Alia Thabit: The only thing I really remember from the last time this came up was cartesio's plea to use TEMPERED Glasses, which crumble like windshields when broken rather than spearing your foot.

Cartesio : Ladies (and gents)--As a former consultant to the major glass manufacturer in New York (forgive me, Jennifer, I think, for qualifying myself this way) I have to say a thing or so about dancing on glasses.

One of the projects I worked on was the process for strengthening of glass, and to our surprise it turns out that being thick does not necessarily mean "strong." It all depends on the annealing process and the type of glass. If you are lucky, you will get a specimen free of microscopic fractures. But inexpensive, molded, thick glassware is, IMO, not reliable, really. Please be careful.

At Bellyjam last March, Tasha Banat did a short number on two or three glasses. I really was quite uneasy the whole time, and of course it all went without incident. However, your feet are terribly important in dance, so, again, please think twice!

Miramar: This dance is dangerous because you are dancing on glasses that are not made for dancing and they can break. I had a friend who put the stem of one of these glasses through her foot and it wasn't pretty. So if you are going to do this dance you need to be extremely well-prepared, well-rehearsed and very sure of your physical abilities at the time you are performing this dance.

Najida: I can't watch a glass dance without squiriming in my seat and finally just covering my eyes with my hands. I am positively a nervous wreck the entire time because all I can see is the glass and bare feet. Call me a wuss. But swords don't phase me, go figure.

Q: Why dance on glasses?

Elaine Fraser: Possibly not what the original poster was asking about, but I remember reading in a book on Flamenco about a dancer wearing a bata de cola (big, stiff skirt) being asked to dance on upturned glasses, without breaking any, for a bet - which she won, and retired from dancing! I think this was around the time of the 1st World War.

Sherezzah Bint al-Waha: Tasha Banat has been mentioned many times as a resource for dancing on glasses, and I just wanted to add that, on one of the several occasions I saw her perform this when she lived in my area, she explained some background about the dance, thus: "It's something my grandmother used to do. I don't know why."

Q: How do you dance on glasses?

Miramar: Dancing on glasses takes really good balance! You use three heavy goblet type glasses which have a round base and about a 3 inch thick stem and large thick bowl. Think of a large ice cream goblet. The goblets, unfortunately, are not designed for dancing, so you have to be very careful as they can easily break. The glasses are available through restaurant equipment supply companies. I use a specially prepared dancing board as you need just the right surface to execute some of the moves. The board should be approximately 3' x 4' and be at least 3/4 inch and preferably 1 inch thick to prevent warping. It must be sanded smooth and either waxed or varnished. An excellent alternative to varnish is many coats of a paste wax, which will give the right glide to the board. Try to avoid making it too slippery. Basically, in this dance, slow isolations are performed while standing on top of the glasses. You have two glasses supporting one foot and one supporting the other foot. You can move around the board by sliding the glasses. This looks nice to do with a large hip circle and turning slowly. Backbends can be performed by sliding one glass back with your hand, the other two feet stay on the glasses. This is very strenuous and you have to be really careful not to flip the goblets out from under your feet. You can balance one of the glasses on your head (although I can't do this without a really thick turban on my head!) It is possible to do some shimmies and hip work while standing on the glasses.

Kitty Tambling: Years ago (and many pounds ago!) I did a candle dance on top of glasses. I got the glasses from a new defunct dance supplier. I had votive candles in my hands and the music I used was "In the Temple of the Moon Goddess" on the album Omens, Oracles, and Mysticism of the dance-the artist slips my mind at the moment, but he's got a couple of albums out and they are easy to find.

I wore my first beaded costume (made it myself!). I hopped off the glasses and did a kneeling backbend that ended with the back of my hands-with candles on them-resting on the glasses. Then did belly rolls and undulations; the angle made the belly work interesting. I used four glasses (two per foot) and practiced sliding the glasses into different positions without looking down in order to change my angle to the audience.

