The making of the wings for the samba dancers................
The making of the wings for the samba dancers 2007
We have started to make three sets of wings for the samba dancers to wear at Hayle Summer Carnival 2007. These pictures will be all about how we are doing them. The main parts are bamboo canes attached to a back and shoulder frame. We cut long lengths of cellulose film and trimmed them into feathered shapes. Then we needed to work out a design and a theme for them (the hardest part!) As we are making three sets of wings, we needed to find 15x6ft lengths of thin bamboo poles........finally hunted down in a garden at Sancreed and at a local garden centre! Ian and Angie at the Standard have lent us a room in which to make them.
The first set are dark and light blue with the central wing in clear plastic
Cellophanes for cutting the wings from
The canes and harness
One of the decorated wings for the 2nd set
Having thought of a design and theme, the wings are decorated with foils and other cellophanes, stuck on with double-sided tape and covered with a see-through plastic (as the gold paper used isn't waterproof!)
The cane is held in place with d/sided tape before a wide piece of sellotape holds it all down
The theme for the wings are sun, moon and stars. The colours used are dark and light blue representing the sea, light,dark orange for the sand, clear and champagne colours to complement the two main colours.
The back of the middle wing from the 3rd set
Wide sellotape affixes the cane to the wing on the 3rd set
The back of a wing from 2nd set
Gold or silver tape is put on the back of the wings as decoration and also hides the cane in the middle
Double-sided tape is put on gold/silver and holographic foil then cut out to be used for backing and decoration
Joy decorating a wing on the 2nd set
With all the H.Potter hype and of the Celtic influences of Cornwall, we thought a few flashes and Staff of Life symbols would be a good idea!
For the 3rd set we thought we'd use all the colours together and cut the wings in halves then rejoin them using different sides
The new wings for the 3rd set minus the main central wing
The flash across the moon creates an optical illusion of the moon split in two!
The 3rd set with the central wing
Attaching the harness
Having cussed and sworn after attaching the 1st and 3rd set, I thought it would be a good idea for Joy to have a go! The canes are fixed in place with cable ties using a bodkin and a pair of pliers. As the harness is mostly wadding over a metal ring and bound with gaffer tape...the needle gets stuck, the ties break from the amount of tugging to get them through the small hole...but were finally fixed in place.
The finished wings! All that is left to do....is to tie turquoise and cream coloured plastic bin liners on the back of the canes at the back of the harnesses to create tail feathers...and attach luggage straps on the harness at the front, so that the dancers can tie them on.
And yours truly ....with the finished articles...........
I hope you have enjoyed our demonstration..........from Ted (and Joy) at Hayle Samba
The two on the left are for the 2nd set whilst the other is the central wing on the 3rd set