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Veil for Beginners

How to hold the veil: Between index and middle fingers, gracefully. Do not clutch. Hold normal “dancer hands” position, and move hands normally as you dance.

Veil is not like “flag corps”, in which the focus is waving the veil around at the expense of dancing. Veil is to accent and frame your dance, and always takes a back seat to you. Keep that in mind as you choreograph or prepare to improvise.

When holding the veil behind you with arms out to sides at shoulder level, hold arms a little further back than your sides so when you bring your veil up and over to the front, it doesn't catch on your belt/bottom, bra, or hair/head.

Practice with your veil by holding it while performing your usual dance. See how you can utilize the veil to drape and frame your movements. For example, hold veil in front of you with arms out to your sides at shoulder height. Then bring hands into behind neck, and the veil “frames” the stomach area to highlight some belly work. Or, raise your arms over your head and touch them together high. This frames your head nicely for some head slides. There are many ways to accent your dancing with veil.

Another way that veil adds nuance to bellydancing is during spins and turns. In addition to a graceful skirt swirling, the veil adds another layer of movement to circular motions. Try a barrel turn while holding veil either in front of or behind your body. Even just hold the veil out to your sides at shoulder height while doing simple turns will add great drama.

Try some asymmetrical movements too, perhaps (with the veil behind your body) hold one hand up behind your head, and the other can do figure 8's to the side with that end of the veil (to perhaps mirror single hip 8's or a standing backbend?)

Just remember that in Egyptian style dance, the veil is used for a little while at the beginning of a piece, then discarded, while in cabaret style a veil may be used the whole time.