kahunahula

hooping has definitely brought a number of positive changes into my life.  by far, one of the most important emotional changes has been gaining enough confidence to finally take off the ugly duckling suit i’ve been wearing since i was a child.  by this, i don’t mean i just lost a lot of weight hooping; what i am talking about is a fundamental change in my perception of my own desirability.  after decades of agony over this issue, i’ve finally reached a place wherein i can say to myself, yes, you are attractive.  i think it is easy to get so used to one’s costume that you forget it is just a costume.

it has been a process.  when i stepped out of my early private hooping shell and began participating in hoop gatherings, one of the hardest things for me to do was to simply take off my shirt- to expose my torso to the world.  it was so hard for me to do that i made a decision early on to always take off my shirt when hooping, so i could finally get past my hangups.  yes, this is my belly in movement!  with time, a ton of generous and positive feedback from others, and my shedding a supermodel in weight, it has gotten easier.  but even though i am arguably in some of the best shape of my life, it still isn’t easy.

i’m not a professional model, nor do i aspire to be one.  i think “sexy” commercial modeling perpetuates dangerous stereotypes that are ultimately hurtful to most people’s sense of self worth.  i also think increasingly men are being subjected to a similar kind of destructive body “ideal” that women have endured to a more marked degree for a long time.  i’ve certainly felt the pressure over the years even though i intellectually recognize it as b.s.

as an active hoop performer, i get photographed quite a bit, often in minimal form-fitting (sometimes outrageous) clothing.  truth be told, i’m used to generally being discouraged by the resulting photos.  invariably i end up with some weird expression on my face, or blurry edges that look like alien flesh tumors, or most often, a kwashiorkor belly.  i usually have to grit my teeth through twenty bad shots before finding one in which i think i look decent.  sure, once in awhile i get one that is absolutely fantastic, but that is by far the exception.  i’ve grudgingly accepted this, like “off” performances, as part of the process.  i just keep hooping, hoping that the good shots i want for documenting and sharing my art will come over time.  when i perform, i am much more concerned with tapping into my flow and connecting with the audience, than with whether i can grate cheese on my abs at any given moment.  it’s only afterwards that i experience the mild panic when i see that i’ve been tagged in a photo on facebook.

however, despite this relative truce with the process, i was reminded a couple of months ago just how tender an area grappling with my sense of attractiveness still is for me.  after a couple of strong performances, which resulted in both good and bad pictures (and at least one amazing shot), i had the opportunity to participate in a dedicated photo shoot with several talented spinners.  i was excited at the prospects of getting several really high quality photos in a single evening.

i don’t know how you feel about posing in front of a wall of photographers, but the reality of it was rather surreal- markedly different from my experience the night before performing in front of a similar wall of photographers that fronted the crowd.  i was advised that to get good shots it would take a lot of repetition of movement;  the name of this game was posing. i couldn’t just rock it in my comfort zone as i had anticipated.  watching the other artists begin to work it, i felt like i was about to take off my shirt for the first time.

in retrospect, posing for the shots in that environment in the way that i was seeing other artists do it was simply not authentic for me.  i tried my best, but it wasn’t anything close to comfortable or fun.  i kept thinking of some b movie i’d seen a long time ago in which the photographer kept saying things like, “show me the tiger! yes! you are a sexy tiger! growl for me tiger! hot, hot, hot!”  nope.  not me.

given the fact that i’d tried nonetheless to be expressive, to dampen the natural speedster in me sufficiently, and to find something close to a distant relative of my comfort zone in the situation, i have to say i was disappointed with the results.  despite pushing myself to stay active in the rotation, and braving the large phalanx of photographers, i ended up with only a few possibly usable pictures for several hours worth of work in the cold- none of which were particularly inspiring to me.  part of the problem undoubtedly had to do with the fact that there were usually at least two artists doing separate things at the same time- the photographers had to choose who to go with.  while i don’t think it was the intention of either the photographers or the artists,  it seemed like the spinners who were much closer to the ripped, slim, sexy “ideal”, and who were able to ’show their tiger’, ended up with the preponderance of photographs, including some fantastic results.  don’t get me wrong, i was happy for them- everyone worked hard for it.  but, comparing the discrepancy in volume between the plethora of their photographs and mine, i found myself drowning in that old familiar space of, “of course there aren’t that many pictures of me- i’m just not attractive like they are.”

