I’ve been meaning to write this entry since the workshop, but alas, time and forgetfulness got in the way. Oh well.

Meiver taught a fan veil workshop in October. Although I had learned fan veil technique previously from Meiver over the summer and had a brief introduction in Chicago, I learned even more. The workshop was well-designed, with Meiver discussing where to buy fan veils and the difference in quality. It may seem like a minute detail, but the quality of your props makes a HUGE difference, as well as the size. With so many vendors out there and money not being as free flowing for most of us, these discussions are important to help make the best decisions.

Another important aspect in the workshop was Meiver discussing when and how she felt that using fan veils made sense and a brief history of fan veil use. I liked the history bit, because it was interesting. Hearing when and how fan veil use worked well was good, because it helped me envision what I could do with them.

The exercises Meiver had us do were a combination of new and old (well, to people who have experienced the fan veil stuff over the summer) things. One thing I liked that Meiver mentioned at the beginning was that we should try to remember and take away 5 things from the workshop. I’m currently assessing how I want to use workshops in my dance education; this five things method may be the answer I was looking for, because you cannot get everything out of a workshop.

A rather large part of the workshop was doing exercises across the floor or in a circle. This gave Meiver a chance to correct us individually. It also allowed us to travel in the space, something I admittedly don’t do that often (my home space is much too small).

We ended the workshop with a choreography of sorts, to see how the technique we learned fits into a song and becomes a dance.  Although I am not a fan of choreography workshops, I liked having that little bit to really understand how things work together; one of my area of improvement in my dance is to learn how to create really flowing dance and not feel like there are sudden, unintentional stops.

The workshop was packed full of information and remarkably, there is still more. Meiver is considering a Fan Veils Part 2 workshop to build upon what was done. Although I have been a little more reluctant to use fan veil and haven’t been much of a fan (no pun intended), I’m starting to be won over by them.

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