I love co-creating with veil. I love the surprise of emerging into a new shape, of moving with varied speeds and intensity of force, of sculpting new visions with veil. Every veil is unique - in size, weight, texture, shape, color…. Each you have to get to know. Each has its own messages to share and way of working with the dancer.
Veils must be allowed to shine their personalities - sometimes you have to get out of the way. You cannot always control each moment, but they teach you to be spontaneous when necessary and make a new, unanticipated shape with graceful acceptance.
The fabulous dancer Najia, one of my mom’s West Coast contemporaries, writes of veil on the Gilded Serpent webzine:
"Be ready to interact with whatever shape the fabric and the influence of air upon it produce. Be spontaneous and prepared to accept serendipity.”
Veil dancing has ancient roots.
On the Parthenon, Athena's temple of Athens, Greece, you will see an etching in the marble of a lady with a half circle veil behind her.
The veil is a theatrical prop, an elemental partner catching air and light, a spiritual symbol, a beautiful dream.
The creative shape shifting of veil allows a dancer to connect with &
express different aspects of herself.
She extends into space &
dances her powers.
She hides and reveals as she wishes —&
in her own time
with patience,
able to find creative ways to release the knots of her fabric &
expand in freedom
Strength Card from Melina series Belly Dance Tarot