i recognize that with guidance and practice i could probably learn how to pose effectively and feel a little more comfortable with it.  i’d also probably end up with more shots.  but, just as there are moves, affectations, and methodologies that other spinners employ that i don’t, i doubt this kind of thing is really capturing what i’m about as a hooper.  the fact is that the best photos i’ve gotten recently have been action shots of me rocking the hoop on stage.  they weren’t all perfect, but they were true to me.  that was where my sexy came out.  and, i felt good about myself in the process, which is probably more important.

yes, it was a single night.  i probably shouldn’t throw the baby out with the bathwater (where did this saying come from? was this an issue at some point?)  we’ll see how the future photo ops unfold- whether i can embrace and express something cool that doesn’t make me feel ridiculous and self-conscious, hopefully with good results; or, whether i just stick to doing my best to kick ass on stage and let the pictures come as they will.  i’d put my money on the latter.  maybe i’ll go to the next photo shoot and spin like the madman that i am and see what happens.

why share this?  because i know i’m not the only walking-wounded spinner when it comes to body image.  i’ve had a number of conversations with peeps who really struggle with it, both men and women.  i certainly have.  the more you hoop in public, the more likely you will have to deal with what you perceive about yourself from photographs.

reflecting on this experience has just underlined my conviction that the sexiest thing on the planet is you spinning with authenticity, whatever that means for you.  embrace it, treat yourself with compassion, and enjoy.  try not to get too lost in indoctrinated notions of attractiveness.  in other words, take pictures with a grain of salt.  they may indeed capture a moment, and that moment may be amazing.  but, to my mind the most beautiful flow is in the movement, and the most beautiful you is in the flow.

tiger.

made it into a short piece on cctv about fire spinning.  the footage is from a temple of poi jam i participated in.  big thanks to isa for making this possible.

my goals going into the winter have been: 1) to continue polishing my solo routine, 2) to do substantial work in developing routines with others, and 3) not to turn into a beached whale.  taking a look at the last few weeks, i’d say the goal realization has been going pretty well.

my solo routine has come a long way from the initial flawed performance at union square in december.  i walked away from that gig discouraged.  i’d blitzed hard in the preceeding weeks to complete my exciting new routine in time.  but the actual performance felt like a bit of a mess.  i ended up going off sequence early on, dropped my hoop, split my lip wide open with some freak mutant move i hope i never repeat, and had my wicks go out severely prematurely, before i’d gotten anywhere near the really good stuff.

when i finally got a chance to check out the video, i was relieved to see that the performance was far better than i’d remembered. not a complete disaster, after all.  considering the short time frame, i’d put together a good core, even if i was too lost in the technicalities while spinning.  even my recovery from the drop was decent enough that i was asked by a few folks if i’d done it on purpose.  i was once advised to learn a few solid recovery moves. really grateful for that advice.  sometimes you just drop it.

as i’ve mentioned elsewhere, post-spin self debrief is always a little harsh.  i often have to take a breath and recognize not only what went wrong, but what went right.  still learning how to do this well.  after all, no matter how far i end up going with hooping, it will always be about the process.  the journey is the thing; the performances are just snapshots.

since the awkward debut, i’ve spent the necessary time really practicing the difficult transitions, been through the entire routine a substantial number of times with only minor snafus, and have newer wicks available.  except for a sequence or two, i feel pretty rock solid across the board.  really focusing now on the overall flow, pacing my energy exertion throughout the duration, fine tuning angles/body position/timing, opening up the general showmanship, and relaxing into my flow.  looking forward to finding a good opportunity to perform the current evolution of the piece in the near future.

photo by norm mcallister, 2010.

in addition to the solo, i’ve got three routines in the works with my super-talented fire peeps.  i’m rocking a kickass duet with glittergirl (hoop/poi), upgrading the irish footwork in the showpiece routine with firish, and beginning to craft my duet with jaden towards our application to conclave with solar flare (hoop/hoop; possibly, double staff/hoop). really pleased to have the opportunity to work with such great people.  (when i first typed that sentence it came out, “pleased to have the opportunity to work such great people”.  i’m sure that will be true, both ways.)

