Thread: Providing veils?

I'll be adding an intermediate level class this winter, and would like to include veil.

Do most of you provide practice veils or require your students to buy them on their own?

If you provide them, is there a good source for inexpensive ones?

Hey Laura-

I provide them for my students. Normally, I make my own, but the weather has not been conducive to dying this summer. So, I have them dance with a hunch of chiffon veils that I have. If you are interested in Chiffon veils for cheap, let me know.. I have a good amount of them.

Nilaja

Originally Posted by LauraLevana

I'll be adding an intermediate level class this winter, and would like to include veil.

Do most of you provide practice veils or require your students to buy them on their own?

If you provide them, is there a good source for inexpensive ones?

I provide loaner veils to Beginner Students. But for Improver/Intermediates, I reckon they should be committed enough to acquire their own, even if it's just a length of chiffon from a fabric shop. I will happily help them with this, either by sourcing inexpensive veils for me to sell on to them, or giving them the details of who they could buy them from.

I provide veils.

At first, they were mostly 3-yard lengths of whatever floaty fabric was on clearance -- chiffon, silkessence, etc. -- plus a few of my own old ones and a couple of Indian dupattas which worked fine for the petite girls.

Nowadays most of the veil technique I teach needs silk veils. I finally invested in about 15 silk rectangular veils from BellyDanceShoppe.com - Everything for the BellyDancer. Naj gave me a discount on the quantity and I've been using them for years. The real advantage is that my troupe now has a matched set of veils to use in group numbers, which looks very nice.

Oh, even the 3-yard size is too much for my students who are under 5'5", so one of my troupe members who has a serger took several of the veils home and cut them down for the petite dancers.

Many teachers keep an extra veil or two on hand for classes, but offering a regular, full-scale veil lending library is rare where I have been. After a certain point (possibly before the intermediate level, depending on the teacher and the topic), a student is expected to buy their own veil and bring it to class as needed. Occasionally, students won't bring one (didn't know they'd need it or forgot theirs at home) and they'll need to borrow one from the teacher, but this isn't supposed to be an ongoing situation. It seems that most old-school teachers expect you to have a veil and finger cymbals in your dance bag as a regular practice after you've graduated beyond the greenest-of-the-green beginner classes.

I provide veils to use in class, but they are mostly unhemmed $1 or $2 yardage from Jo-Ann Fabrics. I also have a few chiffon veils that came with costumes in there - I dance almost exclusively with silk veils so I don't really need them myself.

Most of the studios / teachers out here tend to have a policy that beginning students need three things: hips scarf, zills and a veil. Many will have loaners for when the students forget them, but it's pretty standard to expect students to have their own.

Now, these veils could be, as laura side, unhemmed cheap yardage for the local fabric store (although here in LA we are spoiled. I can get 3 yards of 6mm hobati for $20 in the garment district.) Many students who are excited about their classes will eventually buy professional level veils.

This doesn't mean that they don;t have loaner veils, it's just that students are highly encouraged to have their own.

{{{HUGS}}}

You can actually get 3 yards of white 45" wide habotai silk on e-bay for about $20. I think the vendor name is "silkfabric" or "silkfabrics."
R

You can get them as low as $10 each from Dharma
Habotai Veils

Most teachers in my area don't have a stocked studio. I find that it increases the beginner's enjoyment of class tremendously to have 'toys' to play with on occasion, and although I don't 'require' anyone to buy anything until they reach performance level, most serious students want their own almost immediately and get them if they can afford it.

I have veils, zills, wings, and canes in my studio.

In my area almost all teachers require all levels of students to have both zills and a veil. I no longer require a veil for beginner students and would provide veils for a class if it we were just going to use them a handful of times in a session. I offer a separate veil technique class and require students to provide their own veil. For beginner/adv beginner I allow any type of fabric, for intermediate/advanced students habotai silk is required.
I think if you're going to be using the veil more than 1 or 2 times, you should indicate that in your class description & ask students to get their own veils.

I provide a big bag of assorted veils for classes but also provide info on where to buy/how to make them. As Lauren said, I think it adds a fun dimension to the class to provide such 'toys'. I also provide canes, but not zills.

I've written this article on what to look for when making/buying a veil (length, material type, etc): http://www.jewelbellydance.com.au/ar...20a%20Veil.pdf
(Note, I don't recommend a silk veil in it, as I find them hard to manage for beginners).

For my beginners I do provide veils---
actually I went in with 2 other teacher friends and we bought a lot
of the striped lurex from Scherezade Imports,
saved on shipping and we've rotated them amongst oursleves.

But at the same time I tell my students that they are always available
for sale, and many will buy them just to be using their own. The other
benefits to having them, since although different colors they are similar,
is they are good student troupe coverups and I used them tucked as part of
an economical troupe costume.

Originally Posted by jewelbellydance

(Note, I don't recommend a silk veil in it, as I find them hard to manage for beginners).

I think it depends on what your objective is as a veil teacher. The main problem I find with silk is that it encourages the dancer to let the veil do most of the work. Of course, silk looks enchanting as it flutters around, but when students do not learn the fundamental concept that the veil is a PROP and not the STAR of the performance, they turn themselves into flagpoles when they perform. Everybody loves looking at a pretty flag flying in the wind, but it isn't DANCING--it's standing around and letting the fabric dance for you. That can be quite interpretive and artistic, and if that's what you want to teach, then silk is a fine--if not preferable--veil choice for beginners. OTOH, if your objective is to teach students how to incorporate veil into a traditional entrance (of whatever persuasion you define "traditional") or to use it as a frame to highlight dance movements, then a synthetic veil may be a better choice. Personally, I like encouraging beginners to use inexpensive, undecorated synthetics at first, because they're washable and it takes some practice to get to the point where you're not stepping on your veil--and nobody wants to see a veil with big, dirty footprints on it!

While I recommend my students buy or make them, and tell them where to go or what to do, I always bring some. First of all, it is just easier to bring a bag of veils (that I already have) then to have to deal with someone who isn't prepared. Secondly, most of my classes are taught at community centers. I always list supply costs, but not everyone wants to buy something that they only use for 8 weeks. I would like to say that my repeat students are more prepared, but not all are. I think some people are more likely to want their own (and will practice at home) and some people aren't.

We provide the veils. We started out with poly-chiffon but it catches on things and discourages beginners. Since I dye the fabric for the troupe costumes, I make an extra veil or two using silk from Dharma when doing a costume piece. Over time I have made dozens of veils. The ones for performance only are separated out of the general collection.

I have loaner chiffon veils that I got from Mode Mystique for $5 (wholesale rate, I was ordering a ton of stuff). But if it's a big class, I don't have enough for everyone, so I make sure to announce the week before that students should bring their own veils if they have them.

i have abot 15 chiffons and 5 old silk ones in a big loaner bag, and drag that along for workshops classes. i rotate the silk ones around the class and reallly encourage them to buy there own. but to have people buy stuff, it's usually nice if they were able to have a go with a loaner one.

also more advanced classes i drag along a selection, people always forget, and there's always some with a completely insuitable veil (size or weight wise)