Flagging dance

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A flag dancer at a nightclub: circa 2001.
A flag dancer at a nightclub: circa 2001.

The art of flagging dance sometimes called flag dancing or rag spinning, but more commonly referred to as flagging, is the undulation, spinning and waving of flags in a rhythmic fashion to music. Pracitioners of this form of performance art and dance are usually referred to as "flaggers" and "flag dancers", though until the 1990s this mostly referred to those waving flags to aid transportation professions (flag semaphore).

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[edit] Origins

The origins of flag dancing are said to reach as far back as the development of the earliest flags, though it is unclear if any actual studies have ever been done on the subject. Some point to evidence of flagging in Chinese folklore dating back three thousand years.[citation needed] Others refer to the Maori indigenous tribes of New Zealand. Today, there is at least one Italian flagger troupe, the Grouppo Sbandieratori founded in 1991, that traces its local flagging history to 1363. The lack of hard studies aside, it is reasonable to accept that artistic flagging has probably been around as long as flags themselves.

In addition, it is likely that contemporary flag dancing also drew inspiration from the classic art of fan dancing.

[edit] Contemporary flagging

[edit] Gays

Flaggers are most common in gay dance subcultures, and to a lesser extent, in the alternative subcultures of poi and fire dancers, where spinners of hard objects or fire may branch out into flagging. For reasons that may be obvious to the reader, the Christian and subculture flaggers tend to be mutually exclusive groups, and are not generally known to overlap.

The current rise of flag dancing began with the appearance of party-goers dancing with very large fans ('fanning' or 'fan dancing') at gay discos at the end of the 1970s, and the start of the 1980s. Members of the leather subculture would also spin leather vests as an alternative. Many of these dancers seemed to disappear during the mid-1980s when the onslaught of the AIDS pandemic within the gay community hit the gay nightclub scene especially hard. In the mid to late 1990s, with the advent of rave-style circuit parties that brought thousands of partiers together from distant places, survivors of the fan-dancing era found a venue to re-introduce the concept of nightclub dancing with fans to a new generation of gay club-goers. This new generation adapted it to pieces of fabric without the fan spine, using instead a malleable weight on two sides of a now-square form - which became a flag. Fanning or fan dancers can still be seen in clubs today, but they are generally more rare.

[edit] Christians

Today, flaggers can be found in a variety of christian groups including charismatics and pentecostals churches. Two different types of flags are generally used each giving a different type of flagging. The first type uses poles or rods longer than the material allowing the flag to rotate around the pole. The second type, has material covering the entire pole and encourages more dancing from the flagger. Flaggers will wave one or two flags to music while in a spiritual rapture. They will be used for different spiritual activities, most often worship but also intersession or spiritual warfare. Each set of flag (usually 2) is unique and often named by the user or maker, the fabric, colour, and size of the flag will often determine its use.

[edit] The flags

The added weights to the otherwise loose fabric made it possible for the new flaggers to spin and move the fabric through the air in ways similar to fan dancing, but with the added maneuverability of a very flexible material. Flags used by these new flaggers can be of almost any fabric, but silk, organza and lamé are preponderant, with silk being the most favored. Silk flags are usually dyed in vibrant, ultraviolet fluorescent colors, creating an almost hypnotic spectacle when waved rhythmically to music.

Note that this type of flagging, while similar, is distinct from the waving of flags on poles or rods as one would encounter in a color guard unit of a high school or in the military; or for that matter, the Sbandieratori group.

[edit] Flagger troupes

By the dawn of the third millennium, flagger groups had formed in New York City and San Francisco, and were often part of the backdrop of circuit party events. These were soon followed by the formation of flagger troupes in Minneapolis, Seattle, and Houston in the United States, and in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Of these, two operate today as choreographed performance troupes, similar to dance troupes: Axis Danz, founded in New York in 1998, and in Texas, the Flyboys of Flag Troupe Houston, founded in 2002 (Flyboys in this context should not be confused with Flyboys of the World War II era, which refers to airforce pilots).

In its current incarnation, the art of flagging is usually disseminated from one person to another, one acting as a mentor, and the other as an apprentice, though one can find classes offered in cities with strong flagger presence such as New York, Houston, and San Francisco. In any case, many flaggers with several months of practice claim to experience a form of meditation or rapture in the midst of a flagging dance, perhaps similar to the Christian flagger experience.

Interestingly, in Brazil, the English words "flagger" and "flagging" are now used to specifically refer to this type of dance or performance art. See Portuguese Wikipedia Flagger article.

Even now in Australia we see the emergence of Troupes like 'Flagmania' who are really bringing this artform to new heights within the gay and wider communities, at both amateur community and corporate event levels.

The virtual world, Second Life has its own version of the flagging culture, headed by the inworld group called 'Second Life Flaggers' who meet regularly inworld to flag and even perform.

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