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spiffspiffmember
52 posts
Location: Boston, MA, USA


Posted:
How does one normally spin glow sticks. Not poi-like, just kinda twirlin aroud in their hands. I've seen people do it, but i dont know how. I wanna do an act where i spin glowsticks for a minute or so, then "accidently" drop them, but the glow sticks are really on strings, and then i start spinning them like poi. Does anyone know any good websites that teach you how do glowsticks?

spiffspiffmember
52 posts
Location: Boston, MA, USA


Posted:
also, what should i use as the rope/string to tie to the glow sticks? i've heard people say shoelaces...must be something better. Any ideas?

SimosBRONZE Member
enthusiast
384 posts
Location: London, UK


Posted:
spiffspiff i might be able to help you on this one... well i did exactly the same thing, start with twirling glowsticks with my hands and then 'threw' them towards the audience grin but to their surprise they didn't go far or hit them or anything, just stopped and then magically started spinning off round and round - well as far as twirling with the hands is concerned i am desperate to learn some moves too - maybe some regular ravers out there can help us - a website with moves would be greatly appreciated! i've seen people dance with glowsticks in night clubs but wasn't impressed! most of them were just dancing and had the glowsticks in their hands - not exactly good-enough for a performance! i've developed my own moves but it's very hard to explain as they are very much a part of my dancing routine and not individual moves - the usual way to hold glowsticks is to place them 'above' your middle and ring fingers and hold them in place with the index and your small one on the other side - however i found that for some tricks it's better to just hold them naturally in your hand to take advantage of your wrist movement - first of all it depends on what music you are dancing too - if you use a kind of ambience music (& enigma style songs etc) it's probably more appropriate to device a routine resembling martial arts katas if you know what i am talking about - then as the beat starts you can start swinging them properly...on the other site if you are using trance music etc you must be good on dancing to the music without the glowsticks first - it's no use standing around and just doing certain routines with your hands all the time - being able to really feel the beat is probably the key to success - obvious staring moves (that's what i do at least) are very fast spinning in circles (just rotate your hands around each other) and you can obviously change the direction or the radius of the circle and many other variations depending on your dancing style; you can actually move your arms very fast in individual circles if you 'pivot' around your elbows - another move is a crossover in front of you - i can't explain this now i'll have to come back to this; my favourite move is a weave!!! yes you've heard me right a plain weave using your hands only - no strings - i've never seen anyone else do it, it's not that hard and i like doing it when the music climaxes... don't do it for long though as it won't look good! it's better to hold the glowsticks naturally with this one - practise in front of a mirror and use your wrists a lot to make it flow nicely; i've had people thinking that i was using strings when i did it in the dark - it is possible to make it flow very nicely!well as far as strings are concerned i use a string very much similar to what Malcolm uses on comet-like poi; mine is slightly thicker but not much - it's the best by far of all the strings i've tried, easy to find and very reliable - you can even burn it a bit to make sure that the knots you do won't get undone after a while (it melts when you burn it). It's also not elastic; shoelaces will do as long as they are the type that you use on boots like Dr Marten's - not the shoelaces you use on sports shoes since those are elastic and usually haven't got a circular cross-section; not that is matters a lot, i've spun glowsticks using all kinds of strings, the only ones that were really bad were really thin ones (actually the ones that come with the glowsticks) because once they tangle it's impossible to untangle them - so go for something thicker than that...i hope this helps a bit,Simos[This message has been edited by Simos (edited 25 January 2001).]

emptysetmember
98 posts
Location: Albany, NY United States of America


Posted:
Iv been doing sticks for even longer than iv been doing poi. i have resently made a movie that will hopefully be up on my web site soon demonstrating sticks. in some ways sticks are completly differnt from poi. in other ways theyre almost the same. i personally believe that my knowing sticks is the reason iv pick poi much faster than other people i know who swing. as for how u hold the sticks while doing poi, i usually use normal sized round shoe laces with one end tied onto the glowtick in a knot and the other end i make a slip knot. i then tightne the slip knot around my wrist and wrap the extra string around my wrist 4 times then i wrap it once around my index finger. although impedes you from doing any one hand tricks, its gives much more superior contral over the poi, adn alows me to do a whole lot more variations and stuff.