i’ve said it before and i will say it again.  while there is certainly nothing like building a solid solo piece, i think it is really important to experience working in combination with other spinners.  i’ve found it crucial to making mammoth gains in skill, technique and expression.  it forces me to do things i would not normally do, to create unique sequences/interplay, to strengthen marginal skills.  i also highly recommend trying a piece wherein you are interacting with a different spinning tool than your own.  it’s one thing to play with another hoop; you can share the inherent fluidity of similar, familiar movement.  but a completely different tool means you have to learn how to play with the unique qualities of that tool in the hands of the person you are working with- it’s rhythms, range, flexibility, etc.  you cannot help but improve your own control, flexibility, and overall strength from this kind of work.

in my hoop/poi duet, for instance, we’ve had the opportunity to build a fresh vocabulary of hoop/poi interactions.  we are doing a number of things i’ve never seen done anywhere.  it’s incredibly fun to blaze new ground.  i’m already stronger for it and anticipate some of my best choreographed performances to date.

with firish, the emphasis has been on improving our irish dancing skills so that we can integrate more footwork into our piece.  we’ve already benefited from some great coaching and a lot of hopping around in unison.  by the time the gigs are upon us, lovers of light 2.0 will be fantastic. and i will have thighs of steel.

as for the final piece, i’m excited to work with my solar flarista sister, jaden.  she’s talented with many tools, including spinning a graceful double firehoop.  i don’t have a clue what we’ll come up with, but i know it will be amazing.

so, until mid-april when the big shows happen, i expect to be practicing the group routines a good 10-15 hours a week, at a minimum.  add to that my solo work and that’s a lot consistent wear and tear on our hero.  the lesson i seem to be learning now is how best to take care of my body when i am practicing at this intensity and frequency.  i’m usually conscious of water and rest needs when i practice or perform, but haven’t always been super diligent about stretching, massage, or simply making sure to promptly replenish electrolytes.  my body is being very good about reminding me that those things are crucial to being able to bring it to every practice.

as to the beached whale reference, last year after the fire spinning season ended i took a good-sized break from hooping, undoubtedly needed because i hadn’t been listening to my body’s needs that well.  i ended up doing a lot more eating than exercising (damn holidays) and put on some winter weight like a good mammal.  but, having recovered from type II diabetes a few years back, i need to keep my weight in a very healthy range.  i’m not generally too successful when it comes to new year’s resolutions.  it feels really good to have continued my progress toward maintaining fighting trim this time around the sun.  the only drawback from not packing on some extra poundage over this winter has been that i’ve been noticeably colder.  as a hooper i’m often outside, exposed to the elements, wearing a minimum of fancy, tight clothing.  never really understood to this extent what many of the women in my life endure routinely with being cold at night when out on the town.

anyway, after the big shows, i’m off to firedrums to celebrate, socialize, camp, and spin.  spinning for my collective fire tribe is a unique joy.  i always walk away from the weekend exhausted, smiling, and inspired, basking in the pungent aroma of smoke and burnt hair.  awesome.

until then, i’m going to work hard, give my performances my best, and earn that celebration.  paraphrasing the teacher in the old tv show, fame, “you gotta pay in sweat!”

one of the consistent requests i’ve gotten is to include some good video on this site.  the problem is, i haven’t had a good collection of recent high quality video of my performances.  i’m currently working on changing that with the development of a demo.  in the interim, i’ve finally assembled some decent video to share.

here is a video of my firehoop jam in a gig with solar flare at an art gallery recently.  i’m followed by my fellow solar flarista, don, weaving some magic with his poi.

though slightly different than i anticipated, it was a fun gig.  i’d been looking forward to rocking it hard with the music i brought, but the live drumming ended up being cool to work with. i like some of the impromptu sequences.  in the “on” meter, i’d say i fluctuated between a 5 and a 7 on my personal richter scale.  the funny thing is that just after don performed i returned with my hoop duet partner, karen, to more or less mangle the peice we did for conclave last year.  in my defence, we hadn’t practiced it since we performed it at burning man, but i have to admit it was totally my fault:-)

flow can be an harsh mistress, at times.

a big thank you to chris miloslavich for the video.

