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Shakti Sunfire

Shakti Sunfire performs with Airaligned – Michael Jackson

Oct 30th, 2009
by rich.
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Shakti is hands down one of the best hoop performers (which is a big part of why she’s one of the featured performers on Hoop Technique). This is one of the tightest choreographed hoop pieces I have seen and I love that it’s a tribute to the late Michael Jackson.

I got the opportunity to perform with Airaligned aerial dance group out of Grass Valley California on September 11, 2009 at the Center for the Arts. The show was a Michael Jackson tribute and the song I was given to work with is called “Ghosts”. I Had a blast with the choreography and the aerial/tumbling elements. My good friend Juice of Airaligned is on the fabric and another Airaligned member (need name!) performed the tumbling. A HUGE THANK YOU to Airaligned!!
Of course, hard to capture the energy of the night on film, but here it is none-the-less. Enjoy!

Find her on Facebook.

You can view videos of her in action on her YouTube channel.

Read about her random life experiences on her blog.
Shakti

Cosmic Fire – high performance new designs

Oct 28th, 2009
by rich.
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Amongst advanced fire hoopers, light and rigid is the name of the game for most of us. Last night I got a sneak peak of the new firehoops coming from Cosmic Fire. I haven’t seen the finished product but Shakti gave me a detailed run down. She has made significant new innovations. If it lives up to the potential (and I believe it will) these hoops are the next evolution of high performance firehoops. She’s not going to be building them larger than 36″ and reports they will weigh as little as 13 oz. She is also changing to a much thinner but stiffer cable for the wick on all hoop designs. Apparently it shaves 1.5 oz. off the design and is stiffer than the old cable. These are not beginner hoops but for advanced hoopers this could open new doors. I can’t wait to try them out.

I’ve never been a big fan of collapsible firehoops because they tend to be even heavier than most of the non-collapsible hoops on the market. Shakti has innovated a new collapsible design that could potentially change that. She hasn’t received the prototype pieces yet but it seems she will soon be selling a coiling collapsible firehoop with removable cable wicks. I’m guessing her new design will be just over a pound. In the Kindle Fire Arts Magazine firehoop review I’m completing now, no one submitted a collapsible design under 2 pounds.

If these new products live up to the hype, they will be groundbreaking. I wish they could have made it into the Kindle review but I guess that’s unavoidable when the state of the art designs progress every 6 months or so. Shakti says that the new firehoop design will be available early November and the new collapsible will be available early December. So if you are looking to get me a Christmas present… I’m just sayin…. :)

Hoop Technique DVD!!! Making of & Screenshots

Oct 7th, 2009
by rich.
1 comment

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It has now been officially announced and I am stoked! Spiral and I are making an instructional DVD together. I could not be happier with who I am working with. I have such a deep admiration for Spiral’s skills as a performer, technician, and instructor. All modesty aside, this will be a groundbreaking project.

This project started strangely enough on Jewel’s and Scotts front porch during the Hoop Path Retreat. After a few drinks sitting with just Spiral and I, Scott suggested we make a DVD together. I glanced up at Spiral mildly inquisitive and there was a glimmer of possibility in her eye. A few weeks later I gave her a call and here we are today.

Months of planning have gone into the DVD already and we have been dumping our whole into the project since our first shoot at Burning Man. I can tell you, making a DVD is no small or inexpensive task. With me working a full time job and Spiral continuing with her intense performance and training schedule, it has definitely been a lot of work.

The heat really turned up right before HoopCamp. I spent a week getting up at sunrise to shoot through the golden hour of light at sunrise, rushing to work at nine, working a full day, then rushing directly from work to shoot video through the golden hour of light at sunset. Combine that with prepping for my workshop, isopop.com, and other projects as well, it was intense.

The website is now up. I just updated it with screenshots from Shakti Sunfire’s performance, view that here. Shakti is one of the featured performers on the DVD. More exciting updates to come as time permits.

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This Thursday evening, Spiral, Lauren and I are having dinner with one of the musicians providing some of the soundtrack. We have high hopes for the DVD soundtrack and are really excited to be working with some very talented artist. If you made it to The Spin Cycle jam you’ve had a taste of what may be to come. More in store…

Hoop Convergence – PSIhoops

May 22nd, 2009
by rich.
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Nicole Farley got some great shots of Rainbow Michael, Shakti, and I PSI hooping at Hoop Convergence. All three of us were spinning hand made LED hoops from PSIhoops. Thank you Nicole for these great pictures! Entire set can be found here: flickr

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Shakti Sunfire on Hoop Convergence 2009

May 15th, 2009
by rich.
1 comment

Thank you Shakti for such a thorough recount of the transpirings of HoopCon 2009. I’ve been fearful of starting to write about HoopCon because I have a feeling it might be as long as the novel she has written here.

Brecken. Wow. Brecken. Hands down Brecken takes the cake for repeatedly blowing my mind. Going back through notes of the weekend she appears on virtually every page. My aerial trainer/dance teacher once said; ‘there are no transitions in dance,’ and Brecken’s workshop and dance style both were testament to that statement. Breaking out of traditional horizontal vs. vertical plane structure, Brecken led us through a series of visualizations where the hoop was allowed to move ’sphere-like’ through space like a coin wobbles on the rim. Once the sphere passes through, say a vertical space, we worked to seize that opportunity to pass seamlessly into that movement plane and back. Rather than 2-D flowers and spirals I imagined my hoop carving 3 dimensional spheres in the etheric field. I am looking forward to more of the wealth of information and inspiration Brecken has to offer.

Entire post: here