Dancing with poi

I've not done that many 'performances' per say - but when I'm spinning in front of people, mostly ignore then, just do my thang, but then I'll do some butterfly type moves and look at someone in the crowd thru the flames intensly (don't know if they see me looking at them or not) but I think it gives a sort of connection to the flames for that person (or group of people in the direction I'm looking) If you can get really close to someone as well and do simple side spins close to them so they can hear the sound.

Yes..I choreograph for "real" shows, I also have sets of moves that go well together for more "improv" shows. This way my safety knows what I am doing, and I can be sure that my audience is safe.

Yes..I look at the crowd, sometimes I even talk with them, sometimes I wink, sometimes I just smile. It is really important to make that contact. That is part of the transition from hobbist in public to professional.

Yes..I make an exit, otherwise you leave the audience hanging. How many times have you walked away from something that didn't seem finished thinking "Geez, that was stupid". By making the ending clear you can do several things, reintroduce yourself so they don't forget who you are, make it clear the spectacle is over and receive your well earn accolades.

All part of putting on a show versus showing off.

Hey Santana...got those hip movements yet? Don't leave them just to the ladies as I can tell you, the ladies like them on men too! ahem*icecream*ahem

I've said it once and I will say it again...

purrrrrrrr....!

Darn loging...that was santana just now

really if you wanna be a pro you gotta do both. for many many years i just did the flow thing, and it's very good to have, so you can dance to any band or dj that walks up to hire you, and react to their music. plus i also have a set of moves that go well together, once you have that, you can spend more time reacting to the music.
but if you wanna really blow people away you gotta perform, and that means not having to focus on your dancing and move your focus to the performance, the winks and such. man, all those girls looking at you like, "damn, i'm takin HIM home..." You gotta make eye contact with THEM at least! . rftek, i'd be happy to help you out with some pointers, next time we see each other (as if our styles needed any more similarities, huh?)

this is an interesting phylosophy. I must try it out at our next performance (couple weeks!)

Could you explain this "lure in the audience" thing a bit more?

so, I like go up the hottest chick there and wink at her while doing a butterfly, or something?

Eye contact, facial expresions? Make them forget I am twirling for a second? OR make it look like _I_ forget I am twirling for a second?

Ah have _heard_ of "playing" tha audience, bud ah'm just a back wuds kunchi boy wid vera lidle social trainin, so Ah need all the heelp ah can git.

my advice? experi-meriment . really it's about what feels good for YOU, people can see and feel whether or not you are "there." try things and see what works. you're already working on the "moves for the ladies," but honestly, being sexy is sexier than looking sexy... if you want to pick up real tips, do what i did... take theatre classes! plus, i learned heaps from drag queens doing cabaret shows in San Fran. *respect* undoubtedly the best performers get their inspiration from drag queens. Little known hollywood secret. They perform, shine every moment of their lives! and they have style!

arashi: i will definetly take you up on this. i *just* read a great, imo, article at burn syndicate.

http://www.burnsyndicate.com/performance.shtml

it tied in alot to what you we're saying earlier about taking cues from other performance artists, ie; drag queens and acting. this is something i've been thinking about lately.

part of my quest for myself is what am i as a fire performer? to be honest, it's all fun and games for me right now. i'm putting myself in the category of dedicated amateur playabout. i play because i love to, i get a lot of satisfaction out of making equipment i can later have fun with.

later yall

[ 29. March 2003, 04:49: Message edited by: rftek ]

A style that i like is c-walking (crypt walking)...lol that thing rappers do. A good combination is a BTB weave and c-walking forward.

wow, that article was THICK. It had a lot of good info, but it was a lot to digest in one sitting (and they didn't even go into great detail about a tenth of the things they mentioned). I guess that is why they have schools that teach this stuff, not just overnight classes, right?

Well, we have a show in a couple weeks. I am going to try and implement that stuff.

I used to think I was starting to get the hang of this "performance stuff" Now I see how amature I realy am. I may have been doing a lot of that stuff by instinct, but untill I became aware of it, I could never be as good as I could be.

It reminds me of when I first saw Circles of Light #1, I realized I had a long way to go, (just when I thought I had learned all there was to learn. I feel like a child again). I feel I am lost in a sea of information, and trying to decipher it all at once. I know it will take a long time to come close to the %800 percent that I need.