—

here is a second video of a firehoop jam i did at karen’s birthday bus traveling party.  i was actually pretty sick that night- had seriously debated going for a moment, but there was really no doubt i’d make it.  my peeps celebrating my peeps.  where else would i be?  then ended up missing several subsequent important friend things because i got sick again.  silly of me, i know.

while about six of us were spinning fire, two cars came speeding around the corner to screech to a halt just yards away from us.  joyriding teens stopped by rogue fire gang.  in one fell swoop they could have taken out most of hooppain.  there is some sick logic to that;-)

a big thank you to whit gurley for the video.

photo by jeremy sharp, 2009.

about a month ago, i decided to start choreographing a solo firehooping routine.  the main impetus behind the idea was to develop and own a solid, go-to routine; something that i could always have ready to break out when needed; something including a full range of expression from my growing firehooping repertoire.

prior to this, i’d really only choreographed routines as part of duets, trios, etc.  when i’ve performed solos in the past, i’ve simply jammed.  i absolutely love the freedom of an improvisational jam.  that’s where the flow is strongest, i find.  but it has it’s drawbacks.  one is self-imposed; i always challenge myself not to repeat tricks when jamming.  i know this sounds a little extreme, but i think it has been a great way of pushing myself to continue learning new moves, to always reach.  i do follow this with a grain of salt, though.  for example, the transitions i use when breaking planes are limited in number; i have to reuse them just to do my thing.  so there is some repetition.

my first step with choreography is always to pick the music.  the music is everything.  it sets the pace, the mood, and for me, the movement framework since so much of what i do is tied to rhythm.  i have a playlist of songs “i’d like to perform to” that i’ve been building for a couple of years, but i’ve been feeling pretty sick of most of the songs, because i hoop to them all the time.

after a lot of consideration, i picked one of my newer finds, a great niyaz track, and started my process. for me, it is important to know the music well, to learn it by heart; to know the buildups, the transitions, the timing.  i map out the timing of each section of the song for reference.  i do this so i can sketch ideas in each section of the song with clear markers.  the audio map becomes the template for the movement play.

i like to use a whiteboard when doing choreography.  handy way to play with ideas in your hooping space.  because i don’t subscribe to some of the names people use for moves, i often find myself writing descriptions like “arm blender to alt back bend to front vert isolation”.  (sometimes this cryptic language is completely unintelligible to me later)  i brainstorm for days, trying sequences “live” with the hoop.  adding, subtracting, exploring options.  the whiteboard usually disintegrates into an illegible mess, but by that time, most of the routine has been etched into me.

i’d learned the niyaz tune intimately and loosely sketched out most of the sequences of the routine.  i began practicing in earnest.  then one night i heard a song on pandora that i’ve liked for some time and i was suddenly inspired.  when i tried hooping to it, it was obvious.  this was the song to work with.  immediate gear change.

since i’d already sketched out a number of ideas for the previous song, i had some nice sequences ready to adapt to the new tune.  i’ve spent the subsequent weeks developing beyond these building blocks to craft just about every section of the evolving 4 1/2 minute routine.  i’m trying to pull widely from my repertoire to build the best showpiece i can.

photo by jeremy sharp, 2009.

when i originally set out to choreograph a solo piece i didn’t have a specific gig in mind for the debut.  i’ve been working with the confidence that something apropos would come up.  to my delight,  it has.  my friend isa, of temple of poi fame, has invited me to rock a solo at the sf food bank canned food drive fire dancing show.  i’m grateful to have the perfect opportunity for the unveiling of my baby.  i’m also just excited to perform and, of course,  a little freaked.

as i write this, i’m two weeks out from the gig.  i’d say i’ve got about 85% of the routine worked out in my head, but doing it is a whole other story.  that’s more like 60% solid.  the difficulty i’m having has to do with timing and transitions.  some of the combinations i’ve developed are long sequences.  i’m still learning to hear the marker in the music where i should initiate the sequence.  this may sound straightforward, but since i allow for some jamming even within choreographed sections, i can get lost jamming in a “jamming” section and forget to initiate a complicated sequence in time.  then my fancy pop move is blown at the transition.  (does that make sense to anyone but me?)  the other thing is that i always include tricks or movements that i can’t yet do in my choreography.  need to have some things to reach for.  i’ve got a few new moves in this one that i really need to practice until they are rote enough that i can relax about them.   bottom line, i’ve got work to do.

i’d say the underlying challenge i’ve got for this gig is just that i’m going into the final prep a bit worn out.  i’ve just hooped incredibly hard for about 9 months straight.  i feel the keen desire for a week in a hot tub somewhere, with a masseuse and lots of sleep.  maybe that will be my treat to myself after the gig…

thanks to dirk wyse for these great shots.

