Carrying on about Fans

Dear Constant Reader,

If you’ve been following me for a while, you probably know that the most important things in my burlesque life are my fans. I’ve written about my white fans and their conversion before. Today I’m going to talk about safely transporting fans.

Fans are large, awkward, delicate things and traveling with them is tricky. My bamboo stave fans don’t really fold down very far, so I needed something that could accommodate them. For a while I used a shotgun case with the resulting oversized baggage fees and resignation to TSA searches (these lessened when I plastered “Theatrical props: Feather fans” and a photo of the contents on the outside of the case to join the abundance of “Fragile” stickers). Then I got a suitcase big enough to hold the fans (padded with all my garments). While good for flying, it was a lousy option for local shows or road trips. I started packing my fans in a plastic storage box. It fit well in the car, but had no handle, so it wasn’t great for taking on public transit or carrying for a while. I have to admit I was a bit jealous of the folks who could fold their fans up completely and slip them into mailing tubes.

A couple of years ago Donna Touch produced aluminum fan cases, like musical instrument cases, and I jumped on one, even though I hadn’t converted my fans yet. The case is sturdy and latches securely. It’s lightly padded (which Bartholomew loves) and there’s a handy pocket inside for fan repair items (provided!)  My fans, even before conversion, fit nicely and there’s even enough room to also pack a wig. I haven’t tried flying with it yet. It does have built in locks, but I don’t think they’re TSA-compatible and there’s no hasp to add your own lock (although I have an idea if I ever fly with it).
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While this case is great for gigs, both getting there and keeping the fans safe in the dressing room, it’s  a bit much to schlepp to rehearsals. When Donna announced she was offering soft-sided cases, I didn’t hesitate. She’s not producing them herself; they’re made by Black Cat to her specifications. They are not inexpensive, and the shipping fee from Odesa, Ukraine is a bit hefty, but I thought it was worth it. It’s made of sturdy fabric, with carrying handles, a padded strap, and a zippered pocket on the outside (lined in surprise red on mine). It unzips flat and I can fit two pairs of fans easily. It also came with a bonus small zippered pouch. I’m happy with it and also happy to have supported an artisan in Ukraine.

Bonus photo of Bartholomew inspecting my fans.
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If you’ve got fans, how do you transport them?

M2These writings and other creative projects are supported by my 19 Patrons. Thank you so much! To become a Patron, go to my Patreon page. Or you can just tip me if you liked this.

Published in: on 23 August 2023 at 2:23 pm  Leave a Comment  
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New Fans (sort of)

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.

Ugly Duckling Fan DanceThis 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!

Mina 02-03-22

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, 

rhinestones backI 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…

M2

These writings and other creative projects are supported by my 17 Patrons. Thank you so much! To become a Patron, go to my Patreon page. Or you can just tip me if you liked this.

Published in: on 7 December 2022 at 5:22 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Burlesque with a Band 2/3/22

Dear Constant Reader,

We had our second live music show at Flying Embers this past Thursday and it was more exciting than we expected…

The weather was kind of terrible, and Scratch told Ava and me that we were going to start a little late. The audience was trickling in (we were almost completely booked up) and not all the band members were here yet. That was fine. We were happily ensconced backstage with some snacks provided by the lovely bartenders. I had my latest embroidery project and Ava’s good company. But it got later and the drummer was still stuck in traffic.

The band started playing without him and Scratch said as soon as he got here we’d jump right into the burlesque and do a tightened-up set. Great. We were all ready for that and waited some more.

Then Scratch came backstage one more time with the fateful news. The traffic had been caused by an accident so bad the highway was now closed. We would have no drummer that night.

There was some good news, however. The drummer hadn’t been available for our last rehearsal, so he pre-recorded his tracks for the songs that we were running that night and the band had them. The bad news was they had Ava’s songs, but not mine, as I wasn’t at that rehearsal. Scratch said I could use recorded music for my acts… Hell no! We had a band — I was going to dance to live music!

The plan was to run the burlesque acts basically back to back with a little intermission between for the hard-working band to have a break and for Ava to have time to change costumes.

My first song was “Three for the Show”, which does have quite a bit of percussion. The other musicians did their best to fill in on the fly. I got a little lost in the middle — thank goodness Betty ran all those improv drills, so I had a plan until I got back on track.

My second song, “Harlem Nocturne”, was a little easier, as it’s heavy on the brass (trumpet in our case) and the drums are not as vital. However, because I can’t do anything the easy way, I was using new fans. Well, old fans that had been refurbished.

I had sent my white fans to Donna Touch to be converted from bamboo to aluminum staves and have another row of feathers added. The fans arrived that afternoon, so I only had a few minutes to practice with them before deciding I would use them at the show.

Slightly different music, new fans, what could go wrong?

As it turned out, nothing!

My hands aren’t used to the fans yet, but I managed. No, more than managed — it was as good a performance as I’ve given with the old set. It just took a little more thought and my hands were a bit sweatier than usual, given the circumstances. I’ll give a fuller review of the new fans in their own missive.

Here’s a little taste of the evening. Photos by Scratch.

Ava 2-3-22 Mina 02-03-22

The audience was great, really supportive of the situation. We were also lucky to have Betty Blaize in the audience. Instead of Ava and I acting as stage kittens for each other (the original plan), she jumped in to handle pick up, so we could concentrate on getting changed for the next act.

We’ll be back on February 17 with a special treat. It’s my birthday! I’m told there will be cake! I’m not performing, so hang out with me and enjoy the evening. Make a reservation because seats are limited (it’s free!) .

M2These writings and other creative projects are supported by my 14 Patrons. Thank you so much! To become a Patron, go to my Patreon page. Or you can just tip me if you liked this.

Published in: on 10 February 2022 at 10:14 am  Leave a Comment  
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