Isopop Rotating Header Image

April, 2009:

Kindle Magazine – the worlds first Fire Arts and Culture Magazine

Apr 30th, 2009
by rich.
No comments yet

kindlefinal

Last Sunday, Lauren, Khan and I headed over to the Flow Toys headquarters in Berkeley for the release party for Kindle Magazine. It was a timely release since many of the contributors from around the globe are in town for FireDrums. I was handed the first issue of my subscription at the event. I’m quite impressed. This is a serious magazine. It’s beautifully produced. The writing and images are top notch.

One of a kind, this printed magazine exposes the growing international fire community and brings it to you, the reader, with exclusive interviews, fiery photo shoots,
and much more! Subscribers also get access to exclusive content on our website, including podcasts, videos, DVD sneak previews, and some things
we haven’t thought of yet that will blow your mind! Subscribe and get 2 magazines a year for $15, %25 off the cover price!

The magazine will be produced bi-yearly and consists of:
Information on the Global fire community
Faces of Fire Spinning” Features of fire spinners from around the world
Great Fire photos
Reviews of gear
Fire spinning Tricks and Theory

Kindle’s mission is to promote fire arts and culture by producing a high quality magazine ecompassing a wide veritey of perspectives, providing online access to community resources and information, and collaborating with an international host of writers, artists, and photographers.

Support our community and grab a beautiful magazine here.

Ann at the Flow Show

Apr 28th, 2009
by rich.
1 comment


Ann at Flow Show – 4/24/09 from Hoopsie Daisy on Vimeo.
Ann at The Flow Show.

I watched Ann perform this piece sitting above the stage on a ledge. I teared up like the first time I saw her sustained stall video. Whenever I see her do this it totally send me into awe and I get all emotional.

Playing with Fire

Apr 27th, 2009
by rich.
No comments yet

There are two short clips of our piece in this video montage of the Temple of Poi Union Square Fire Expo. You can see Josh at 3:25 and then I’m at 4:55.

Baxter at the Flow Show

Apr 27th, 2009
by rich.
1 comment


Bax at Flow Show – 4/24/09 from Hoopsie Daisy on Vimeo.

Baxter at The Flow Show.

Bay Area National Dance Week – Fire Expo

Apr 26th, 2009
by rich.
1 comment

090426-joshfireexpo
Josh Parker aka Bosendorfer Vandersloot spinning firehoop at the Temple of Poi Fire Expo in Union Square. Photograph by David Yu.

This was an amazing event. I saw some of the best fire performance I have ever seen. I could go on for hours. The level of technical and performance skill that some of these individuals have reached is astonishing. I owe a huge thanks to Isa “Glittergirl” Isaacs.

The line-up:
7:50 Emcees:Matt Freedman & Miss Rosie
7:52 Nick Griffin (LA, Temple of Poi)
7:57 Yuta (Japan)
8:01 Ms. Jamie Luv (SF)
8:04 Supreme Beings of Fire (Temple)
8:09 Insphereation (Sweden)
8:13 Vulcan Crew (Oakland)
8:17 Dai (Japan)
8:21 FireFlyGirlz (Temple of Poi)
8:25 Memory & Pi (Marin)
8:29 Cirque d’Optique (Philadelphia)
8:37 Vatra (SF)
8:41 Divine Light (Temple of Poi)
8:46 Nevisoul (Sweden) & Alien Jon (Seattle)
8:53 Manda Lights (France)
9:01 Plenty (SF)
9:05 Dark Side of the Rainbow (Temple)
9:09 Bliss Butterfly (Oakland)
9:14 Rovo and Corey (Albany NY)
9:20 Cyrille (France)
9:25 MCP (Scotland)
9:29 Isopop (San Louis Obispo)
9:33 GlitterGirl (SF)
9:37 Grimm (Cincinnati)
9:41 Banyan (Chicago)
9:46 Poki (Oakland)

The Flow Show – National Dance Week

Apr 25th, 2009
by rich.
2 comments

090424-floshow-02

Photograph by Natasha “Silverstar” of Hoopsie Daisy.

Bay Area National Dance Week – Union Square Firedancing Expo

Apr 24th, 2009
by rich.
No comments yet

Tonight is the Flow Show & tomorrow the Bay Area National Dance Week Fire Dancing Expo in Union Square. I’m busily preparing for both of these events.