photo by dirk wyse, 2009.

photo by dirk wyse, 2009.

photo by dirk wyse, 2009.

i’ve been busy.  super busy.

let’s visit the wayback machine shall we? (insert 70’s space music here….)

haven found

when i think of the word, “sanctuary”, i think of being safe, secure, and free to recover.  the last few months have been crazy hectic.  as i mentioned in my decompression post, i didn’t do a whole lot of decompressing there.  i was looking forward to the following long weekend of escape and chill at strategik’s sanctuary.

the place was beautiful.  an estate in wine country, complete with pool, palatial house and tennis courts.  add strategik’s dj’s, sound systems and vibing great peeps and you’ve got one hell of a party.

i love socializing.  i never fail to meet and connect with people unless i’m in that hide-in-a-cave mode or mid pre-performance jitters.  i’ve gotten into the habit of asking people what their passion is instead of what they do for a living.  the answers are always far more interesting.  i like watching people’s faces light up when they realize that i am asking them to tell me all about what they love.

i did a little spinning by the pool during the day, broke out the psi hoop at dusk, then transitioned to fire. the fire spins the first night felt like a fun warm up.  no music, alas.  a guy came up to me afterwards and said that as far as he was concerned, watching us spin was the most amazing aspect of the weekend.  that was nice.  to be honest, i’m still learning how to deal with the wash of compliments.  i try to be appreciative, humble and gracious.  i have no doubt that everyone who praises my spinning has something they do that would likewise blow my mind.

the second night i was on.  my fire peeps were there, bolstered by some new talented friends.  we had a dedicated audience, good music, and some decent room on the tennis court.  i had a couple of solid spins, deep in the zone, casting my spell.  check out this amazing photo.  so fantastic to have this newer level of comfort with fire.  makes it possible for me to really enjoy it rather than fear it.  (though i will always respect fire for the elemental force that is is)  to top it all off, hours later, i put on a private psi performance for a group of thoroughly intoxicated friends. that’s just fun.  then off to dance the rest of the night.

needless to say, i walked away from the weekend exhausted but happy.

photo by luiza leite, 2009.

doing it for the boobs

beats for boobs was a blast a few days later.  (say that ten times fast)  a strong contingent of solar flare alternated performances with temple of poi in support of this great fundraiser for breast cancer.  we did two shows.  in the first, we did solos.  in the second, we were put together in two’s and three’s at random, to see what we could come up with.  it was fun.  lots and lots of toss room.

it was great also getting a chance to chat with the fire marshall.  he said fire spinners are much easier to deal with than restaurant owners.  thought that was funny.  also, maestro got a clarification on a toss rule that just made my day.  there have been a couple of recent gigs where i was told i couldn’t toss.  wrong.  a performer can actually toss to themselves. it’s the tossing tools to one another that is a no-no.  sweet.

and, though it was a little weird having my lady’s father in the audience for the first time, i nonetheless rocked the black nipple tape in honor of the occassion.  HooppaiN!

photo by ramona tumber, 2009.

burning in hell

the hell-o-ween gig the next night was one of my better firespinning evenings in awhile.  i’d gotten the invite from fireflirt, one of my campmates at bman, to participate as part of her infernal circus with three other spinners i know and love in a pre-halloween party/benefit at a mansion in sf.

we were pretty much on our own to make it happen.  that meant spinning, safetying, crowd control, space control, etc, between the four of us at a party of hundreds.  not easy.

we rocked the house.  such fantastic performers!  nothing like spinning with peeps with exceptional skill and seasoned showmanship.  i felt part of a solid team of good friends.  at any time we had two people on safety, one dipping, one spinning.   we did two shows.  without music.  yep, we were told we’d be able to hear the band upstairs, but it was pretty faint.  i need to get in the habit of always bringing a backup sound system.

despite the super-tight space and no toss room (damn tree!), i was pretty on.  there was something about the space we created that spoke to me.  i felt safe.  without the music, it came down to doing the magic solely to the whish of the flames.  once i tapped into that, it was all gravy despite the obstacles.

photo by matthew freedman, 2009.

