Dancing with snakes?

Brea

New member
I am very curious about this. I am considering getting a snake (mostly because I like snakes) but I want to know what the history, practicality, experience, etc, is with dancing with snakes.
 

adiemus

New member
I thought it was mainly from India, snake charming and all. Personally I don't think I'll be doing it - we have no snakes in NZ (and long may it last!!)
 

Moon

New member
One of the members here, Slinks from Autralia, does Amcab style and she sometimes dances with snakes. But she's not on the forum now :(
 

s1dur1_sab1tu

New member
Snake dancing

There are a few good articles about this on Gilded Serpent and on the web. I did dance with a snake for about a year at a club gig. I had a super nice bull snake (heterogeneous - aka half albino) named LoLo. Some things I found helpful were:

* not wearing any bracelets for the snake to get permanently entrenched in, or scratched on.
* not dancing under a chandelier or ceiling fan for the snake to get interested in.
* don't let them get in your big hair sprayed hair - they can be hard to remove. There's a great story there...
* have a contingency plan if he/she goes down your pants or bra (shakes finger, naughty snake) and head them off early - don't let them go there, it's not very classy.
* know what kind of snake you have because people will ask incessantly what kind of snake is it, is it real, is it alive, etc. I love the 'is it alive' thing, like I'd dance with road kill or something.
* protect your snake from the environment and people, if people insist on petting him/her show them an appropriate place on his body, people tend to go for the head (like a dog) and that's an easy way for them to spook the snake and get bitten. If you don't like the looks of someone it's ok to say 'no touching' or 'not right now, he's had enough' also.
* If you are performing for a short time and don't want the snake to move a lot, you can chill him a bit before the show. I used a doctors bag with a small ice bag on one side and the snake in his little case on the other. Don't chill him too quickly though, that's rough on the snake.
* try to limit your movements where the snake is, imagine how he must feel trying to hold on to something in this odd environment. I used to put mine on my wrist and basically hold it out most of the time (so he didn't get any ideas about a place to hide in my bra), or in front of my body, holding that fairly still, letting my body and other arm do most of the dancing.
* don't imagine that you can train the snake to stay in one spot on your body. even people who have great relationships with their snakes report that this is a crap shoot at best.

I'll try and find those articles for you....

Good luck!
 

s1dur1_sab1tu

New member
Snake dancing continued...

Snake Dancing

Maria's Snake Advice for the Gilded Serpent

These seem to have most of what you'll need to know. Also forgot to add, snakes like to bm outside of their cages, so it's good to get them between bms and feeding, if you're performing (aka feed the snake, he has the bm, then it's fairly safe to perform). It's all about the timing. Or also, if you're not sure when his last bm was, you could bring the snake out of the cage prior to performance for a few hours and lessen the chance of an on stage bm.
 

Brea

New member
Hi,

Thanks for the links and advice! I am currently in contact with someone who has several snakes for sale, one of which is a blood python. Do you think this type would work, or is it too large/heavy? Are there particular types that are better than others for dancing?
 

s1dur1_sab1tu

New member
Snake dancing

Well I think it depends on the snake really. The bull snake rates pretty low on social ability, but mine was always really nice. It had been handled a lot by boy scouts/educational groups before I got it.

Some of the exotics I looked at were very heavy....like 50-100 pounds or more. LoLo only weighed about 5-10 pounds at the most. The requirement for that job was a 4-5 foot long snake, according to the boss 'width was not important." tee hee! Anyway lewd jokes aside...I would do a search of breed temperament on the internet.

Heres a quick excerpt from a vet site:

Certain snake species almost always retain a gentle, docile nature when they are raised from infancy(boa constrictors). If fact, a healthy young boa constrictor makes the most suitable pet among the tropical snake species available. Other species (the larger pythons) are unpredictable and tend to be quite pugnacious as they mature, whether or not they are handled frequently. Reticulated and Burmese pythons are especially unpredictable when they are anticipating being fed. Snakes of these types, especially those handled infrequently, become conditioned to associating feeding with human contact and often cannot distinguish the difference between these 2 situations. The small Ball python has the most predictable and even temperament of all of the python species.

- Some species (anacondas) rarely develop temperaments suitable for captivity. Wild-caught adults of all species generally make unsuitable pets because they resist taming. One notable exception to this is the California Rosy boa. Even when obtained as an adult, they usually have a very shy, docile nature.

So there you have it.
 

janaki

New member
Sorry Brea, I am not into snakes, there is so much you can do with bellydance. Why you wanna bring in a poor creature into it? IMO, snakes belong in the wild not on the dance floor. It is ok to do little gimmicks and tricks to make your dance interesting but not with animals.
 

Michelle A

New member
Hi Brea,

I had a ball python for about 10 years, given to us at infancy. He was very hand tame when we held him a lot in his younger years. After my daughter was born he was basically ignored, poor thing, and it did get to the point that I felt nervous sticking my hand in his cage. We finally gave him away.

As far as dancing with them goes, I'm afraid I don't find it that interesting or exotic, most likely due to familiarity to keeping them.

I wonder if the snake actually likes being danced with? :think: ;)
 

Brea

New member
Hi all,

I wasn't certain about it, so that's why I asked. It seems that there are those in the snake camp and those without. :) Either way, I still like snakes. I often wonder how they feel about dancing?

Maybe I could dance with a rubber snake. LOL!
 

aameenah

New member
Interesting question, I've wondered about dancing with snakes myself. I keep many reptiles (including corns snakes and children's pythons) and I'm not sure if I'd want to dance with them for fear of stressing them. Granted I've have done a couple of spins with my larger corns when taking them to thier feeding tub heehee.
Blood Pythons, if I recall correctly, can be somewhat docile if handled regulary from a hatchling. Though thier husbandry requirements would make them a more intermediate-level snake. They can also get to 7 feet, and 40 pounds, and if the snake were to bite, they'd pack a punch I don't think anyone would be able to take gracefully onstage ;)
I second the motion of a Boa or Ball Python, very mellow in general.
S1dur1-I love Bullsnakes, they have character, 'expressive' faces!
 

