Bottle dance for fiddler

[NHStech]

We are doing Fiddler, and I am wondering if there are those of you who did it with the bottle dance and what you did, as far as preventing a bunch of broken glass on stage, in the (likely) event one (or more) falls. A teacher here who toured with Young Americans said they taped the lower half of regular bottles with gaffe tape. Does this sound accurate/viable?

 

[josh88]

from my experience it seems that usually they have special hats and the bottles are actually attached to the hats so they can't fall off. So if they can't fall off theres no worry for broken glass. I know of one that they were just glued on the bottom and then there was another time where they cut through both and attached it that way though I don't know specifics of how. after that its just be careful to not drop the whole rig.

 

[headcrab]

When we did Fiddler we wrapped the whole bottle with electrical tape. Apparently the bottles were full of some liquid as well, but that just meant the dancers had to not drop them.

 

[JChenault]

I think it depends on how good your dancers are - and how much they get to practice ( and if you want it to look real).

I really REALLY hate it when I see someone doing the bottle dance with their hat and bottle at a 30 degree angle to the floor. If you make a hard connection, your dancers will be lazy and it will never look right.

Try finding a plastic bottle, and put something really heavy in the bottom of it. ( not liquid - you don't want it to slosh around). Get hats that have a good flat spot in them - probably build a stable platform. The weight in the base of the bottle will make it unlikely to tip over. Put something on the bottom of the bottle that has a high coefficient of friction so it will not slide around.

Finally lots and lots of practice.

 

[SHARYNF]

you can take a bottle, put a magnet in it glued to the inside if the bottom and then hav a magnet sewn into a pocket in the hat. this way you can place the bottle on the had and still have it stay on. If you go to

http://www.envino.com/Products.html

I had put the wrong link in before, Envino in Burlingame CA makes standard size plastic wine bottles

Sharyn

 

[Anvilx]

At my school last year they used Velcro. It worked OK, but it could have be implemented better, though.

 

[Dionysus]

The only time I did Fiddler we very purposely used NO TAPE, NO MAGNETS, etc...

We bought a LOT of the same bottles, and coated the insides of them with a layer of black latex paint. Thus if the bottles are dropped they break less, with fewer shards. Easier cleanup and safer.
We used REAL hats with NO real modifications.

They dinted the hats with the bottle in like is traditionally done with the bottle dance. At the end of the dance they put their hands forward, and nodded their heads down, a finale to the dance whereas they dump the bottles in their hands and catch them.

They practised and practised the dance, and yes they broke a few bottles...

Not a single bottle broke during a performance, and only two fell during a performance, however the dancer caught it. The dancer who lost his bottle went "oohaah" and stood aside as if it was planned to happen anyways...

The director really liked the reality of the bottle dance shown off... No tricks, just a group of highschool students (none actually dancers) who learnt the dance, and practised it to perfection. Everyone loved it!

Personally I think it was FANTASTIC, why do any tricks? Why TAPE them to the hats? Why attach them?
However it does take practice, and there is a small element of risk.

We had one of the actors in character come out with a dustpan and broom to sweep up any broken glass (as if it were a joke written right into the script). So if one DID break, it would be a non-issue.

 

[cprted]

I did Fiddler about a decade ago (yikes, time flies!). Bottles were light plastic, but in the dark green colour of a wine bottle with the insides partially painted to appear as they were half full. Small peice of velcro to hold steady. My memory of it was that it looked pretty good ... but it was a while ago.

 

[BrianWolfe]

I've done this one many times over the years. Some used nothing, I made plastic bottles for several, some used a cutout in the top of the hat, others used velcro, tape or magnets. Like has been said before nothing better than a lot of practice and then lean over at the end to show the bottles can fall off.

 

[DaveEAM]

When we did Fiddler we wrapped the bottles in clear packing tape. Our dancers were High School students and did a great job. Like Dionysus, we didn't attach the bottles, just flattened the hats and at the end they tipped the bottles off to show they really did it; the audience loved it!

 

[SHARYNF]

the use of a magnet tends to allow you to steady the bottle, but at the same time have it fall off when you tip the head/hat

Sharyn

 

[venuetech]

we rented a set of hats and bottles. the hats had sockets that the bottles fit into,much like an auto cup holder.

 

[Colby]

Well when we did fiddler about 12days ago we got plastic bottles and painted them black and filled them half way to get a good balance for the actors then we added a black Velcro bottom to them so they blended in and could be removed after the scene

 

[gafftaper]

When I was a student teacher my mentor was directing Fiddler. They used plastic bottles, painted and filled with liquid for the proper weight, the hat had an indentation in the middle to help hold it in place... and then they practiced like crazy. No one will know if it's plastic or glass as long as you have the right shape. But people will know if attached to the hat or not based on how it moves. So cheat and make it safe but do the hard work to get the dance right.

 

[DaveMiller]

We are looking for a source for plastic wine bottles. Can you help? We need them soon. Thanks

 

[BrianWolfe]

I have them.

http://www.costumearmour.com/bottles.html