Thank you all for showing me this world, even though it shook my very foundations. This is a good thing.

#1 learn to poi

#2 learn to dance

I thought that was all I needed to know, I was wrong.

#3 learn to do all that other 1000 things in the above article.

that artical was written by FireMike!
Anyone seen him around lately?

That was the intro article to what he wants to be a stream of articles that incorporates a set of criteria for a strong physical performance. However, something to keep in mind...a performance is ALOT more than just getting up and dancing with the poi. THere is connecting with the audience, interaction, setting, costuming, music...it all plays a crucial role that makes or breaks a show.

That article was superbly researched and written, but is presented in a circular fashion that makes it difficult to sift through at points, I agree.
In many areas Mikie is very correct. The thing is, you can not force your body to do something it does not feel and have it look good. More you have to find what feels good and work your body into polishing that up. I simply disagree with the order he has placed them in. I draw my inferences in this from my training and experience.

The second edition of Burn Syndicate was supposed to be out last month I thought, but Juliet is a little busy now. His next article is about the studies that go into movement and performing..yoga, dance forms, tai chi, alexander technique, etc. It talks about performance principles from a personal perspective, about how to implement them and where to really dig the teeth in and what to grace over.
I know, he interviewed me for it!

Anyway, I would be happy to open a discourse about this here sometime if you are interested, but I maybe when it is not 1:30 am and I have a workshop in dance to teach the next day! LOL

I'm working on something pretty neat!It's kinda hard to do and I will ONLY do it using electro-glo or practice poi...Never fire because what I'm wearing is made of a flame-worthy material.

Oh yeah! I'm also working on my freak moves.I got my turn the hips thing and moving with it pretty much down.Need to work on more technical freak moves along with poi!

It looks darn good!!!

I'll have to go back some time and see what this thread is currently about, but for now I'll just share my own thoughts and style of dance.

I dance with my poi. I call it a poi-dance. I do not try to incorporate other existing styles into my dance (have you ever seen a line-dancing balet?).

When I am dancing I try not to think of what move I am doing, or what I am going to do next. I simply let the poi do thier thing and try to keep myself out of thier way, not allways sucessfully. I just try to get a flow going and move/spin with that.

fabulous thread - thanks for sharing

I thought I danced, but after reading this thread, I think I just try and move gracefully - I don't dance according to the rules of any particular style (though maybe there are some elements of irish dancing in there, as I used to do that many, many, many moons ago)

I have used some tai chi movements with the poi, and that seems to work well - though it seems to work better when I'm using my fire fingers.

toast made a good point about turning the head - it is quite a nice effect

I do move in accordance to the music (when there is some) starting with slow music (for choreographed shows) and some basic tricks done with slow body movements, then building up to fast poi movements and fast body movements. I like to slow it down again before a fast ending - sort of like a false end almost. I will cut music down (through a cd burner thingo) to ensure it's of the correct length, and will time it out on a bit of paper, before reconstructing the whole thing into a continuous flow.

mmm, more thoughts to come when I reflect a bit more on this discussion.....

Well put, Jeaden. I dance with my poi, in the way people usualy dance when they're out at a club...
Moving their bodies around to music. My poi are props in my dance, and i wouldn't dream of dancing without them.
I don't perform with my poi, and get embarrassed when people watch to closely, so I don't think of it as a performance... any more than most people would think they were performing if they were just shakin' the booty to the tunes.
I'm aiming to be able to do all the moves i nkow i can do, however technical or easy, strung together in whatever order the music dictates, fluidly, smoothly and above all, without hitting myself in the head. My electroglos only weigh 75g each including the string, but it's still annoying after the 100th time...

--Ben

Yeahhh!!

It's time to waste some of my bosses time by writing in a HOP discussion group when I should be slaving away. This is what they get for not having cameras watching me all the time.

Anyways, back to topic.

I'm trying to combine some aikido moves with Poi. Aikido always involves a really low, balanced stance with your hips facing forward. You can move pretty fluidly in any direction in a rather menacing way. With the Poi swinging around, however, it's kind of hard to get those hips going the way I want them to go without wacking myself.

But if I can figure it out, it'd look cool for Poi fights.

