Thread: forehead tipping !finger snaps..."signals" !!

nice to see where all those bills stuck to me came from! i love how "everyday" the signals are as well.

like it! Thanks for posting.

now THAT'S a "tribal duet"!

Love it!!

Why do they circle the money (total assumption there) around the dancers heads? Is there cultural significance and if so, what?

the vid is nice.
Nonetheless I would hate this gesture on me - sticking a bill to my forehead. I know it isn't meant to be an insult, it's cultural - but for my non-arabic feeling it is totally impossible to let somebody glue money on my forehead.

Is it meant to be a gesture of blessing, like blessing someone with money? Or make you the physical carrier of said person's generosity? Like an add on a lamp post would be?
Please someone explain to me!

Love it thanks for sharing!

Originally Posted by zamora

Originally Posted by Nouria

the vid is nice.
Nonetheless I would hate this gesture on me - sticking a bill to my forehead. I know it isn't meant to be an insult, it's cultural - but for my non-arabic feeling it is totally impossible to let somebody glue money on my forehead.

Is it meant to be a gesture of blessing, like blessing someone with money? Or make you the physical carrier of said person's generosity? Like an add on a lamp post would be?
Please someone explain to me!

happens all the time here. it sticks to any wet you might have.lucky for me, i only sweat from my hair. it is an honor.

ah but why to the forehead? Any sort of tipping is a recognition - just it looks degrading.

Tipping dancers on the forehead is a fairly old tradition, there are Ottoman miniatures that show kochek dancers (i.e., young males impersonating female dancers in public entertainment venues, normal and common in Turkey in those days) with coins sticking to their forehead. And, one of the few Romani gestures that has a meaning we can interpret for sure is the "tip me": tap the top of one's wrist and then then the forehead, while leaning the head back (not to be done too firmly with zills on ...).

Originally Posted by Glindella

Love it!!

Why do they circle the money (total assumption there) around the dancers heads? Is there cultural significance and if so, what?

i was wondering too. is it to indicate which dancer they want their money to go to before putting it in the (?jar?)? is it to just say "hey dancer! i'm tipping you!"?


i think im also missing the signals...... do you just mean gestures or is someone responding to them? if the second, im totally missing them.... (where's the dunce cap emoticon for me? ^_~)

Originally Posted by raqFariha

i was wondering too. is it to indicate which dancer they want their money to go to before putting it in the (?jar?)? is it to just say "hey dancer! i'm tipping you!"?


i think im also missing the signals...... do you just mean gestures or is someone responding to them? if the second, im totally missing them.... (where's the dunce cap emoticon for me? ^_~)

I'm missing the signals too...

Originally Posted by deelybopper

I'm missing the signals too...

they are useing many of the same arm and hand signals we use in 9/8.
they come quick and natural to them...but all there !

Originally Posted by Nouria

ah but why to the forehead? Any sort of tipping is a recognition - just it looks degrading.

third eye...soul.

Oh, thank you for posting this clip, Cory! What a treat.

Originally Posted by Lauren_

Oh, thank you for posting this clip, Cory! What a treat.

an honor being thanked by you !

I'm not familiar with the movments...is it the one where they hit their wrist (arms off to the side) then quickly hit their forehead? What part of the hand do they do it with? Fingertips or side of the hand?

I certainly would have tipped them, what exuberance!