disco halloween

my halloween plans got a bit mixed up.  i’d committed early to a party gig, which fell through days before all hallows eve.  i found myself unable to buy tickets for the ghost ship party on treasure island that most of my friends were going to.  one alternative  was a disco campout in the woods that sounded intriguing enough to make me unpack all of my camping gear i’d just packed and drive unfamiliar windy trails in the (seemingly) dead of night, to a place i only knew about from a flyer i could barely read. ah, adventure.

nice place.  at the edge of a forest with an outdoor dance floor.  found a perfect camping spot at the edge of the tents:  close enough to easily go back and forth from the activity, far away enough to have some peace.

didn’t do much hooping, but had a good time.  the thing i missed the most was my peeps and the vibe that they bring.

the upside was i could put the damn hoop down for a night and just dance with my lady.  we felt pretty anonymous there, which is a rarity at events these days.  love dancing with wave.

when i did finally pick up my led, i chose an empty spot equidistant between the blazing back speakers and started to do my thing.  a fairly large crowd gathered almost instantly.  felt off from the start.  it was one of those less than ideal situations wherein not only am i not in my zone, i’m also a little too out of breath at the outset.  i rocked it for a bit and then put it away.  just wasn’t feeling it.  back to swaying with wave and a couple of friends.

it was a mellow, pleasant halloween.

the horizon

with the next gig a little over a week away, i’m going to use the time to get some site things done and start developing the intermediate tricks class i want to teach.  i just got some new moo cards that i can’t wait to start handing out.  i’m also being very diligent about continuing to work on my hoop skills everyday.  i feel like i’ve just grazed the surface of my hooping potential.

still so much to learn.

photo by donovan watts, 2007.

photo by benjy feen, 2007.

photo by benjy feen, 2007.

thanks to benjy feen for these pix from one of my favorite ambient mafia parties, ever.

photo by benjy feen, 2007.

decompression is my other top favorite event in san francisco. it’s a great opportunity to dust off the playawear and reconvene with some of the peeps from burning man in full regalia, to tap back into some of that playa flavor. nothing like shaking your ass with that crowd. having it a short drive away from a shower makes it particularly nice.

this year was special on two counts. the first was that it was my lady’s birthday. we’d had a birthday eve bash in the city with a gaggle of cool friends the night before. i crawled into bed late with every intention of getting as much sleep as possible. but, alas, insomnia decided to plague me for a bit- partially performance jitters, no doubt. when we finally showed up to decompression, i was working on about four hours of nervous sleep, excited, trying to make the day special for my lady, slightly hung-over, and nervous. all that pervaded by happiness that decom was finally here.

the second thing that made the day special was the city debut of firish with my fire troupe, solar flare. we’d reconvened practices post-playa to be ready to do an improved version of an irish jig for our flame-thirsty burner family.

as is my habit, i did a bit of hooping around; hooped with a bunch of paiNers and bah peeps. considered it a warm up for the evening. in the past i’ve blown out all of my energy during the day. since i was working on depleted resources already, i tried to strike a relaxed balance between hooping and socializing.

photo by colleen sullivan, 2008.

we knew going in that the stage would be a considerably smaller space than we were used to. we’d practiced in a mock-up of the space at the studio and seen that we were going to have to be collectively on our game not to collide and/or burn eachother. tough to fit six moving people with a variety of fire toys on such a small platform.

my other adventures for this gig included making a last minute kilt and dealing with a minor injury. i was assisted in the last-minute kilt challenge by participating in my friend’s creative coven gathering, where we all worked on costumes for decom. i then worked my ass off on the thing. i was so pressed for time with all of the birthday preparations on top of my other decom prep that i was still sewing in the car en route.

but, i did it. i’m proud. the thing that i am most enamored with is that i made the kilt out of duvetyn (what we use to put out flaming firetools). yep, a fireproof kilt. to a pyro like me that’s the shiznit.

the injury bit had to do with my knees. i do so much groundwork when i hoop that knee pads have become my habit. for the dress rehearsal in studio on friday, wearing the kilt-in-progress, i took the knee pads off. i thought the dance floor would be more forgiving. the practice went fine until, of course, i realized i had badly skinned both knees over the course of the evening. then they started to hurt a lot. i looked like a little boy who’d gotten all scraped up playing outside. in my fireproof kilt.

