How to Belly Dance with Isis Wings

Purists may look down on Isis Wings, but they can be a real attention-grabber in a belly dance performance.

They're especially useful if you are dancing in cabaret, where the audience can be too busy chatting and eating to notice you. Make your entrance with a pair of huge rainbow wings shimmering around you, and see how quickly they sit up and take notice!

Many dancers are intimidated by Isis Wings, but there's no need to be. They can be effective used in the simplest of ways.

Look at the video below, for instance. Notice how impressive the opening seconds are, even though the dancer is only just moving the sticks to make the wings vibrate.

There are a couple of basic secrets to good Isis Wing technique.

1. Regard the sticks as an extension of your arms. Your teacher has probably told you not to let your hands flop when you're dancing, but to keep the back of your hand in line with your arm. The same applies to your sticks - try to keep a straight line all the way from your shoulder to the tip of the stick. There are exceptions for some movements, of course - but if you start with this rule, you can feel confident your moves will look elegant.
2. Move the stick in a figure of eight. Never move the stick (forward, back, up or down) in a straight line. Instead, trace a figure of eight with the point of the stick. This will make the wing billow and flow attractively.
3. Vary your speed. The same move can look very different at different speeds, because the air catches your wings in different ways.

The dancer in the next video is not a belly dancer, nor is she using Isis wings - but her costume works exactly the same way, and the fine fabric clearly shows the effect of the "figure eight" action. Notice how straight her arms are.

There are two basic types of Isis wings.

Traditional wings are huge.  Notice how big they look compared to the dancer in this photo!  They're just two wings joined in the middle by a strip of material. The strip of material simply sits along your collarbone and drapes over your shoulders. It sounds insecure, but so long you're holding your sticks, it's not difficult to keep in place. However, you can never let go of the sticks or your wings will fall off!

Because the range of movements you can make with Isis wings is actually quite limited, dancers wanted wings they could pick up or drop at will. This led to the development of Isis wings attached to a Velcro collar.

These wings also had to have shorter sticks, so the ends wouldn't drag on the ground when the dancer wasn't using them. Of course, that meant the wings also had to become much smaller. They're also made of lighter material, because the Velcro collar won't take the weight of heavy fabric. I've known dancers who tried making heavy wings with a Velcro collar and had it give way mid-performance, leaving them wing-less!

This next video shows an example of the lighter, smaller wings. They do enable you to add more variety to your choreography, but you can see they are much less dramatic, too.

Which type of wing you prefer will depend on your circumstances - what style you dance and where. If you're part of a troupe, then the sensible thing is to match your wings to the rest of the group. Smaller wings are better for ensemble numbers - those sticks can be dangerous at close range!

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All text copyright Marisa Wright. Red/orange photo courtesy of Eleda 1, dancer on carpet by quest for the heartstone, Sira and Sarah Skinner by Shake my Day, Golden wings and Wings group by Jaywalker Studio, all on Flickr.