Thread: Veil poi advice

OK, so I got the DVD by Dana, made my pois.... but I am not sure about the veil.

What is the ideal size for a veil to do poi with?
Do you prefer rectangular or half circle?
Any other material than silk?

My impression is that I need a very light veil and that the weight of the poi depends on the weight of the veil.
So if you have a bigger veil you need a heavier weight, is that right?

And what's the best length for the "leash" (or whatever that's called).
I made my first one to short and started again. But then I saw a picture of Aziza who's leash was really long.
How does the lenght influence the way you spin?

I admit, I haven't watched my DVD throuroughly, so forgive if the info is in there... Just tell me "watch the video!" if necessary ..l;,

MEISSOUN

Originally Posted by meissoun

OK, so I got the DVD by Dana, made my pois.... but I am not sure about the veil.

What is the ideal size for a veil to do poi with?
Do you prefer rectangular or half circle?
Any other material than silk?

My impression is that I need a very light veil and that the weight of the poi depends on the weight of the veil.
So if you have a bigger veil you need a heavier weight, is that right?

And what's the best length for the "leash" (or whatever that's called).
I made my first one to short and started again. But then I saw a picture of Aziza who's leash was really long.
How does the lenght influence the way you spin?

I admit, I haven't watched my DVD throuroughly, so forgive if the info is in there... Just tell me "watch the video!" if necessary ..l;,

MEISSOUN

OK.

Speaking only for me and my preferences here....:)

The way Aziza taught me, the poi "leash" needs to be about arm length (take the weight in your palm and the end of the leash should reach your armpit. If you find this too long, it's easy to loop the leash around the handle to shorten it (or take a few links off if you're using a chain) and you can even loop and un-loop the leash around your hand while you dance to get different lengths and effects during the performance itself. A longer leash will make the poi travel more slowly, a shorter one will give you speed.

(just go to her website, she sells the practice pois she actually uses).



Silk has the best ripple effect but chiffon works really well also, same as in regular veil work. Try both. Check which gives you more control.

Length of the veil also depends on the dancer (you can go from very short to very very long) but if you're just starting, the shorter, the better, so you can
avoid any tangling accidents :)

I found that Jes' (Akai) small double veils work great.

Circular or rectangular veils, again, also depends on the dancer. I do prefer circular though but this is purely for visual esthetics, it just looks better in my opinion :)

Bonne chance !!!

Thanks a lot.
I guess I'll just go and get some smaller chiffon veils first to practice with. And my leash might still be too short. But I'll just add a handle like Michelle has them.

OK, now off we go and start to practice...

MEISSOUN

I'm almost positive that Dana explains all this in the beginning of her DVD. I know that she uses a silk rectangular veil. I think she goes over the length of the chain as well.

In other words: "Go watch the DVD!" ..l;,

Will do this weekend!

MEISSOUN