Thread: Crazy A** Prop Tricks...

It's the end of an era for me; I recently sold my gold Saroyan sword. No more balancing props...

As I was going through my mental Rolodex of crazy ass tricks I used to do with balancing props years ago...

Split walks across the stage with the sword on the head

Goblet dancing: 2 goblets underneath 1 foot; 1 goblet underneath the other. Take the 1 goblet, balance it on my head. Turn on the standing foot (w/ the 2 goblets underneath), with the free foot in retiré en avant. Then take that free foot, go into king dancer pose or developpé a la seconde (stretch it up the side) to my ear.

I let go of the flexibility, internal equilibrium, cajones, and interest to do these anymore... ..l;,

I wanna hear some more crazy ass prop tricks! BRING IT...

Originally Posted by Azhia

Goblet dancing: 2 goblets underneath 1 foot; 1 goblet underneath the other. Take the 1 goblet, balance it on my head. Turn on the standing foot (w/ the 2 goblets underneath). Then with my free foot, go into king dancer pose or lift it straight to my ear.

I am *SO* monumentally in awe...

I don't have any crazy prop tricks, but I just wanted to say WOW...you sound amazing! Hahaha. The goblet tricks sound super-intense. Wish I could've seen it!

Originally Posted by Teressa

I don't have any crazy prop tricks, but I just wanted to say WOW...you sound amazing! Hahaha. The goblet tricks sound super-intense. Wish I could've seen it!

Yeah, me too! ..l;, No YouTube of that vintage bit! The whole time I was just concentrating so darn hard to not fall and shatter glass all over the place!

I love the title of your threads.
I'm so sad there is no video of your goblet dansh.

A dancer in my troupe did all these cute tricks with a moroccan tray and it's entire tea set on her head, but the last one was my favorite. She would put her hand up like a mirror and stare at it as she spun, then stopped and faced the audience and let the tray continue to spin till it came to a stop.

It's no too crazy, but when I danced Shikhat, I would tie a mozuna belt into a tail off my back end, then at the crazy fast part of the song spin it around just like a stripper twirls her pasties. I could do the spinning thing off the hip too. Ha!

Ah . . . here's a "trick" for you. Did this with my first sword that I used when I was a total newbie. Balance sword at center edge on the very tip of finger. Slowly, slowly, raise sword until it is high over my head, while constantly shimmying, keep it up there a long time while I mess around, then slowly, slowly lower it again. Audience is just amazed; they clap and cheer wildly. What they don't know is the sword is cast aluminum and almost weightless; difficulty/skill level of the manuever is 0.5 on a scale of 10. "Hardest" part was making it look like an effort.

Okay, a real one: When using 2 swords, I've held one sword by the handle, extended out, with the other sword balanced across the center of the blade of the sword I'm holding. Not aluminum swords either; damn heavy. Hard to describe this; ..c:: hope it makes sense.
Rosette

Meline, of the Daughters of Rhea, balances a sword on a dagger held between her teeth.

Wow, Azhia! I'd love to see someone put their leg up to their ear while balancing on goblets.

Originally Posted by kina

Meline, of the Daughters of Rhea, balances a sword on a dagger held between her teeth.

Here's a video of Melina's sword/dagger dance. She also does amazing trapeze dances.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCEJueA_JnU]YouTube - Melina of Daughters of Rhea's Belly Dance Sword & Dagger Act[/ame]


I like Tiffany Bisconer's splits on the water goblets trick too:
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5T7Rw-a7X2c]YouTube - Tiffany Bisconer Water Glass Solo[/ame]

Azhia, your goblet dance sounds amazing.

I like crazy-a** tricks when they are well done, like these two clips. The cool thing about dancing on the goblets is that it's a "standing taxim," where you are basically rooted in one spot and use all your torso articulations, which you don't see that often in the dance these days outside of drum solos.

My "insane" goblet dancing trick was to balance on my head an opaque ceramic pot with wine-colored liquid inside. I would dance with the pot first, then get up on the goblets. I would finish by stepping off the goblets, still balancing, do a "hinge" backbend and end with a long spin, still balancing. Because the pot was symmetrical and had no handles, people used to say the spin gave the optical illusion that the pot was staying still while I turned beneath it. I would finish off my act by pouring the "wine" into a fourth goblet and toasting the audience.

It does take mental cojones to do these tricks. My pot could have fallen and smashed at any time - dancing on the edge of disaster. It's very stimulating, though, for the audience and for the performer, LOL.

Pity the fool that followed any of your acts!


Larry

Wow, that dagger sword dance is CR-A-ZY. I don't seven see how that is possible.
I was going to post Tiffany's goblet too. I noticed that there is not many dancing on glasses videos on youtube, and only a very few where the person actually moves on the glasses (or moves them).

Originally Posted by jetgirl

Wow, that dagger sword dance is CR-A-ZY. I don't seven see how that is possible.
I was going to post Tiffany's goblet too. I noticed that there is not many dancing on glasses videos on youtube, and only a very few where the person actually moves on the glasses (or moves them).

In order to move with the goblets you must be on a very smooth floor, preferably wood.

I used a piece of masonite.

I don't want to highjack here, but I was actually going to post something along these lines tonight anyway. I find myself totally drawn to these crazy tricks too, but I also find myself wondering . . . "why???"

