Tag Archives: Poi Spinning

What’s up in November 2011

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Well, once again our blog vanished into the abyss of forgotten things-to-do, and now it has surfaced, hopefully to be reborn with more frequent content. There’s so much going on in Vancouver that it can be hard to keep up.

As always, with a return to blogging after a long delay, it makes sense to update everyone about what we’re doing. And what we’re doing is a lot!

1) Actually, I should first say that one thing we’re not doing enough of is teaching wedding dance lessons. This is a slower season, of course, but in general the frequency of our first dance lessons has decreased, and we’re not sure why. We’d love to get more students in – it’s one of the more rewarding things that we teach! For more information, visit our wedding first dance lesson page.

2) We’re starting a new blues dance class on Monday, November 14 at my live/work studio! Contact us for more info!

3) I just started a new poi class at Sideshow Studios this past Tues. There were sixteen paying students in the first class! I can’t wait to teach the next class, and I always welcome new students. There’s more info on Facebook. Find us and let us know if you want more info!

4) On November 24 I will be performing with two other musicians at Telus World of Science for private guests during a relaunch party. Our focus is on instruments made of natural materials – mostly wood – including didgeridoo, shakuhachi, fujara, native flute, and more.

5) I’m also hard at work planning the three ways I will be involved with the Winter Solstice Lantern Festival this year. Once again, I’m coordinating the fire show at the Roundhouse Community Centre. For the second year in a row I am also coordinating a group of didgeridoo players to play in the labyrinth at Britannia. And for the first time, this year I am also organizing musicians to play ambient music in the Performance Centre at the Roundhouse. It’s going to be a busy Dec 21st evening!

That’s a good start for now. Please let us know if you have questions about any of the things we’re doing. And if you know anyone who is getting married, send them our way! We’ll make sure their first dance is lovely and memorable!

Summer Poi Spinning Update

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Here is a long-ish summer poi update. Please, please, please let me know if there’s something big I’ve missed, and I’ll add it!

In this update: 1) Poi classes, 2) Fire jams, 3) Non-fire jams, 4) Fire shows, 5) Poi community.

1) I’m teaching two classes this summer:

Thursdays in July – Trout Lake. Drop-in beginner and intermediate/advanced classes from 7-9 pm.

Mondays all summer – Britannia Community Centre. All level class from 8:30 to 10 pm.

More info: http://www.nightanddaydance.com/poi/lessons/

2) Fire jams are lighting up the summer nights!

Wednesdays at Trout Lake are gaining momentum. It’s said to be a slightly more “beginner-friendly” vibe, which is great for newer spinners. I go when I can!

Sunday at Trout Lake is the bigger night, sometimes with a dj or drummers, and lots of great spinners. This night tends to draw a bigger audience too. Come see what’s cookin’, or do some spinning yourself!

3) There are two regular non-fire jams now.

They happen at around the same day/time: Saturdays around 2 pm. One is at the Art Gallery, and the other is at Trout Lake. Oh, woe is I, how does one decide? Trout Lake is closer to where I live, and I like going there after the Farmers Market. This weekend I’d like to go to one, then the other. We’ll see! Both are are blast and worth checking out!

Another jam happens a little farther out – Wednesdays in New West. Check out http://www.vanjug.org for info!

Other folks have also been getting together on their own to practice and play. I’d love to see them post their info online, perhaps on the Vancouver Poi Enthusiasts page on Facebook. I wouldn’t mind having a few more friendly outdoor practice/play sessions myself! Anyone have a few new cool moves to share?

4) There are a few fire shows coming in July.

You’ll see fire-aplenty at Illuminares at Trout Lake on July 25th – a tradition during that event. The following night, I’ve been asked to perform with fire at an event on/near Spanish Banks. I’ll send more info when I know more, but it should be a pretty magical/meditative experience!

5) Poi community – I love it!

And I’d love to see it grow. One of my favorite moments at Firedrums was when I stood up from lunch in the lodge and started spinning. A few minutes later, five others had joined me and we were sharing moves and ideas. About ten minutes later, one of the kitchen people started banging out an awesome rhythm with a ladle on the steel counter. Then all the kitchen people joined in. Suddenly the room exploded into a thundering harmony of rhythm and sound – it was breathtaking, and it was coming from US! Then Burning Dan, an amazing spinner and teacher, jumped into a clear spot and starting jamming out and dancing with poi, and we all watched and cheered. What an amazing moment! Poi community!

