Swirly skirts for dancing

[Charlie]

My wife and myself do a fair amount of folk dancing. This covers English folk, Playford (ye olde 'Jane Eyre' type dance), American contra and others. She usually wears a skirt, I've always worn a modern kilt, except for two occasions: the first was the night we joined the local dance club, and the second was at a Playford ball where we all dressed in period costume - which for me meant wearing breeches.

The great thing about wearing a kilt (or skirt) when dancing is that, when you turn on the spot, the skirt flares out and you get a pleasant draught. Also, you feel the weight of the skirt as it flares out - you don't get this in trousers, and I felt that something was missing when I turned on the spot wearing breeches; I felt too lightweight. This flaring sensation is something that most men are unaware of. I find it adds to the enjoyment of the dance.

What I really want to do is dance in the sort of skirt which continues to rotate after the wearer has stopped turning, and wraps itself around the wearer. The skirt then reverses direction and unwinds to the normal hanging position. It's beautiful to watch and, having watched, I want one as well.

We're off to a contra dance weekend in November. This would be the perfect opportunity to dance in a skirt - I've heard that some men in America dance contra in skirts. Does anyone know how full, and how long these skirts are?

(Contra dance is very energetic and exciting, a colourful, swirly skirt would just add to the enjoyment - and comfort - of the proceedings.)

Charlie

[BrotherTailor]

hmmm, neat thread.

Just from my experiences sewing, a good swirl would require pleats, likely one way knife pleats, although box pleats might swirl. A regular gathered waist skirt might swirl, but a big bulky hem on any skirt would stiffen it overly much. A fine light narrow hem would be better. sewing weights into the hem at evenly spaced locations might help it continue swirling in one direction while you stop and reverse (although not like lead sinkers, as they would make it sag like a potato sack, something light..even safety pins hidden along the inside might add a bit of momentum)It goes without saying that a skirt must be very full to swirl out. But I've never tried any of this. A regular ladies dress can be made to swirl easily...but the fabrics are a bit different than what men would prefer.

I like your point that most men don't have a good "feel" for what they're wearing. There is something about a nice heavy skirt hanging off you and moving around you that I like...

[sapphire]

Some version of a circle skirt would swirl well. Gored skirts would do well also if the crcumference of the hem is large.

[crfriend]

What I really want to do is dance in the sort of skirt which continues to rotate after the wearer has stopped turning, and wraps itself around the wearer. The skirt then reverses direction and unwinds to the normal hanging position. It's beautiful to watch and, having watched, I want one as well.

For that effect to work, physics would indicate a moderately heavy, but free-flowing, fabric so inertia would carry it the way you describe. A moderate-weight cotton knit might work, as would various polyester/lycra blends. The same thing would tend to happen on "snap turns" where when the turn starts the skirt is not in motion, and begins to follow after a small delay; the same effect at the end of the turn would be expected, save in reverse.

Getting the hem to extend "out and away" would typically require a prolonged "twirl"; I don't know if that's a common motion for men in folk dance (other than Dervishes).

I've heard that some men in America dance contra in skirts. Does anyone know how full, and how long these skirts are?

AMM would be the man to ask about that. Hopefully he'll chime in on this one. He posted a shot of him in one of his dance skirts a while ago; it was the bright blue one.

[AMM]

What I really want to do is dance in the sort of skirt which continues to rotate after the wearer has stopped turning, and wraps itself around the wearer. The skirt then reverses direction and unwinds to the normal hanging position. It's beautiful to watch and, having watched, I want one as well.
....
I've heard that some men in America dance contra in skirts. Does anyone know how full, and how long these skirts are?

AMM would be the man to ask about that. Hopefully he'll chime in on this one. He posted a shot of him in one of his dance skirts a while ago; it was the bright blue one.

Male contradancers in the US wear skirts tend to go for longer skirts -- calf to ankle length, or even floor length. See http://www.qccd.org/skirts.html . Personally, I have more or less settled on 25" (mid-calf) for warm weather and 30" (top of the ankle) plus thick over-the-knee socks for cool weather. I have one or two 36" skirts, but they cause problems on stairs. By SkirtCafe standards, all are very, very full (hem circumference of 180-200 inches or more.)

I actually try to avoid the "wrap around" effect, as I worry that it's more likely to show off what you have on under your skirt. On women, at least, when their skirts wrap around, you can see pretty far up, entirely exposing the black bicycle shorts they tend to wear. My skirts are mostly circle skirts, or, more precisely, conical: if fully extended, they form a cone with sides sticking out 45-75 degrees, and I wear a simple half-slip under them.


To get the effect you want, I believe you need to go with a heavily gathered skirt, rather than a circle skirt, though I don't have much experience here. I do have one gathered skirt I made which seems to do some wrapping around, though it's only 21" long, so it's hard to tell.

By "gathered" I mean that you take a long rectangle of cloth, width equal to the skirt length, and length something like 4 or 6 times your waist size. You gather it down to
something that still goes over your hips, add a waistband with elastic, drawstring, and/or belt.

I think you'd want to avoid stiff fabrics like denim or thick ones like fleece, but if you're going to dance in it, you'd want something light, anyway. I tend to use broadcloth (lightweight 35/65 cotton/poly) because it's easy to get hold of, but I think anything thin should work. I usually add a llightwweight lining, like polyester voile (I buy sheer (voile) curtains at the local discount store and disassemble them for the fabric) in the hopes that it will let the fabric slide around even more.

-- AMM

[SkirtDude]

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[SkirtDude]

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[Charlie]

OK, I saw a good "wind up" skirt at the dance Friday but didn't get a chance to talk to the wearer - we had more men than women so the experienced women dancers were pretty busy. It was definitely a tiered skirt and was probably a knit based on the way it "sprang" when she balanced.

Out of interest, did the men wearing skirts take the ladies' part? We tried reversing roles for one dance at our club once. The women were OK, as most of them had danced as men, but the men (me included) didn't have a clue about dancing as women.

Charlie

[AMM]

Out of interest, did the men wearing skirts take the ladies' part?

I think in the Northeast (USA), men in skirts aren't any more likely to dance as ladies than other men. I did read on Henry Morganstern's (sp?) web site some comments that suggests that where he is ("midwest" USA), they do use skirts to signal men dancing as women.

When I was at dance camp, where I wore skirts the whole time, I would sometimes dance at sessions where there were more men than women. On the occasions when I danced with another man, the other man usually preferred to have me dance the man's role. I don't know what to make of that.

Also at Contra Dances at dance festivals in the Northeast, you see men dancing as women even when there are not more men than women. You see men dancing with men, or men dancing with women in reversed roles, and people swapping roles back and forth during the dance. This shouldn't be interpreted as saying anything about their "sexual preference," by the way.

We tried reversing roles for one dance at our club once. The women were OK, as most of them had danced as men, but the men (me included) didn't have a clue about dancing as women.

I've see this done as a teaching tool. I've often wished I had more opportunities to dance as a woman, as I think it gives me insight into what my partner is going through when I dance as a man. Plus, there's the "grass is always greener..." factor.

[SkirtDude]

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[SkirtDude]

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