If you didn’t know.. I have a boyfriend. His name is Grant. He taught me how to hoop (and let me know it’s alright to be a guy and hoop). In addition to his hoop skills, Grant is in an amazing band named Tropo. These guys are family. They build the Spin Cycle. And there some of the nicest most down to earth people you will ever meet. Tropo will definitely be rockin the Spin Cycle at Burning Man this year. Check out more of their tracks on Soundcloud.
They’re also headlining Movement Play Microfestival next weekend. Be there! If I had only one event to recommend each year, this would be it.
Onyx will be installing her new candle chandelier at Movement Play. We created an operating mechanism that will allow it to rotate this year. It’ll be gorgeous as always. She’ll also be debuting some of her recent one of clothing line. You can find our mor about Onyx’s Closet here.
Chris is one of my best friends, maybe more like a brother. He introduced Lauren and I to spinning and actually reintroduced us to the outdoors. I’d also say the reason I’ve tried to incorporate so much tech stuff into my hooping was because for the first year I hooped, Chris was there nearly every time I hooped throwin down beautiful dance with sick technical moves. Lauren thinks when I’m at my best I move a little like Chris and I’d say that’s probably true. This performance was perfect!
I’ve rarely seen a staff of poi performer who incorporated so many technical moves while making it accessible for the audience. You often see high brow tech spinners who spin for other spinners, or dumbed down spinning for the audience. It’s a thing of beauty when someone can do both and my highest aspiration.
At Movement Play on Saturday we had “The Show Off Show”. I’m not sure if I wanted to participate or if it preferred to be a passive observer but Rosie asked me to do it and I was easily swayed. I was ambivalent about performing but a little nudge and I was on board.
Apprehensively, I signed myself up on the little clip board. My apprehension stemming from the insane level of talent that had participated the year before. This talent show was not not your average talent show; nearly all the participants were professional performers sharing their skill. On top of that, I’m at a “micro-festival”, as Rosie likes to call it, full of hoopers. I had the feeling that me hooping for hoopers at a talent show, at a hoop festival was just a little arrogant and performing for Anah, Christabel, Rosie, Jasmine, Dawn, Jamie and many of the other hoopers that I hold in high regards, always ups the anxiety level. Despite that, Anah and Rosie performing helped me give myself the permission to put all the internal dialogue aside and I went for it.
Then I had to decide what to perform with?!? One full-size hoop? Double minis? Double mini fire hoops? The obvious choice seemed a full size single and demoing all the isopop stuff. I know others love to see that but I feel it would be limiting to continue performing that realm of movements all the time. I’ve been very into my double mini’s lately, especially the moves I call “unified axial isolations”. I want to share that stuff. I’m also really into these linear isolations that I can’t do very well but conceptually excite me. Then again…. I could firehoop. Crowds love fire. It’s a crowd pleaser every-time. It’s not my passion though. In the end, I decided to start with double minis for the first two minutes, then move on to a single hoop.
I chose one of my favorite tracks, Cockney Violin by Caspa. It’s an older track with an asian violin and heavy dub baseline, perfection if I’ve ever heard it. It’s melodic with the whomp that makes me move with passion.
As it came time to perform, I warmed up outside the performance area. I’ve recently found that I perform best when I keep my mind completely off the fact that I’m going to be performing. I ignore all aspects other than knowing when I go on. This time, the order got switched up and Rosie called me up one act ahead of time. It actually worked well for me because I had no time for nerves. I yanked my shirt off and ran on stage, having not even planned the exact placement of my hoops for the transition from doubles to single.
As I stepped on stage, my hooping went into autopilot. I’ve repeated every single motion 1000′s of times now. It feels funny that on stage I felt no flow and I almost didn’t feel the hoop. I was aware of the audience and that I was guiding the motion of the hoop. The intricacies of the moves disappeared completely. I’ve heard people talk about how they channel a higher energy while performing. This is the closest I’ve come to that feeling though autopilot is a more exact description of my experience.
When I stepped off stage I didn’t really know how the hooping went. I was aware that I had evoked a strong audience reaction and that I pulled everything off but it all felt mildly disconnected. I immediately went to Lauren. Lauren always holds the outside perspective for me. Without her, I couldn’t do anything. So when she said I nailed the performance I knew it went well. Lauren said the performance was the best she’d ever seen me do. Christabel and others said the same.
It was surreal and exciting experience. Each new performance gives me new insight to what it means and what it takes to perform. I always feel an indebtedness to my audience for them allowing me to perfrom and I strive to live up to that. I’m stoked that this time I did.
Shakti and Luna pull out all the stops for this performance at the Rothbury Festival. They even incorporated some of the Native American Hoop Dance techniques shared with us at Hoop Convergence by Alley’Oop. This is one of the most original hoop performances I’ve seen.
Founding members of the Kaivalya Hoop Dancers, Shakti Sunfire and Luna Breeze, sisters by birth, return to Rothbury 2009 to awe and amaze inside the circle. Synchronizing multiple hoop acts with contact improv, modern dance, sacred geometrical shapes, and statue-like stillness, Vesica Sister seeks to weave story, myth and ceremony into their feminine duet. Look for them in the depths of the Sherwood forest and beyond.
Check out Shakti’s Blog on her experience at Rothbury here. She writes:
The goal? To push beyond familiar territory. To wipe the word ‘ambiant’ from our contract. To step it up like we never have before. Vesica’s debut added an electric undercurrent to the tingling expanse of uncharted water. In that way we as individual participants matched and contributed to the artistic infrastructure that is Rothbury.
I’m going to try and recap some of the many memorable moments at Movement Play tonight. We had such a great time really settled into the space, playing for four full days. More on that soon…
The Movement Play “micro-festival”, as Rosie likes to call it, is next week and tickets sales end July 4th! Only 30 tickets remain for this incredible 4 day music and dance event happening July 9th-12th! Ecstatic Dance, all types of movement workshops, organic food, and a stunning setting make this event one of the most nourishing festivals of the summer.
Visit Movement Play Website: Here
Purchase Tickets: Here
Vending by Melodia Designs and Miss Rosie’s Hoop Couture… Join Us! Tickets are $299 for 4 days with all food included! No day passes available. 18 and over, no pets allowed. www.MovementPlay.com
Visit Movement Play Website: Here
Purchase Tickets: Here