Its all in good, clean, light producing fun.


Coopermember
14 posts
Location: edmonton


Posted:
Here is a few ideas! One - Alot of people use leaders. The same kind you use for a dog leash or the ones you see people wearing around there necks for back stage passes or what not....You can get those at some dollar stores or just about any sports store. Personally I use a small ball chain that I bought from a hardware store. Just that and a couple of small keyrings and that is all you need, and you can shorten or lenghten them at anytime quick and easy!!!! I hope this is what you were looking for....good luck!

SimosBRONZE Member
enthusiast
384 posts
Location: London, UK


Posted:
at last...some glowsticks people on the side grin hey emptyset i'm glad you replied; you seem to be good at dancing with glowsticks, so please let us know when your video is ready, i do dance with glowsticks but at the same time i'd love to learn how to do it properly!!! smile cooper - i've heard a lot about ball chains, are they really that good? i guess i should give them a try at some point...I've been wondering though - do you guys swing with just one glowsticks at the end of your chains? it's very light for me, i usually use two on each chain or one and some kind of extra weight! maybe the extra weight of the ball chain makes it easier to swing with one glowstick, is that so Cooper?happy swinging and pleeeeease post some more info wink ,Simos

emptysetmember
98 posts
Location: Albany, NY United States of America


Posted:
yeah im going to have a couple clips, of my video up very soon, maybe even tomarrow, and i will have the completed version in a week or 2. as for doing poi, i usually just use one stick on each string, cause the light wieght makes them easy to manipulate, and move fast. the light wieght, and how i hold them, alows me to make a variation of the weave called the in and out , that looks really cool, and a variation of the corkscrew called the inside spiral. the moves are in my video and i probably do some stuff to point them out cuase i think me and my friend who also in the video are the only ones who can do em

Its all in good, clean, light producing fun.


SimosBRONZE Member
enthusiast
384 posts
Location: London, UK


Posted:
thanx a lot emptyset grin i can't wait to see it... winkhappy swinging,Simos

Coopermember
14 posts
Location: edmonton


Posted:
Simos- I always spin with two glowsticks on the end, its that extra weight that keeps them spinning not so out of control. And two colors looks so much better than just one in my opinion! ( I use red and blue ) And the ball chain is not that heavy and it spins on its own so you don't need a swival. Also it won't break cause it will take up to about 12 pounds of pressure, some more some less. I posted alittle bit of a new idea that I use and I guess a couple others have done in the past is to us photon lights. They are so much brighter and its the same weight as two and it is alot cheaper in the long run...Also no garbage to throw away!!!! Hope this helps and good luck. If your wondering about anything else

spiffspiffmember
52 posts
Location: Boston, MA, USA


Posted:
cant wait for that video. Nobody knows of any websites that give instruction on glow-sticking? Maybe malcolm should make a home of glow sticks web site.

KatBRONZE Member
Pooh-Bah
2,211 posts
Location: London, Wales (UK)


Posted:
Yippy! grinGlowstick revival!If some dancers get out there and do some cool stuff with glowsticks instead of just holding them in their hands and 'looking at the pretty colours' then, then maybe glowsticks will get their credibility back. Glowsticks are slagged off in nearly every issue of 'Revolution' and 'Muzik' mags. I think it's a shame that they are considered 'uncool' as they are so much fun to dance with in a club you can't use Poi and they look really good when you see somebody use them properly. Shame that clubbers have to take their image so seriously.Kat------------------"London is a city coming down from its trip and there's going to be a lot of refugees" - Danny,Withnail & I

Come faeries, take me out of this dull world, for I would ride with you upon the wind and dance upon the mountains like a flame.