Brea

New member
I have not raised snakes personally but have worked in pet shops and zoos. Actually one of the keepers was attacked by a python at the zoo where I worked (and unrelatedly for some reason it was MY job to clean the Madagascar Hissing Cockroach tank, which involved me scooping up tons of live cockroaches in my bare hands so as not to damage them; I couldn't even wear gloves! Brrr it still gives me the shivers).

Anyway I do love snakes and I think it would be interesting to dance with one. At Busch Gardens they had a bellydancer that came out every fifteen minutes and danced with a snake. I wouldn't like to upset or hurt the animal in any way though; I love animals and I wouldn't want to harm any.

Actually...does anyone know the process of auditioning for Busch Gardens? I am just dying to escape the winter.
 
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Jane

New member
Hi all,

Maybe I could dance with a rubber snake. LOL!

I've seen this done and it's pretty cute! The dancer enters with a covered basket, dances around it building the drama, reaches slowly and carefully into the basket and TADA out pop a really goofy looking stuffed snake. The audience loved it. :lol: Don't know if I'd have the guts.
 

da Sage

New member
I've seen this done and it's pretty cute! The dancer enters with a covered basket, dances around it building the drama, reaches slowly and carefully into the basket and TADA out pop a really goofy looking stuffed snake. The audience loved it. :lol: Don't know if I'd have the guts.

Jane: This is awesome. I'm putting it in my mental "gimmicks to steal" file!

Brea: The people to contact locally about snakes are members of the Herpetological Society of Minnesota. Here is their website:

Minnesota Herpetological Society

There are several bellydancers who work with snakes out at the Renaissance Festival. There was actually a reptile and bellydancer show last year! As far as I know, all the snakes came from the MN Herpetological Society members.

I've never seen a snake at an normal indoor venue though...I imagine there are health regulations.
 

Brea

New member
Hi da Sage and Jane-

Jane- that is HILARIOUS!! I don't know if I could keep a straight face for that!

da Sage- thanks for the link! You're probably right about health violations; I remember from working at the zoo that you have to wash constantly when handling reptiles. Still, I think it would be great to have one to dance with if the opportunity presented itself!
 

lizaj

New member
Sorry Brea, I am not into snakes, there is so much you can do with bellydance. Why you wanna bring in a poor creature into it? IMO, snakes belong in the wild not on the dance floor. It is ok to do little gimmicks and tricks to make your dance interesting but not with animals.

Agreed.
 

nightdancer

New member
In the right venue, I think it would be a great show. Also, music that is low and slow as not to jar the poor guy. We dont want him to have a headache.

My oldest loves snakes. She wants a Carolina corn snake, badly. Last spring, I was doing an out-reach for my museum at the Jamestown 400. The people across from me were conservationists, and had several snakes with them. Naturally, Beth was right on it. The wind kicked up and it started getting cold. She sat down in their display area, cuddled the snake up, put a jacket over it and her, and sat there, snuggling it, for the rest of the afternoon. I told her that she could have a snake, but she needed to do the research, and read the books, and learn how to take care of it properly. We are still working on this part.


Brea-

You asked about auditioning for Busch Gardens. Here is their employment site.

Anheuser-Busch's Theme Parks Employment Online, Jobs at SeaWorld and Busch Gardens
 
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Brea

New member
Hi nightdancer-

Thanks for the link, I figured it out! That would be great if I could get in. Though I hear Florida is chilly right now.

You know what I wonder? All those pictures of bellydancers holding chairs in their teeth. That seems to be a legitimate historical thing...so why don't we hold chairs in our teeth?

Do you that disagree do so because it's too gimmicky or because of worries about the welfare of the snake? I am curious.
 

s1dur1_sab1tu

New member
snake dancing

There was a totally gimmicky feel to snake dancing for me. I was in an American - Mid West - Oklahoma upscale night club for one. So I mostly had the run of the mill rich wasted college kids and pervy business guys to perform for. But the gig paid 150 a night, and gigs were few and far between here, so I did it. I also did a snake number in a stage show for the dance company I was in at the time. It felt kinda like, 'you're not that great at soloing, so you'd better have a gimmick' at the time. But people loved it, and I think I did an ok job for my first real stage solo bit.

After reading Maria'a article on Gilded, I am almost tempted to do it again. The photos are so lovely, and she has a great relationship with her pet. I'm sure she wouldn't do anything to harm him. But she make a good couple of points that warn me away from it. One, don't bring a snake unless you're asked - now how often is that going to happen? And two, the joy of snake up keep and handling (not so joyous for me - I have lots of animals already to keep me busy).

So yes and no on the gimmick feel, I think back then I was not very experienced in performing and felt like the snake was a distraction from my inexperience. Now I am more confident and would probably feel differently.
 

Shanazel

Moderator
Reticulated and Burmese pythons are especially unpredictable when they are anticipating being fed.

Reptile Gardens, a herpetarium in Rapid City, South Dakota, has a sign in the reticulated python's cage stating that it is the most dangerous of the snakes in the facility due to its quickness, size, and unpredictability. To put this into perspective, I should add that their collection also includes everything from cobras to gabon vipers.

I like snakes, but I dislike seeing dancers use snakes as props. It can be very hard on the snakes and I have yet to see a performance in which a snake actually added anything to the dance beyond a certain phallic shiver factor. If anyone has videos that would change my mind, I stand ready to watch them.
 
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