Vetiver Dance, Tauer Perfumes

I am happy even before I have a reason.

I am full of Light even before the sky
Can greet the sun or the moon.

Dear companions,
We have been in love with God
For so very, very long.

What can Hafiz now do but Forever
Dance!

(Forever Dance, poem of Sufi Poet Hafiz)

Vetiver Dance is one of the fragrances of Andy Tauer, owner and perfumer of Tauer Perfumes, a niche perfume house in Switzerland. The composition was based on a vision about a dance of notes focusing on the exotic beauty and strength of the Java Vetiver oil as the main dancer. The dance fragrance was released in 2008 as an EDT version  and features notes of dark vetiver from Java, crisp grapefruit, black pepper seed, green clary sage, Bulgarian rose absolute, lily of the Valley and chords of cedar, ambergris, tonka bean and citrus extracts.

Vetiver is known as a very aromatic oil originated from the tropical grass roots after its distilation. The raw material is also called Khus Oil in oriental civilizations, mainly in India and Indonesia;  nowadays easily bought in oriental markets in a free alcohol concentration as a traditional oil of the East. Traditionally, Vetiver is used for peace ceremonies and some body healing processes through its aroma, which bring some tranquility to the soul and spirituality development. The ingredient has also a sticky herbal colour with significant  strong-rooty-green-woody scent, however after lasting some time on skin, Vetiver has a pleasant green-woody aroma.

Due to its odour  strength and exoticness as an oriental scent, usually Vetiver is used in perfume compositions more as a coadjuvant than a main character, normally just to add some exotic green woodiness. The most recent vetiver fragrances have being more creative and finer, combining the heavy scent of Vetiver with others raw materials as flowers, fruits, resins, incense and spicies, what can result a more wearable fragrance for men and women  and, consequently, potentialize how Vetiver is a classic ingredient which has many aromatic qualities to be used in the contemporaneity for both sexies (and not only remains stereotyped as a male note for men's colognes as Vetiver Guerlain.

About the vision of Andy Tauer on Vetiver Dance, one of the most statements naturally true is that the Vetiver is the main dancer, but it is not the unique dancer on the floor.

"Vetiver oil is one of the most fascinating natural fragrances to work with. Exploring the dark, raw and almost damp earthiness of vetiver oil you may discover hidden gems. Delicate lines of green leaves, clear spices, and soft flower petals..." (Andy Tauer, from Tauer Perfumes website).

Reflecting about AndyTauer's vision on Vetiver Dance, it makes sense he composes his fragrance around the contrasts of having a Vetiver dancer but, on the same time, melting into the skin the contrasts of others notes as the grapefruit citrusy-fruity scent, the black pepper peppery overtones, the oriental feminility of the floral bouquet with roses and lilies of the valley and the earthiness of vetiver sweetened in an peculiar warm ambery and fresh woody base. In reality, full of contrasts as any complex dance, deep enough to fulfill our souls with the magie of the art. The Dance of Vetiver Dance is like to turn my eyes everytime in the direction of the perfomance on stage and see how, constrastingly, dynamic and slow are the dance movements, surprising the audience. Certainly, a dance in a perfume bottle, surprising my nose as usually Andy Tauer is able to make.

Since Vetiver is a pungent and dark material on most compositions and, most of times it is not pleasant for many people when is used on much quantity, mainly for women. Vetiver Dance is different from any other Vetiver based fragrance and, together to the delicate and elegant Serge Lutens Vetiver Oriental, they have kept at my top level of vetiver fragrances for vetiver followers who do not like invasive Vetiver chords. In fact, Andy's fragrance, through his distinctive perfumery talent allows us to have available a delicate, but also full of personality vetiver fragrance, wearable for all sexies and, the best of all, the development of the scent is aligned to a dance which fascinatingly whirl across a mystical stage.



The Vetiver is the dancer but not the star dancer who has to be exclusively the center of the attention, The Vetiver in Vetiver Dance  is like a humble dance who values her/his dance partners as they would be together  in only one dance spirit; a dancer  who knows that the others dancers are equally important to a memorable perfomance. In Vetiver Dance, the movements of the others notes are as staring a dance company dancing with union, but not any dance, a spiritual dance as Sufi Dance.