The aikido stance could be the performance part, and the dance part could involve slowing down and speeding up the Poi in time with the music. We could even try timing our "strikes" with the music.

Pacifist

Its good to see capoeira and aikido mentioned (I do both ), I always try and incoprate lots of big expansive arm and body movements into anything I do including the poi.

I imagine ginga could be used but its a little difficult to keep the poi from smashing together due to the side to side movement of ginga, you sort of make a triangle pointing behind you and move your feet from point to point (that was a really bad explanation)

Hmmmmmmm lots of new ideas now, you could try and throw a forward flip through a butterfly, or if you were absolutely badass you could do a flat folha seca whilst doing a corkscrew, possibly, you might die tho

Have alook here for made capoeira type stuff to incoporate, and if get it to work tell me

http://www.wu-wien.ac.at/usr/h96b/h9650297/cap-basics.html

yep yep yep, butterflys work nicely, so do weave, the only part I have trouble with is coming up with a good 360 or 180 turn during the ginga...

I know its not really dancing, but has anyone tried park skating (rollerblading) while spinning? Quarter pipe 180s look great with a horizontal mexican wave if you tuck up and get one poi under you skates as you turn.

I don't suppose anybody lives in taiwan who knows where to study capoeira? There's aikido studios here, and dance studios, but I don't know about capoeira.

Pacifist

[ 11. April 2003, 12:18: Message edited by: Pacifist ]

Has anyone thought of using traditional Polynesian dance technique? Lot’s of hip and leg movement but keeping the upper body still. If you want a challenge try an Omi, hips moving in a circle, keeping the upper body still while twirling. Add an extra element by doing the whole thing while turning your body in a 360. Remember the point of the exercise is to keep the upper body still . There are some people that just can't seem to do it.

Can you guys help me start my routine? I can do all the basic moves: reels, butterflies, weave, wiggle etc but I need a push to get a routine together, something simple but what looks great - I've been practicing for a couple of weeks and would like my routine to fit with maybe funky house. Please help with any good tips

[ 14. November 2003, 10:27: Message edited by: kymble ]

How to create a routine for funky house: put in some funky house and poi until you can't poi any more. Use soft practice ones at first so you can try stuff. Let the poi lead you and show you where they want to go. Dance with it! Your feet aren't doing a thing when you poi so there's a lot of freedom and opportunity down there.

Remember to save something for last - I always save the chase because it's fastest and will put me out when the heads are ready. Have fun and remember to dance like no one's watching!

I've done a couple of times what my friends have dubbed "the dance of Maudite"... I drink 2 bottles of 9% Quebec brewed beer and fly at it with my fire poi.

I don't recommend getting smashed and spinning poi, because it greatly affects your judgment, motor skills, etc., not to mention its a big risk, But it did force me to spin in a different way than I'm used to (because of a certain blood alcohal level)...

I've seen "drunken master" and some other material on the subject of drunken boxing. It seems to me that the style relys on offsetting your center of gravity, creating a funky looking movements to fool the eye. Speed in the style varies too. Slow and relaxed positions can then become bursts of energy, then back to slow and relaxed. It looks quite impressive

Being intoxicated sort of gave me a "feel for it" if you will. If I could "appear" to be totally off balance and confounded but be in the right mind and have perfect balance then I think I could explore this further. Unfortunately I don't have a clue how the mechanics of this style works, and I need a lot of practice on some of my ground work (rolls, and tumbles with poi). I'd like to learn some more if anyone has insights to this.

and as for the performance stuff, I'm really just an amature out in public... But I never know when someone might walk up to me and say "hey we could use you for such and such an event", so I think it's good to educate myself about such things.

Learn to dance.

no seriously, thats the first bit, then assuming your technicality is all that it should be you shouldent have any trouble fitting what you know from dancing into poi. Movement has been my latest thing for poi, check out hip-hop steps, country dancing ect, good for footwork, for the body, men, move your ass! this esspecially applies to british spinners. Dont be afraid to do simple stuff when dancing, no-body really expects you to charleston though a hyperloop. For the arms, try linear movments aswell as circular ones, get your longarm and seperations sorted, do isolations at the side whist turning around, run about, travel, colapse, STOP, jump, change speeds, dynamics.

T