use headbands with my costumes, and I've heard it helps some people, but for me they honestly almost get in the way and they don't help at all.
:p