when solar flare convened pre-show, everyone was amped.  always makes me happy to see these people.  but, decom never seems to come without some drama. point in fact, my partner in firecrime lost her firetool for a few stressful hours. also, new fire marshal pressures were also putting everybody a little more on edge. but once the fire shows began, all that stuff started to drop away. we were preceded by several talented fire troupes, all rocking their stuff. a surprise birthday cake off to the side of the stage seemed to further cheer everyone up. in no time at all, firish was costumed, warmed up, dipped, and watching the rest of solar flare put on a great show.

then our music with it’s dramatic build up pumping through the speakers. our trio of graceful fans, karen, eimile and krista, posing then moving on stage. dave, pixie and i waiting in the wings. then dave is up with his fire fiddle and the crowd explodes. pixie and i follow. we all turn it on full blast. all that practice coming together in those few minutes of cool night.

the stage was indeed tight. fortunately there were no major accidents; just a couple of bumped tools, here and there. i know i had a few more bobbles in some transitions than usual because of the lack of space. but, we brought it. for sure. a pretty strong performance overall. with a great reception.

here is video of the performance:-)

here are links to some pix:

1 2 3

after the show, i finally started to relax at a friend’s houseparty. i realized en route that both of my knees had been opened up during the performance; i was noticeably bleeding from my right knee. will have to figure out a good solution to that dilemma for the future. we enjoyed some great company for a spell, as my post-performance exhaustion began to hit.  then, getting everyone to cars/home safely and to bed to pass out.

i think the upcoming sanctuary weekend is actually going to be more of a real “decompression” for me. a few days camping with friends, firespinning and great music.   just what this boy needs.

whew! busy weekend. lots and lots of hooping. unfortunately, walked away sick, sore and beaten up.  but getting there had its moments.

it started friday night with two solid hours of unlit practice in the studio with firish.  we are prepping for our next performance as part of solar flare at decompression.  we dove headfirst into detail work.  good practice. great group of spinners.  i think there is a bright future ahead for this project.

afterwards, i headed over to an impromptu international HooppaiN at proudmari’s.  they’d been at it for two hours by the time i showed up.  i made some new aussie and tokyo friends and got to watch some great hooping.  had one really sweet spin.  then home to pass out.

photo by joseph perla, 2009.

the next day i found myself in one of my playa getups for lovEvolution, the bay area’s version of the love parade.  bah starts the parade every year- we were able to enjoy the apex of mounting excitement.  hooping in the parade was fun but grueling.  there was weird footing with the trolley tracks and amorphous hoop space to work with, but, really the tiring thing was the constant forward movement.  music was hit and miss- we ended up moving backwards en masse in the lineup to latch on to better music.  all complaining aside, it was hooping with friends in costume in the sunshine down market street to cheering crowds.  pretty damn awesome.  kudos to all of my fellow hoopers who rocked it hard!

once inside the festival area, i spent the next several hours hooping in and out of small groups. i was feeling pretty worn out by the time this started, which sucked because this is usually my favorite part of these kinds of festivals.  i still hooped for awhile at a few different spots, said hi to friends, did a little dancing, but at the core i was wiped out.  i was a little surprised- thought my tolerance was a bit higher.

photo by philo hagen, 2009.

by the mid-afternoon the crowds had swelled to that obnoxious size when you can’t move from point a to point b without having to sample everyone’s b.o.  i was done.  i decided to scratch the idea of an after party in favor of a quiet night in bed.  in retrospect, i should have started the day with a banana and a multivitamin and brought electrolytes to the festival.  my cramping hands and feet screamed potassium depletion.  you’d think i didn’t regularly camp in the desert…

sunday, i carried my hoop to the hardly strictly bluegrass festival with the intention of hooping, but never made it happen.  no umph.  nothing.  lots of shoulder soreness and general malaise.  definitely starting to wonder, am i getting sick?  is my inner swine coming out?  everybody i know has been sick as a dog lately.

(the answer, unfortunately, is yes, my friends got me sick.)

looking at the weekend as a whole, the only time i really found my zone was at HooppaiN.  that was one of my better spins in some time.  other than that, didn’t really hit my groove at all at the love in.  on my perfectionist flow scale, i give myself a four, mostly for effort.  still happy i was able to attend everything.  i look at every hoop opportunity as an opportunity.  as to the whole notion of just overdoing it, i think it is important sometimes to push yourself beyond your limits so that you are reminded exactly where they are.

(my lady doesn’t quite agree with me on that one.)