Bottle Dancer

Another scene from my Andur dreamscape. This is Shahree and she was a professional bottle dancer when I first arrived in the Sultan's city. She has since married and now is the mother of three children. Now instead bottle dancing she trains the next generation boys and girls who will entertain audiences from within these glass stages.

Historians and scholars in the modern world have debated the exact origin of bottle dancing. However if Andur did not invent it then it was at least one of the first places where took hold. Even back when the city was known as Malakakar the dread city of the mice wizards there are historical records of bottle dancing. However Andur became of center for the art when in the 12th century AD. when the then ruling Sultan succeeded in convincing some glass blowers to move from Anatolia to Andur. Once there they began producing some of the finest blown glassware in the entire Muslim world. Now in the 14th Century Andurian glassware is coveted from the Empire of the East to the courts of French Kings, and bottle dancers eagerly seek out Andurian bottles to perform in.

Dancing bottles are particularly tricky since they needed to be as optically clear as possible and relatively distortion free. The bottles need to be strong but with as walls that are as thin as they can be. Also the bottle will usually have a series of holes carefully drilled on the bottom to increase airflow and help combat condensation forming on the walls of the bottle. The stopper on the bottle will also have holes to add in air circulation. The dancers often own the bottles they dance it and a fine bottle can represent years wages. Bottles are even put into wills or can be used as collateral for securing a loan.

This is very early color piece of mine, and I have improved my skills since doing, but there are still parts of this piece that really like.