Zills

I started belly dancing in October. I love it! So, I’m going to take a couple of posts to talk about belly dancing. This first one is about zills. Zills are small metal disks, worn on your hands and played while you are belly dancing. These are my zills:

They are the small finger cymbals used in dancing. I have never actually danced to learned to dance with them yet. When we went to Ren Fest last year, I saw them and bought them since I had been interested in starting belly dance for several years. They have many names depending on where you are: Zills, Zagats, Manjira, Manzira, Sunouj, Zangs, Sagats, Castanets. Castanets being wooden ones used in Spanish Flamenco dancing.

 

You wear them on your middle finger and thumb. They come in different shapes and sizes, which affects the pitch and volume of them. I have read that it is suggested you get or make zill muffler to put over your zills while practicing so as to not annoy friends, family, pets, neighbors, etc. Some time soon I will make a bag to store my zills in and will post the process on here. Nothing to complicated.