Rave Glow Stick Techniques
At the end of the eighties a drug came on the scene called MDMA. It was used primarily in therapeutic situations as a way to get at the truth of a patient's feelings. It found its way to the streets under the name Ecstasy. This fuelled a whole new culture of dance gatherings called raves. Promoters would set up parties in abandoned warehouses and play loud electronic music. One of the side effects of MDMA is an intense reaction to lights and so glow stick dancing became popular at raves.
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Types of Glowstick dancing
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There are generally two types of glow stick dancing you will see at a rave. One is called freehand. This is where you keep the glow stick in your hands and move them in a haphazard fashion. The other type is called glowstringing. This is where you put the glow sticks at the end of either one very long piece of string or two separate pieces of string and swing them around your head and body.
Freehand Techniques
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Freehand style dancing has many different techniques to give you the proper look of continuity with your glow sticks. Tracing is the act of tracing any part of your body with the glow stick to give it an outline. This can be done both symmetrically and asymmetrically. Liquid is a technique that move the glow sticks through mid air in a visually appealing way. Kicking and tapping are techniques in which you juggle the glow stick with your feet and other body parts
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Freehand Throws
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Throwing is another freehand technique that involves throwing the glow stick to be visually appealing. There are a number of different kinds of throws that dancers use. The helicopter throw involves throwing the glow stick in a horizontal spin. Throwing the glow stick from behind your back to the front creates the illusion of reappearance. Throwing into a kick or a stall is another interesting way to use your glow stick. Stalling is the act of gradually letting the glow stick stop without using anything but the body part to do so.
Glowstring Techniques
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Glowstringing has many different moves. Figure eights are common maneuvers, as well as fountains and butterflies. Butterflies involves swinging the glow sticks at the same time, creating the illusion that the glow sticks are passing each other in arcs. Flowers are a technique where you move your arms in circles while the glow stick is rotating. It creates the effect of many circles happening in Venn diagram-type format. You can do flowers in many different petal varieties, where petals are the circles you create with the glow sticks. Wraps are a technique in which you wrap the string around a body part the reel it back out.
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References
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