Best Fan Veils Instructional Videos / DVDs

Looking for the best instructional video on how to learn using fan veils in your belly dance performance? We’ve got an answer for you. To pick the best fan veils instructional videos we compared how many different fan veil movements were taught along with the level and quality of the explanation of fan veil technique.  We also looked at how much drill time was included along with the instruction. In both of our top picks the instructors use standard (also known as medium length) silk fan veils. This length gives a nice amount of fabric flow without a dancer having to step out of the way of longer fan veils.  However, almost all fan veil movements taught can be done with any length of veil fabric.

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12/22/2024 08:05 am GMT

Our #1 Fan Veil Instructional Video

Our pick for the overall best way to learn fan veil movements for belly dance is Fantastic Fan Veils with Sedona Soulfire. This DVD has the most fan veil movements and combinations taught at around 35. The moves taught start out with simple moves that a beginner dancer could easily pick up, especially with the very clear instructions and pointers from Sedona. The fan veil moves are presented in 6 combination, so you can use one or more of the combinations in your own choreography. This is a great option if you only want to use fan veils as part of your performance or aren’t confident enough yet to create your own choreography.  The following types of movements are taught:

• Fan Veil Poses, Frames, and Wraps
• Fan Veil Flourishes and Floofs
• Fan Veil Flutters
• Van Veil Figure 8’s
• Fan Veil Spins and Turns
• Closed Fan Veils
• Single Fan Veil
• Double Fan Veils

Sedona has non-traditional fan veil move names, such as Unicorn Horn, Super Star, Kiss, Scarlett O’Hara,  and The Silk Road. However, the names fit the ways the veils look, so the names are easy to remember. As compared to our #2 best fan veil instructional video, this video contains more information about the different lengths that fan veils come in, how to open and close fan veil staves, and care of the fan veils.  Also, compared to Chinese Silk Fan Fusion, this choreography combinations are not as specifically tied to the melodic interpretation of the choreography music. This may help dancers choreographic a fan veil routine to a much different music genre. At about 2 hours long, this video gives you many hours of fan veil moves to drill and perfect.  Sedona counts out the musical beats for each fan veil movement, which means it is easier to translate the moves to other pieces of music. See our complete review of Fantastic Fan Veils, which includes information about the music used during the class.

Our #2 Fan Veil instructional Video

Our runner up pick for learning how to dance with fan veils is Chinese Silk Fan Fusion with Marabai. As compared to Fantastic Fan Veils, Marabai doesn’t teach as much technique, but she does teach 6 combinations that make an almost 5 minute long choreography. The choreography means that the transition between fan veil movements has been thought out by the teacher, and you get perform to an entire song instead of just a portion of a song. Marabai also doesn’t count out the musical beats that the moves go with, so it may be harder for a dancer to translate the choreography and moves to a different piece of music. For dancers looking to understand a bit more about the cultural history of fan veils will appreciate that Marabai has named the movements after what they fan veil movement symbolized in traditional Chinese dance.  The choreography combinations embody different themes or visualizations. Marabai also teaches both single and double fan veil movements with some closed fan veil dance moves. The fan veil combinations require some floorwork, which some dancers with knee issues or other physical limitations may find difficult to perform without injury. A dancer would have to modify this section to perform this part of the combination in a standing position instead. At under an hour long, this video doesn’t give you as much fan veil technique instruction or drill time of individual movements.  However, each combination is demonstrated for you to follow along with twice; once with Marabai’s back to the audience and once with her facing the audience. See our complete review of Chinese Silk Fan Fusion, which includes information about the music used during the class.