In general lines, Sufism is a spiritual movement of love and devotion whose followers believe that have directly contact with God and there is a serie of devotional behaviors and rules. I prefer do not mention  people's beliefs here because this analogy is not about religion or any type of faith, but about  making a comparison between the development of Vetiver Dance, the background of Java Vetiver raw material and how the aromatic waves of the fragrance bring to the memory the performance of the Sufi Dance.

Java is an island in Indonesia and is known as a place where there are many aromatic roots of Vetiver, besides there is a concentration of many people who value their beliefs and spiritual rituals. Sufi Dancers are also there, dancing with poetic songs, dance art and offering their hearts and souls to a performance of sensual, spiritual and exotic beautifulness. The same happens with my memory experience with Vetiver Dance, the fragrance arouses a feeling of fragrant oriental spirit where all "Dancers" notes  are together around the Vetiver note. Like a Sufi Whirling across the stage, Vetiver Dance notes are around vetiver and deeply connected in a fragrant symbolic Sufi Dance.

Have you ever imagined a Sufi Dance in a fragrance? At least, telling you how Vetiver Dance is you are going to believe in my sensorial feelings about this wonderful perfume of Andy Tauer. The start of the fragrance is clearly a Vetiver approach, strong but not overly dark and unpleasant.The earth-green scent is melt into a citrusy-fruity influence of the grapefruit. This combination makes Vetiver Dance not overly green-woody scent, not at the beginning, besides it is interesting to notice that vetiver and grapefruit are, traditionally, a perfect match in the chemistry experiments according to some synthetical derivatives between them, I mean, in the matter of the fragrance formulations, they work well together. The crispy and the green-woody scent becomes the vetiver less aggressive and then, it is softened on the skin while peppery chords come from the background and warm the fragrance, seducing this dance with a delightful surrender of the bodies to a harmonic joy.

Making an analogy with Sufi Dance, the oriental scent is oriental and magically spiritualised as other's creations of Tauer Perfumes as L'air du Desert Marocain and Incense Rosé, bringuing to olfaction some memories of the East. The Dance in Vetiver is Sufi at the exact moment when Vetiver is always there whirling on the skin, smelling on the center of the nose as the main dancer, circulating with others notes and depend on them as a collective dance of notes, a collective fragrant devotion in the name of the perfumery.

Later, one more whirl and whirl of the vetiver across the fragrance and the flowers are centered in top heart, however they cover vetiver  to create a more feminine aura. They are arranged in a mysterious ritual as offering flowers to a temple  and  roses are more evident than lilies of the valley as moving slightly on God's garden but only looking at his mystery aura, not at the flowers of Vetiver Dance. The sage scent, ambery green is, strategically joined to one more aromatic whirl also ambery, the ambergris, soft and warm and then, the vetiver essence keeps more distant, covered now by a final scent of warm fresh sweet green woody chords, that impressively still brings  subtle reminiscences of grapefruit.  A mystique blending where notes are dancers who whirl across a dancer named Vetiver.

Vetiver Dance makes me think of one of the quotes of Andy Tauer during the interview I made with him at my Perfume blog Perfume da Rosa Negra. When asked him about what are his inspirations in perfume making. Wisely, he answered me:

"I think inspiration is everywhere: In the starting material (matière première), in nature, in humans, in the beautiful emanations of lily of the valley end May... Inspiration is hence a complex network of lines, crossing our paths and we all must just take care to pick the lines up, following them and not letting loose."

Smelling fragrances and writing about them is also an inspiration as being inspired to create fragrances ... Crossing news paths and making fragrant associations, so many senses, feelings and themes is about inspiration. Across one of these paths and completely inspired, I danced with Vetiver Dance, a forever Dance...

For purchasing information, visit Tauer Perfumes Website.


Images: Andy Tauer, 7july, amerune
epigraph: poetseers.org

Author: Cristiane Gonçalves (crisgonc)
Fragrantica Member

Cristiane Gonçalves (aka Cris Rosa Negra) is fragrance writer from Brazil and has a multilinguistic background and education. She is  self-taught in perfumery issues, owner, editor and writer of her two international blogs, Perfume da Rosa Negra (the pioneer Brazilian Perfume Blog) and El Perfume al Aire (in Spanish).

Cris's writings are highlights at Perfumecritic.com as a active contributor writer. Cris is also a Senior  Human Resources professional experienced in renowned companies and is involved in the development of the attars culture  as a  oriental fragrance expert/consultant.