Knowra Fan dance Fan dance A dance in which large fans are used as props to frame or conceal the performer’s body. Different traditions use fan movements for theatrical display, storytelling, or both.
Dance notation : A system for recording dance movement in written or symbolic form. Notation can preserve fan gestures, patterns, and timing for teaching or performance.
Chinese fan dance : A family of Chinese dances using fans as expressive or decorative props. It is a major tradition associated with the broad name fan dance.
Loie Fuller : An American modern dancer known for performances using flowing fabric, colored light, and innovative stage effects. Her visual experiments offer a close theatrical parallel to dance built around large props.
Ribbon dance : A dance form in which performers manipulate long ribbons as visual extensions of movement. Both use props to draw shapes in space, but ribbons trail while fans open into broad planes.
Choreography : The planning and arrangement of movements in a dance or staged performance. Choreography coordinates fan openings, turns, and concealments with the dancer’s movement.
Fan dance (burlesque) : A theatrical striptease in which large fans conceal and reveal the performer. This Western stage form made fan dance widely recognizable in popular entertainment.
Anna May Wong : An American actress of Chinese descent who became an international film star in the early twentieth century. Her screen roles helped circulate stylized images of Chinese dance and costume.
Veil dance : A dance using a veil as a flowing prop, especially in theatrical interpretations of Middle Eastern dance. Veils conceal and reveal through fabric, unlike the rigid visual screens made by large fans.
Dance prop : An object manipulated or incorporated into a dance performance. The fan functions as a prop whose scale and movement shape the choreography.
Sally Rand : An American dancer known for her fan dance performances, especially at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair. Her performances helped establish the large-feather-fan act in American popular culture.
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