Kahaz: What kind of moves can you do? Well, it's like using a sword: if you know how to dance, if your isolation works well, then why should it matter that you have a prop? If you are moving your hips (yes, even in a fast shimmy) then why are your feet moving? So, the answer is: you can do anything but travel steps. You can even incorporate the glasses in some floor work (I rested the back of my hands on them). If this all appeals to you, then go for it! But beware: adrenaline dancers can't get enough.

Morroco: Re dancing on glasses, there is nothing *officially* written on it that I know of. However, from personal, on-site experience I can tell you with absolute certainty that there is/was a really great dance, done by Assyrians & Egyptians (& probably others from those regions), where the *female* dancer dances on ***3*** glasses, placed in a triangle, with one glass at the back & 2 in the front.

The balls of the feet are on the 2 front glasses & the heel of whichever foot at the time is the "standing" foot is rested on the back/apex glass.

I first saw a wonderful Assyrian (NOT to be confused with Syrian!) dancer named Iklas do it in 1961 at a hafla & cornered her in the dressing room. She had learned it from her grandmother.

Then, in 1964, I was dancing at a Maharajan in/near Philadelphia, when Fatima Akef, sister of Naima, also did that dance.

In the interim & afterwards, I have seen many "realies" do it, in their homes & at haflas, in performance. BOTH Iklas *&* Fatima also had water jugs on their heads & yes, so help me God, Fatima also had a parrot on one shoulder. She said that was her "touch" to keep the audience interested - as if dancing VERY well, on glasses, with a water jug on ones head were not enough?!?!?

There was/ hopefully still is a Basque MEN's dance, the one from which ballet was derived, where these guys do entrechasixes, cabrioles, sissons (sp?) & tour-jetes on ONE wineglass!!! I saw it myself, HONEST!! However, so far as I have been able to determine, *that* dance has nothing to do with the one Iklas & Fatima did. Folks just tend to use what they got to show off ........

Miramar: I used to dance on glasses - haven't done it for a while but here is what I remember. The reason I haven't done it for awhile is because it requires a special surface which is not easy to transport and the one I have won't fit in my Mazda MX3. I use a special board - approx. 5 ft. x 5 ft., that I sanded smooth and then stained and finished a number of times with Johnson's paste wax. Because the board is rather heavy - it is not easily transportable. The first time I made a board I used thin plywood (1/4" I think) and it didn't work because it soon warped. The board I have now is approx. 3/4" and it has been around for about 10 years. You might be able to dance on an existing wooden stage but make sure if you practiced on it a number of times. You don't want to just show up at a performance or gig without having tested out the stage or floor as this is a very dangerous dance.

Dangerous because you are dancing on glasses that are not made for dancing and they can break. I had a friend who put the stem of one of these glasses through her foot and it wasn't pretty. So if you are going to do this dance you need to be extremely well-prepared, well-rehearsed and very sure of your physical abilities at the time you are performing this dance.

It takes a great deal of balance to perform a glass dance. The glasses are extremely heavy, thick glass goblets. The base is approx. 3" circum., the stem about 2 inches and the bowl has the capacity to hold just alittle over cup of liquid.

The glasses are placed on the board - two (one in front of the other) in front of one foot (I use the left foot as my anchor) and one glass in front of the other foot (my right foot). The dancer stands with left foot on the two glasses and the right foot is on the ball of the 3rd glass. You could reverse this order depending on which leg you feel more comfortable being your anchor or supporting leg (meaning supporting the majority of your weight during the performance.)

You basically begin the dance by already having your board set up. You might dance over to a table and retrieve 2 glasses, clank them together so your audience knows they aren't plastic. Then dance over to your board and gracefully set them down. Dance back over to the table - retrieve 3rd glass and set it up. I like a slow taxim for this part. Embellish with alot of arm movements and make a big deal of standing on the glasses.

