Dear Constant Reader,
I’ve not been the best of correspondents of late and for that I am sorry. I just haven’t had the inspiration to write. Today I realized that I never told you about my white fans.
If you’ve seen me perform, you’ve probably seen my white feather fans. I commissioned them from The Scarlett Rose (who also made my black and white ones) and first performed with them in V for Vixen in December 2009.
They had single white plumes on bamboo staves. Back then your choices for fan staves were bamboo or acrylic (probably from Ostrich.com). My hands are small, so I was very happy for the bamboo, which is lighter and sat better in my hand. She painted the staves white, then covered the front and back staves with a single piece of white trim which made a carrying loop. As a finally touch, she decorated that trim with rhinestones. I added more rhinestones to the shafts of the front plumes.
This photo by Charles Jones, from my Ugly Duckling fan dance during Bumps Upon a Grind is one of my favorites.
I used those fans a lot over the years. I lost the nut on one pair and couldn’t find a replacement the right size, so I had to replace the whole bolt and it was too long. One of the staves cracked and I mended it with cloth tape. The fancy trim got grimy from my hands.
This year I finally decided to take the plunge and have Donna Touch upgrade them. Fan tech has come a long way since 2009 and bamboo or acrylic are no longer the only options. Donna makes staves from light-weight aluminum and powder coats them pretty much any color you could want. She carefully removed the plumes, which were glued to the staves, and moved them over to white aluminum staves and added another row of feathers. Check out her fine work here.
I debuted them at Burlesque with a Band in February. Here they are in action!
They’re quite a bit bigger now and slightly heavier, but so full and lush!
The slick aluminum staves took a little getting used to after the rougher bamboo, as did the new size. After using them for most of the year now they’re an extension of my hands again,
I was missing the rhinestone decorations that The Scarlett Rose had done (I removed the bits of trim before I sent the fans to Donna), but the fronts of these staves are almost completely covered with feathers. However, the stave backs were bare. I pavéd them with rhinestones (from Looking Glass Gems) and continued up the feather shaft. The picture doesn’t capture how sparkly they actually are! (The gaps are for the holes where the wire is securing the feathers to the stave.) (And my feathers need a steam.)
So, a brief bit of real talk — a conversation I have with my students frequently — fans are an investment. I paid quite a bit for the original custom-made set in 2009 and twice that for the conversion in 2022. Now, I used the original set for 12 years and I’ve used the new version in most of my shows this year, so I don’t begrudge any of the expense. However, I hate to see new dancers take the plunge and then discover fan dancing isn’t for them.
That said, I would recommend Donna’s fans for any serious fan dancer. They’re light, they’re strong, and they’re beautifully made. I’m dreaming of a set of her boa fans. Maybe some day…
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