So maybe this is what I’m suggesting: we need a poi day. We pick a day. We pick a place. We get together for the day, and we spin, eat, make music, and jam. The sun goes down, and then we burn, eat some more, make more music, jam, take photos and videos. Then we share our day, in images, online. Then we do it again and again!

So, what do you think? A poi day, this summer? August? Or do we think even bigger and call it Flow Vancouver and invite all the hoopers/staffers, etc too! What do you think?

I hope to see you out spinning soon!

Happy spinning, happy living!
David

Poi Lessons, Poi Classes oh my!

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New poi spinning classes start soon!

The big one is on Monday nights at Britannia Community Centre at 8:45 pm. Starts April 20. $140 for all ten classes.

Learn all the poi basics, intermediate poi concepts, and advanced poi moves. Did I mention poi?

I’ll have practice poi to borrow or buy, and we’ll plan at least one fire safety orientation and outdoor fire jam.

All the important info is here: http://www.nightanddaydance.com/poi/

Poi Concept #3 – the secret of circles

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Poi Concept #3: The Secret of Circles

This is a relatively simple poi spinning concept, but much like a Zen koan, its meaning is wrapped in mystery, more difficult to grasp than I thought possible. Very few students have ever comprehended this concept, and even fewer, once grasping it, have fully embraced its meaning in their spinning.

So here it is

The concept is this: if you spin a single poi in a certain direction, say forward (down) toward the west, and maintain the same rotation no matter what you do, the circle’s direction never changes.

Got it? Good, now go be inspired to new levels of spinning bliss!

What!? I’m not enlightened!

Okay okay, let’s probe a little further.

Say you’re spinning forward, toward west, with your right hand. Then you cross your hand across your body so the circle is on your left side. Still rotating west, right?

Say you spin forward toward west with your right hand, and turn your body, but not your arm, 180 degrees to your right. Your right arm is now across your belly or chest. The poi’s rotation is still . . . west.

Say you swing the poi under your right leg from the front. As it swings up toward your back, you rotate 180 degrees left, the poi comes out from between your legs, and you keep spinning . . . west.

See the trend?

Now for the Real Point

The real point lies within the second two examples above. You spin west and turn your body 180 degrees, and the circle doesn’t change, but your relation to it does. So you have to wrap your brain around the idea that while the poi keeps rotating in the exact same direction—west—the fact that you turn around means your hand must now work to maintain a reverse rotation!

In other words, you don’t simply spin the poi forward, turn around, and keep spinning the poi forward. You spin forward, turn around, and spin the poi in reverse.

Whoah. Headache! Next thing you know I’ll have it all tied together with the Theory of Relativity!

Relativity

So really then, you must maintain awareness of two ideas at the same time:

The rotation of the poi will continue in the same direction until you shift the plane, bounce the poi, stall it and reverse directions, etc.

As long as the rotation of the poi continues uninterrupted, you must change the direction of force applied by your hand any time you turn away from you original position.

Thus: the poi’s rotation never changes, and the poi’s rotation constantly changes in relation to whatever direction you face.

And that’s the secret

Whether koan or quantam mechanics or otherwise, I think it’s a pretty awesome and powerful idea. So embrace it. Contemplate it. And go spin like a dervish!

Poi Concept #2 – Tangents (and stalling)

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Poi Concept #2: Tangents (and stalling)

Don’t be afraid! Even though it comes from mathematics, the concept of tangents applies to poi in a very basic way. The challenge lies not so much in understanding this idea but in physically accomplishing what it tells us to do. Let’s start with a diagram:

poi tangent diagramThe red circle represents the regular path of the red poi ball around a centerpoint—your hand—which is represented by the black dot in the middle of the circle. Arrows around the circle show the direction of the poi’s rotation.

poi tangent diagram 2Now for the concept: If at any point you release tension from the poi, it will follow a path which is tangent to the circle. Basically this means that if you let go, the poi will travel in a straight line away from the circle. This path is pictured in blue at just one possible point around the poi’s rotation.

Now you have several options. Here are two.

Follow the tangent

If after releasing tension from the center of the circle you immediately move your hand so that it is directly in line with the path of the tangent—directly behind the poi—and then follow the path of the poi, can you see what will happen?

poi tangent diagram 3You end up with a perfectly formed stall in the precise direction that the poi was spinning just before you released tension from inside the circle. This means that with some practice, you can stall in any direction, including upward, if you pay attention to the direction in which the poi travels.

poi tangent diagram 4Notice how an upward stall would thus require that you release inward tension when the poi is at the exact side of its rotation. Your hand must also move so that it is directly below the poi, and then follow it upward.

