Behind + side butterfly

In the process of trying to learn the behind-the-back weave (which I can now do without tangling the cables, but not without hitting myself), I figured out how to do this move--I had seen it done by Sage, a really amazing twirler here in Austin, and I never understood how she did it. Now I do (though I can't do it very well).

Get your left chain going forward at your side, your right chain going backward at your side. Tuck your right hand up high and close in to your armpit. On the upswing of your left chain, bring it up behind your back as if to begin a behind-the back weave, but hold it on your right side--try to extend your left hand farther to the right than your right hand. You are now doing a butterfly on your right side.

The next step is to be able to weave behind the back and do this on the left. I haven't gotten there yet.

hey adam!

never thought of this one! i attempted it last night, which was a bad idea, since i just had tattoo work done on my back, however, i can totally see this move! awesome! thanks for posting it! i can't wait till i get it!!!

--flavio

wowwwww - this sounds like a hard move!!! i wonder if i'll ever get it! i obviously can't do it behind my back but even in front i can't see how can i go from doing a butterfly at my side to a weave and then another butterfly to the other side - am i being really stupid here? it seems to me that in butterfly one of the poi is spinning in the wrong direction than the one you need to enter a weave - how do i get round that??
happy swinging,
Simos

Simos--
Maybe I'm making it seem more complicated than it is. A normal butterfly has the chains going in opposite directions, and since this is also a butterfly, the chains also need to go in opposite directions--they're just rotating in a different plane.

I shouldn't have said "weave behind the back"--the swing behind the back is just a regular crossover swing, and if you are transferring both hands from one side to the other, you'll want to insert a beat between them (at least, I will). Doing this move in front is trivial, even for a beginner like me. The real trick seems to be in finding just the right plane of rotation so you don't biff yourself, and spacing your hands just right to avoid tangling. And of course in having really flexible shoulder sockets (which I don't).

I can rarely hold the butterfly for more than two beats, but I can now do a left-side butterfly for two beats, then transfer to the right side and hold that for two beats. I haven't seen myself doing this, but I'll bet it looks pretty cool--that's one of the neat things I've discovered--when it feels good, it probably looks good.

[This message has been edited by adamrice (edited 15 January 2001).]

*ouch*

Note to self....

Practice this move with comet poi first!