I am currently working on goblet dancing with the sword too. Again, why? Is it not enough that I am already standing on something that could shatter and destroy my foot? Is it not enough to dance and maneuver with a heavy metal sword on my head? Why are we drawn to these tricks that fall a bit outside the realm? Anyway, I digress . . .

my trick is not nearly as exciting as any of yours, but I am proud of the drop I do with my sword from my chin to my chest (sometimes belly, if I have a costume on that allows the sword to clear the girls, lol).

I also walk and balance it on two fingers out in front and up high and, boy, is it heavy!

Sense of danger, excitement, mastery over an impressive-looking skill, audience reaction...enjoyment!!

Originally Posted by dunyah

In order to move with the goblets you must be on a very smooth floor, preferably wood.

yeppers! tile baaaad, break glaaaassss! smooth wood, GOOD linolium, that kinda stuff................one place i used to dance had an awesome hardwood floor and the audience loved it when i 'scootched' a good 20' across the floor with hip lifts.....

my sword stuff isn't death defying, flipping the sword from palm to back of my hand is a fave, balanced on knee with a turn, spinning, then stopping and letting the sword keep the spin, that's about as adventurous as i get....maybe i'll post the raks n glitter show from 2 years ago....if i have the cujones to do it....

just DON"T have your flexibility azhia

oooh I love tricks! I can balance jugs(the kind for water:)) swords, and trays. I'm working on my splits, soo much envy to you flexable ladies!
But by far my favorite trick I've seen is the shot glass trick! Helena Valhos stopped by our dance class to show her famous quarter flips.Belly Dance Tips & Tricks She placed one shot glass just above her bellybutton full of water. She placed an empty glass just below on her belly and slightly undelated(sp?) pouring the water from the top glass to the bottom one. When it was empty she then popped the top glass into the bottom one without spilling!
awesome!!!!!!! I've been trying for years ..still can"t do it

Originally Posted by melody white

oooh I love tricks! I can balance jugs(the kind for water:)) swords, and trays. I'm working on my splits, soo much envy to you flexable ladies!
But by far my favorite trick I've seen is the shot glass trick! Helena Valhos stopped by our dance class to show her famous quarter flips.Belly Dance Tips & Tricks She placed one shot glass just above her bellybutton full of water. She placed an empty glass just below on her belly and slightly undelated(sp?) pouring the water from the top glass to the bottom one. When it was empty she then popped the top glass into the bottom one without spilling!
awesome!!!!!!! I've been trying for years ..still can"t do it

Helena Vlahos KICKS ASS. I love her rolling dollars and "making change."

my appologies...stolen from another thread...but I just had to...I never thought about rubber chickens as a prop...but I may just have to at my next hafla....
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LG-W2I6qWc]YouTube - Bassem Faghaly parody on Dina[/ame]

I am amazed at the descriptions of these tricks! I had forgotten all about the trays and goblets, got to see that once.

Please somebody, I don't want to hijack this thread any more than I just have to, but does anybody know the music used in that Melina sword/dagger number? I love the drums and the nay flute, so simple, so powerful, It makes my blood sing!

Originally Posted by ghazallah

I am amazed at the descriptions of these tricks! I had forgotten all about the trays and goblets, got to see that once.

Please somebody, I don't want to hijack this thread any more than I just have to, but does anybody know the music used in that Melina sword/dagger number? I love the drums and the nay flute, so simple, so powerful, It makes my blood sing!

From YouTube:
Music sampled in this clip by Jehan: "Call of the Tribe" from BellyFuse

Thanks awfully!

So, I've been working with the goblets more. I can slide them around under me, turn on them, and do these big dips as well as do regular taxsim stuff (maya, omi, rolls, layback). Any other suggestions? I don't have as much flexibility as Azhia (but how many people do?).

Try balancing on one foot. Like, lift it, expose your toe, lift it to your knee, and go into a mild backbend. My first teacher also showed me goblets with veil. Like, use it for the head wrap stuff (just the eyes showing), then she would let it fall and hold it around her hips to accentuate the hip stuff. Then you can hold it behind you to frame all your other taqsim-y stuff.

And I'm definitely not that flexible anymore...That was about 15 years ago! ;-p

OK, so I'll be doing my new goblet dance at Rakkasah; Friday night West stage 7:16 Rogue Dancers.

Originally Posted by jetgirl

OK, so I'll be doing my new goblet dance at Rakkasah; Friday night West stage 7:16 Rogue Dancers.

Originally Posted by anala

my appologies...stolen from another thread...but I just had to...I never thought about rubber chickens as a prop...but I may just have to at my next hafla....

OMG, this is the best Dina parody EVER! Love that bra top

Originally Posted by anala

my appologies...stolen from another thread...but I just had to...I never thought about rubber chickens as a prop...but I may just have to at my next hafla....
YouTube - Bassem Faghaly parody on Dina

What's with the naked boobs?! I like it in a weird way.

My ex-dog's favorite chew toy was a rubber chicken. I think he went through 3 of them!

New prop trick, going to try it out for a television show in 2 weeks (Hollands got talent)

"Flying drop":
Stand sideways with isis wings, swoop wings to the front and up while moving down into a lying backbend (but gently landing, the wings hide the legs nicely so no 'real' turkish drop needed)

Will post clip if we make it to TV!!!

What was with the Dina parody? Is that a famous male dancer? Her "boobies" are plopping out of her top! I mean, I know Dina has bigguns, but...;-)