Parallel the tangent

Can parallel be used as a verb? Here I’ll use it that way for the sake of simplicity. It means to move something, such as your hand, parallel to something else, such as the poi.

If, when you release inward tension, you parallel the path of the poi with your hand. you’ll end up with a completely different sort of stall. It’s one that I’ve only just begun to explore myself.

poi tangent diagram 5The result of a successful parallel stall is that the hand, chain/sock/string, and poi all move crosswise through space. Another way of putting this is that they move as one whole unit perpendicular to the direction of travel. If, for example, you parallel stall directly to your right, your hand and poi and will form a vertical line that moves sideways through space.

Whew! What a mouthful! The best thing here is to try it out on your own. You’ll quickly see exactly what I’ve described.

Notes

There are a few things to remember when practicing stalls:

  1. To get the best effect, your hand must at first move at the same speed as the poi. Too fast, and you’ll create slack in the chain/sock/string. Too slow, and you’ll create a new point of rotation and cause the stall to curve. Once you have a straight line of movement, you can then bring your hand to a halt.
  2. I actually start to move my hand and slow the poi’s rotation before I initiate the stall. This gives me more control into the stall itself.
  3. The movement of the hand is counterintuitive. If you want to stall straight downward, you might think you need only move your hand down. In fact, you must move your hand to the side so it is directly above the end of the poi, and only then move it down. As far as I can tell, it’s not possible to stall straight down directly beneath your hand. Your hand must travel sideways.
  4. Of course, it is possible to do a parallel stall straight downward. Your chain/sock/string would thus be parallel to the ground between your hand and the end of the poi.
  5. Some parallel stalls will make a bit more sense than others. A lateral parallel stall will still tend to swing if the hand doesn’t slow down at the exact same speed as the end of the poi, but since there’s less resistance again the poi, it will take longer to slow down than in, say, a vertical stall. This means lots of lateral arm movement is needed.

There you have it!

And that’s the basic idea. Let us know if you have any questions about tangents or any other poi spinning topic! Happy spinning!

Poi Concept #1 – Ideomotor Effect

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Poi Concept #1: Ideomotor Effect

This is a short and sweet introduction to the concept of fine motor control. More specific than this, I’m referring to the type of control one initiates mentally rather than physically. Here initiation is the key focus.

What did he just say?

In other words, you can give your poi spinning a tune-up by trying the following:

  1. Get a weight on the end of a string or thin chain.
  2. Hold it just above a table or countertop.
  3. Keep your hand as still as you can, but don’t force it.
  4. Now, in your mind, tell the weight to move in a circle.

Did anything happen?

weight for practicing motor control

Fine Mental-Motor Control

As of yet, I haven’t found extensive information telling me exactly what’s going on. Apparently the movement is due to something called the ideomotor effect and this same practice is used in pendulum versions of dowsing (searching for water), and it also happens when playing Ouija.

What I really care about here is that if I tell the weight to move, my mind sends just enough of an impulse to my hand to cause that movement to happen. As far as my hand goes, its movement is nearly indiscernible.

Tell the weight to stop, to swing in a straight line, or to reverse directions, and focus on that thought long and hard enough, and it will happen without trying.

How This Applies to Poi

Poi spinning involves a lot more movement than the pendulum-swinging exercise, but I’ve applied the concepts of ideomotor control to good effect.

It’s really as simple as telling the poi to alter its course. This is most useful for correcting planes.

Try, for example, spinning a single poi in the plane in front of you. Relax into the movement, allow yourself to feel what’s happening at all points of the rotation, especially the bottom. A mirror is especially helpful here. If you have one, stand so that you can see yourself sideways.

Now, while still spinning, you simply imagine the proper course of the poi and let your body make the right adjustments. The key is to be relaxed and to let it happen. With practice, you’ll notice an instant connection between your thought or mental image and the physical sensation of spinning. Eventually your planes will correct themselves.

That’s all?

That is all. The focus here was the concept of the ideomotor effect. As long as you don’t try too hard and end up obstructing your own movement, you can use the power of your thoughts and nervous system to improve the way you spin poi. Good luck, and happy spinning!