NEWS:   I   am confirmed to do:

Aug.  2 , 2025- MAsT R.I. Presents Whips With Dante Master class, Warwick R.I.

July 24-27, 2025 - Casco Days Parade - Lobsters and Whips with Dante, Casco ME

TARGET GIRLS

       A good whip act with two people has rehearsed moments and sharp timing, but it also must have empathy between the two dancers. A call and a response. The two sides in a single spirit, a sole thought, a focused blend of bravery and boldness.

       Costumes should be whip compatible. (Remember that Sarah Bernhart’s long flowing scarf resulted in her broken neck!) Spangles and fringes are made to capture whips in tangles. Masks and head gear automatically cut down the zones of safety.

       Music is not an accompaniment. It is the breathing heart of the piece. The action sells the music to the audience. It should be organically intertwined, like the serpents and the winged staff in a caduceus.

       Naturally, I think a belly dancer is the best choice, if only for the physicality of it. She vibrates even when she is standing still. Her flowing arms and hands ripple sinuously like feathers in wind, reeds in a liquid lake of air. Her natural beauty rises dangerously through the costume, where she is clothed and where she is bare. Her vulnerability is enticing, breathtaking in a dance with an equally dangerous bullwhip.

       It is a dialogue with two voices, a poem with two speakers.

       The ego of the assistant, like the ego of the whip handler, is an always-ticking time bomb. It’s understandable. The whole act is greater than just the sum of two people. The energy released can devour the individual, especially if one puts a cap on the pressure by over-identifying with the result, or feeling one’s own power is not recognized immediately. The same holds true for either person, whose shadow may seem bigger because they stand closer to the light at the front of the action at any given moment in the eyes of the audience. That is, we are not the whip itself, we are the way the whip is expressed; The pointing finger is not the moon.

        The curtain comes down, the lights go out. The final bow is now for both, not for one propping up the other. The balance of the universe is maintained. It is the Dance of Life.