The Egg Dance

One of the most wonderful of the many feats performed by Hindoo jugglers is the egg dance. Usually it is executed by a girl, fantastically dressed. She makes use of the willow wheel, around which at equal distances, are threads, and at the end of each thread there is a noose, held open by a bead. This wheel the girl places on her head, while she carries a basket of eggs on her arm. When the music strikes up she begins to dance and the wheel begins to spin around. She then takes an egg from the basket, places it in one of the thread nooses, and throws it from her with sufficient force to draw the knot tight. The spinning of the wheel keeps the thread stretched with the egg at the end of it. She then takes another egg from the basket, places it in another noose, and repeats this until there is an egg in every noose. Her fantastic costume, her perfect motion, and all the eggs swinging on the stretched threads at once, present a very pretty sight indeed. It requires much art to execute the dance, for at one false step the eggs would be dashed together, the dance spoiled, and the dancer thereby disgraced. After dancing for a time with all the eggs swinging around her head, she takes them out of the noose one by one, all the time keeping the wheel balanced and in motions, and again, places them in the basket on her arm. When the dance is finished the spectators are allowed to examine the eggs to see that they are real.