Ask Colin – good luck greetings

Dear Colin,
I was fascinated to read about the term ‘chookas‘ to wish dancers good luck, and wondered if you have come across ‘pinch you for luck’? This is something we learned at ballet school in London and was very popular – we would just give the receiver a little pinch on the lower arm. Does it happen in Australia, or is it a UK thing which might just have been popular within a small group of us dancers some years ago?
All best wishes,
Julia

Dear Julia,
The number of superstitions which are still believed by theatrefolk would make an interesting study by themselves – not allowing black cats to cross your path, not walking under ladders, no whistling in the dressing room, not mentioning the name of Shakespeare’s Scottish play, tapping three times on the back of scenery with a licked thumb before making an entrance – the list goes on.  I must say that I am unfamiliar with a pinch for good luck, but it makes sense if you remember the old habit of ‘a pinch and a punch for the first of the month’, which originated in England when some people thought that witches existed. People believed that salt would make a witch weak, so the pinch part represented the pinching of the salt, and the punch part was to banish the witch.  So your pinch must represent banishing bad luck – perhaps you need to add a punch!
Best wishes,
Colin

Brett Chynoweth and Kristy Corea. Photography Jeff Busby