Begin your glass dance with arm movements, shoulder isolations, rib isolations and work down to hip movements such as vertical figure 8's up & down (Snake Hips). Chiftelli is nice here. Because you are a prepared board - you can actually slide the glasses around a bit and by turning on the left foot anchor - sort of using the right foot as a paddle - you can actually turn around on the board while executing a large hip circle or several smaller ones. This takes alot of practice so that the glasses do not flip out from under your feet.

Another exciting - but very strenuous move is to execute hip isolations down to where you are kneeling on the glasses. Your left hand holds on to the glass that is supporting your left heel and you slide the glass backward as you go into a backbend. The balls of your feet rest on the two front glasses. Again - this ain't an easy Trick!! - takes alot of practice, flexibility and control. Great place for some tummy work. Slide the glass back in place - grab it and place on your head -execute some fancy hip work - come off the two glasses and finish your routine dancing with just the one glass on your head. Definitely pretty tricky stuff!!

Sikander Jaad: I danced on glasses, too, back in the 70's. We used the heavy carnival glass goblets (I still have 4 of them) but we used three- two under one foot (heel and ball of foot) and one under the ball of the other foot. We also used a smooth board under the goblets if we did not have a good wooden dance floor- especially after the stem of a glass shattered and injured the foot of a dancer in another troupe. Using the board allows the dancer to get quite a lot of floor movement in, because it's easy to move the goblets anywhere on the board while dancing on them. We not only did shimmies, articulations, hip work, arm and rib work, but also added sword dancing to the glass act. Audience's favorite part was when the dancer would lift her heel off the third glass and finish the show dancing on two glasses, one under the ball of each foot. Oh to be so young and ??? again!!

Dunya al Hannah Americanistan: I have danced on the goblets a lot. I learned it from a dancer who learned it from a dancer who got it from Jamila Salimpour. Jamila got it from a dancer whose name escapes me at the moment, but who was the sister of the famous Egyptian dancer Naima Akef (who you can see on one of the Stars of Egypt videos dancing to the original version of "Aziza," which our band used as the basis for our version of the tune--wonderful video, but I digress.) Anyway, Jamila got the idea from the Akef sister who used to perform on the goblets with a live parrot on her shoulder, removing her outer garment to reveal a second costume beneath, all the while balancing on the goblets. I have seen a goblet dance performed by Rossah's Hand of Fatima troupe, in which the goblet dancer is on the goblets as a kind of "goddess" figure while other dancers move around her. Rossah was also trained in Jamila's dance style. Anyway, to do the trick, for that is basically what it is, you need three sturdy goblets. I got my first set by going to a funny old restaurant supply company here in Eugene which has been run by the same couple for at least 30 yrs. I said, "I'm one of those crazy belly dancers and I'm a big heavy gal and I want some really sturdy glasses than I can stand on while I dance." They found some goblets for me that I used for years. The glass is pretty thick, thicker than it looks like onstage. (That is part of the illusion, or showmanship--people think how on earth she can DO that. Are those real galsses?.) I always begin by clinking them together to show that yes indeed they ARE real, and then placing them upside down on the area of the stage that I want to dance on. I put two of them under my left foot and one under the right. The ball of the left foot goes onto one goblet and the heel goes on another. The ball of the right foot goes onto the third goblet, leaving the right hip available for articulations. Rossah gave me a couple of the goblets she uses, which are actually ice cream sundae dishes with stems, and are larger and thicker than my goblets. They are made of very thick and heavy glass. I tried to find some of them at my restaurant supply place but they seem to have been discontinued due to their heaviness. You can sometimes find them at flea markets or second hand stores. I have used two of the big ones under my left foot and one of the smaller goblets under my right foot. You should make a "big deal" out of mounting the goblets. Make it look difficult and dramatic. That is part of the showmanship, too. I dance a bit, then pose, with arms raised, in front of the goblets which have been placed upside down on the floor. I left my left foot high off the ground and then slowly lower it onto the two goblets, shifting my weight forward and onto the goblets while extending my right leg and pointing my toe. When I feel balanced I shift my right foot onto the single goblet. This is the most difficult moment, and the difficulty is greater because I do the dance while balancing a pot on my head (and I use a real ceramic pot, not a paper mache stage fake pot).

