Double Skirt?

[zorba]

Ok, its "help the dumb male time" again, or to put the same thing a different way: "only Zorba would ask this kind of question...."

We (my instructor and class (and wife!)) are getting ready for a (troupe) performance in December at the "Tribal Fusion Faire" in San Lous Obispo (California). Of the four dances we're doing, two of them involve skirts. The first is an Andalusian skirt dance, for which I (and everyone else) wear a 21+ yard "Gypsy" skirt. The second, the "story" dance, I usually wear a skirt for also, but not always as it (unlike the Andalusian dance) has a non-skirt option - "air skirt" if you will.

Ok, the point of all this is that my instructor is playing with an idea that she isn't sure will work (but we're going to give it a try in rehearsal next week). The Gypsy skirt is great for the Andalusian dance, but we have different skirts that work better for the "Story" dance - so she wants to try to wear both, do the Andalusian dance first, shed the Gypsy skirt to do the "Story" dance, then shed that to do the remaining two in pants (the next dance is a cane dance).

Whether or not this will work we'll find out soon enough - but I'm looking for tips from my dance sisters as I've never worn two skirts at once - and I know some of you have. How should I approach the skirtwork in the first (Andalusian) dance - try to do the (rather vigorous) skirtwork with both skirts, or just the (top) Gypsy one? How is this going to affect things?

Pulling one off while leaving the other on might be "interesting" too. I know my way around a skirt pretty well, but this is beyond my experience. I might better off to take the "non-skirted option" for the second ("Story" dance) and bypass the whole issue!

Any tips/advice would be appreciated!

[rachelw]

I'm assuming the shedding will take place off stage?I would say practice with both skirts and any hip accessories you plan to wear for the show. Sometimes putting on "the whole shebang" will mean it's just really heavy around your hip area. Make sure the weight of everything won't just drag it all down (or make it feel like it's being dragged down while you're dancing).

Have you considered that it might not be that much more time consuming to simply switch skirts, rather than removing one while leaving the other on.

[zorba]

Originally Posted by rachelw

Have you considered that it might not be that much more time consuming to simply switch skirts, rather than removing one while leaving the other on.

Yea, its off stage. The second one is a PITA to get on in the first place, whereas the Gypsy skirt is a elastic/drawstring setup. It'll be interesting to see what happens when we try this next week in rehearsal....

[tahiradancer]

The other problem I can see is that, due to the sheer volume of fabric in large skirts, taking them off may well be bothersome.

Now I have recently seen a trible dancer solve this problem by opening on seam of the skirt and then adding a bottom or hooks and eyes at the waist band. that way she could just shuck the 21 yarder when she was ready to go to her more fusion-y piece.

{{{HUGS}}}

[zorba]

An update: My instructor has decided this is too much of a PITA - however I really liked the fullness of two skirts! What fun! But she's right, its a pain to get out of the one over the other.

[Souzan]

No options for man-skirts?

[zorba]

Originally Posted by Souzan

No options for man-skirts?

Sure - since there's a man wearing it, it must be a manskirt!