English

Alternative forms

• fan-dance

Noun

fan dance ‎(plural fan dances)

1. (performing arts) A dance performance incorporating the artful use of fans.
   • 1903. Andrew Lang, "The Magic Kettle" in The Crimson Fairy Book:

     Gracefully he led the fan dance, and glided without a pause into the shadow dance and the umbrella dance.

   • 1996 Feb. 16, Laurel Graeber, "For Children," New York Times (retrieved 28 May 2013):

     [T]he center's Chinese Folk Dance Company plans to perform six pieces, including a fan dance and a sword dance.

2. (performing arts) A stage performance or striptease in which a female entertainer disrobes while dancing with large hand-held fans that are alternately used to conceal and provide glimpses of her erogenous body regions.
   • 1935 April 22, "Canada: Ming-Toy's Revenge," Time:

     Undaunted Ming-Toy did a sinuous, undulating fan dance before the Imperial Daughters of the British Empire, then, at the last moment, showed what she thinks of them by raising her fans and standing starkly revealed in red underdrawers.

   • 2008 Feb. 18, Amanda Fortini, "Lindsay Lohan as Marilyn Monroe in "The Last Sitting"," nymag.com (retrieved 28 May 2013):

     In 1962, photographer Bert Stern shot a series of photos of Marilyn Monroe: . . . Monroe, sleepy-eyed and naked, sips from a Champagne glass, enacts a fan dance of sorts with various diaphanous scarves, romps with erotic playfulness on a bed of white linens.

3. (idiomatic, by extension) The incremental disclosure of tantalizing bits of information.
   • 1994 May 22, Thomas Stinson, "Labor talks: Much ado about nothing," Atlanta Journal-Constitution (retrieved 28 May 2013):

     In what may be the most farcical episode of an 18-month-long fan dance, baseball players and ownership will sit down Monday in Los Angeles to discuss "non-economic issues" regarding the expired collective bargaining agreement.

   • 2006 June 6, Ed Sutherland, "More Bits For Vista Enthusiasts," internetnews.com (retrieved 28 May 2013):

     Microsoft did a fan dance of sorts today, giving the public a glimpse at the upcoming Vista operating system.

   • 2012 January 28, Bruce Arthur, "NHL and Players’ Association on a collision course," National Post (Canada) (retrieved 28 May 2013):

     Bettman, meanwhile, performed his now-traditional fan dance, skating around the revelation of a third group interested in buying the Coyotes.

Synonyms

• (incremental disclosure of information): dance of the seven veils

Derived terms

• fan dancer

Verb

fan dance ‎(third-person singular simple present fan dances, present participle fan dancing, simple past and past participle fan danced)

1. To perform such a dance.

References

• fan dance at OneLook Dictionary Search