The Flow Show
Date: April 24, 2009
Time: doors 7:30 p.m. / 8 p.m. show
Venue: CounterPULSE / 1310 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
Cost: Free!

Temple of Poi Firedancing Expo
Where: Union Square (Geary and Post)
Date: April 25, 2009 at
Time: 7:50 pm
Location: Free!!

caspacover

You can find the song that Josh and I will be firedancing to here:
Cockney Violin – Caspa
Download: iTunes

Hoop Collection

Apr 23rd, 2009
by rich.
7 comments

Miss Rosie posted a list of her hoop collection yesterday on her blog. Her approach to her collection is fairly similar to my own. She writes:

I make all the hoops I use except for my fire hoops. For personal use I have 4 sizes. My primary hoop is approx. 35″ diameter, 1/2″ 125 psi tubing (I actually have 5 of these that I use for multiple-hoops hooping). My small twins hoops (for hands) are the same tubing, but approx. 28″ diameter. When I need to get the foundations of a move (like chest hooping in my second direction) I practice with a beginner size hoop, approx. 40″ diameter, 3/4″ 160 psi tubing. I also have an intermediate size that’s 36″ diameter, 3/4″ 100 psi tubing, which I use to learn second direction moves AFTER I’ve gotten the move with the beginner hoop, and before I downsize to my 35″ hoop.

Entire Article: here

My own hoop collection:
(1) 3/4″ 160 psi 120″ (circumference) sanded black Gazelle a la Bax style
(1) 5/8″ HDPE 36″ taped hoop
(2) 1/2″ 125 psi 35″ taped doubles
(2) 1/2″ 125 psi 28″ taped mini doubles

My primary hoop is my 5/8″ HDPE. It’s super light and fast. This is what I jam with 75% of the time. The 3/4″ 100 psi is what I pick up for practicing chest hooping, especially second current. Then I have a big set of doubles and a mini set of doubles.
.
Performance Hoops
(2) PSIhoops – 35.5″ O.D. Polypropelyne (custom sandblasted) with White LEDs
(1) Cosmic Fire – 35″ Magic Firehoop Pro 1″ Wicks with pro wick length
(2) Cosmic Fire – 22″ Mini Firehoops pro wick length

Ooah – Scientific Sound Surgery

Apr 22nd, 2009
by rich.
No comments yet

I’ve been listening to this new downtempo mix from Ooah for the last few days. It’s great to hear something a little slower from one of my favorite DJ/artist/producers. And if you were wondering, he still drops some heavy dubs.

Free Download: Ooah – Scientific Sound Surgery

Temple of Poi Fire Expo & The Flow Show

Apr 21st, 2009
by rich.
No comments yet

sik

Last night Khan, Shadjua and I had our final rehearsal for the Flow Show. The Flow Show will be taking place this Friday 7:00 PM at CounterPulse in San Francisco:

What happens when object manipulation is taken out of the circus, out of the dance club? This showcase will take the flow arts out of their typical settings and nobody really knows what will happen. Featuring flow artists on hoop, poi, staff, fans, balls and maybe some other stuff too.

I think we have our piece pretty well polished. All three of us are happy with the outcome. I snapped this shot of us at Margaret Jenkins Dance Lab on Saturday. I think I might be even more excited for this show if I could just sit back and watch all the amazing artists from around the world that will be performing. The list of performers is very impressive. Khan has done an amazing job creating this event.

double_mini_detailIn other news, I just received my second set of mini fire hoops from Cosmic Fire. The first pair were a prototype using HDPE plastic. The new design is a significant improvement and I can’t discern anything that I would change. The new mini firehoops are sweet! I love these little guys. The size allows them to be manipulated in ways very different from full size hoops. You can do staff like linear isolations, firefan moves translate well, they spin a lot like poi and move similar to knujmchucks. I’ve been having a lot of fun working them out for the Temple of Poi Fire Expo.

The Temple of Poi Fire Expo is almost here! The Fire Expo is the largest gathering of internationally renown fire dancing artists assembled in the western hemisphere for a free, legal public show! The show takes place in Union Square on Saturday night from 7:50 PM- 10:00 PM.
More info: here

Saturday morning Chris, Audree, Isa and I will be doing a fire demo on the KRON morning news. We’ll be doing this as promotion for the Saturday night Temple of Poi Fire Expo. I’m not looking forward to driving to the East Bay at 7 am on a Saturday but it should be fun and I’ll be doing it with close friends.

← Earlier Posts