It has been useful to have an assistant when performing this dance, someone to bring out the goblets when I am ready for them. I present the goblets to the audience, clinking them together and placing them where I want them, then have the assistant bring out the pot, which I then place on my head and dance with for a bit, "spotting" the location of the goblets without actually looking down. I approach the goblets and then mount them as described above. Once I am on the goblets I don't stay up there too long, but you can do isolations, body waves, shimmies, hip articulations, etc. You can do a turn while up on the goblets by shifting your weight on them. Kinda hard to explain in words, but it depends on the floor. You need a nice smooth floor for that part of the trick. When I have turned enough to have my back to the audience, I pause there for a moment and strike a pose, then continue the turn till I am facing front again. After shimmying and striking a pose, I came down off the glasses and finish the dance with a backbend and a spin, still balancing the pot. This trick never fails to bring the audience to a complete state of quiet. One of the most dramatic goblet dances that I did occurred when I knocked over the single goblet with my right foot when trying to mount. I had to dismount, sink to the floor and reposition the goblet, shaking my finger at it like "Bad goblet, don't dare do that again!" All the while balancing the pot. When I finally got all the way up on the glasses, the audience just roared. Dramatic tension, release of tension. We all had a very good time with the rest of the piece. I must tell you that I have been warned that the goblets will break and I will cut my feet and injure myself horribly. I have one dancer friend who refuses to be in the room when I am performing this dance, because she is so frightened. I have never been concerned about this as I know the goblets are extremely sturdy and I check them over before using them in a show to be sure that there are no cracks or chips in them. It's not for everyone, and you don't have to balance the pot at the same time. I have seen a dancer get up on the glasses and then have a sword handed to her, which she placed on her head. That was effective too. Hope this is helpful. I wanted to share this with the list as a way of "giving back" to you all. I have learned so much and enjoyed so much all of your input. Mostly playing music, but still dancing a bit, Eugene, Oregon

Natasya K: Others are probably more knowledgeable than I ... but I have seen 2 kinds of glass dances.

#1 Greek women's folk dance. I saw this at a folk dance festival. Don't know the name of the dance or anything ... just remember seeing 2 young women out of the folk dance troupe dance on wine glasses as the finale of one of their numbers.

#2 I have seen (and imitated) a bellydance doing a slow tsiftetelli with a sword balanced on the head. This uses 3 heavy-duty stem-glasses .... like the kind that hot fudge sundaes come in.

Q: Resources and videos for dancing on glasses?

Antoinette: Veda has a video on dancing with glasses. I dont have it so i cant tell you whether the video was good or not but I do like her others (fans and floorwork).

Sabine: Someone asked about the glass/goblet dance by Dunya al Hana. You can see the video information at www.home.earthlink.net/~dunyah/index.html.

The video is called "More Troupe Americanistan" and is very good. Dunya al Hana (who is an average-sized lady, not a teensy gal) performs the goblet dance in which she steps up on the goblets--which are like heavy wine glasses, not water glasses--in bare feet, and moves the glasses around on the floor while she dances. In addition, the video also features a tray dance (the tray, covered with lighted candles, is balanced on the head of the dancer), a cane dance, double-veil, a beautiful basket dance, a 7/8, a tribal piece and several others. The video is $25. I have seen her perform this dance live and it is always breathtaking. The audience loves it!

Shakira: Tasha Banat taught an *excellent* class on this at bellyjam 2000. If you can get in touch with her, that would be best, i think. i've added some things to it, but only because i can. ;-) but they might not work on all bodies. ;-)

Tasha is a sweetie and an authority in general. what she taught, btw, involved the dancer standing on 3 glasses, doing wonderful 'isolations,' great classic stuff. no extraneous props, birds, or anythign else. ;-) [i vaguely recall a post saying 'what *ff* there were a dance where...' that might be what you remember. Tasha's email

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