- W B Yeats


SimosBRONZE Member
enthusiast
384 posts
Location: London, UK


Posted:
hi to all...Cooper - thanx for the info, it's always good to see what other people use - i've read your post on photon lights and although i haven't replied i found it to be one of the most useful to me as my eternal problem is paying for glowsticks ( i just spent another £5 for 2 of them coz i am spinning tonight - left it till the last minute and had to buy them from a really expensive store frown + i only have 2 instead of 4) - i am wondering how bright the photon lights are, i am not convinced by their advertisments (e.g. they can be seen from the moon and similar crap,it's not that they can be seen with a naked eye!) - are you using them yourself? does their brightness actually compare with those of glowsticks? thanx for the info again...Kat - i am not bothered at all about what stupid magazines say, i agree it's a shame they slag them off and thanx for letting me know - i had no idea at all since i don't read those mags! is it only in the UK that they are considered uncool? i thought that in the US a lot of people use them....anyways we'll do our best to bring them back in fashion!!happy swinging everyone!Simos

Coopermember
14 posts
Location: edmonton


Posted:
Simos - you should definately check out those photon lights. They are 1 1/2 times brighter than a regular glow stick, also in a crowd they stand out alot better. You can see them from further away...And the best thing is that they don't fade out or die, they stay the same brightness for the whole night and the many others untill the battery dies which is along time. I could go on but you get the idea! They only thing if you want two different colors it costs $120.00 Can. total for all four. keep in touch if you have any other ideas or questions!!! smile

SimosBRONZE Member
enthusiast
384 posts
Location: London, UK


Posted:
thanx for the info Cooper - i've started saving money already! smile i've just come back from a party; i was swinging my glowsticks when a random guy came to me and asked me if he could have the glowsticks for a while...i gave them to him and he started liguid dancing, it looked so cool! and he said he wasn't very good either, well maybe he wasn't the best but i liked the whole thing! i'll try and learn how to do it - definitely...it didn't look very hard either, i can do most of the moves with some practise i guess but i liked his dancing style a lot too! well any people have any advise for me?happy swinging,Simos

ViciousSpinnermember
2 posts
Location: Stamford, CT, USA


Posted:
I personally have never used poi, but I've been spinning stix for almost 3 years. I use 45" showlaces and wrap them around my hand 3 times. I use green stix b/c they seem to be the brightest. The best thing with stix is u an do so much more than with poi. My goal is to start to use fire once the summer comes. Using shoe laces gives u the opertunity to lengthen or shorten ur strings to make different illussions...VS

spiffspiffmember
52 posts
Location: Boston, MA, USA


Posted:
viciousspinner - where did u learn how to do glowsticks? Do you know of any websites that tell you how? Does anyone know of any? I've searched quite a bit and found nothing.

emptysetmember
98 posts
Location: Albany, NY United States of America


Posted:
spiffspiff-i know of one website, but although the site is a great idea, alot of his stuff is no where near what i (not to be cocky) and alot other people can do. i guess its a good site for extream begginers, but u wil have one upperhand seeing how u know how to swing. i might add to my own website something like what is on this one, but right now school takes up to much of my time for it. well the video is coming soon so watch out for thatemptysethttps://members.tripod.com/asianpryde714/ <---the website

Its all in good, clean, light producing fun.


spiffspiffmember
52 posts
Location: Boston, MA, USA


Posted:
thanx emptyset - at least now i can start to figure some stuff out... could you describe the move where your wrists are in constant contact with each other, the small figure 8. The description on that page is a little vague. Thanx alot.

SimosBRONZE Member
enthusiast
384 posts
Location: London, UK


Posted:
thanx emtptyset for the link - i practised last night and for 1 hours practise i managed to do lots - of course i've doing glowsticks from before but since i learned myself i had a different style from liquid dancing - l like liquid a lot now wink - and most of the moves on that site i've been doing already, only a little bit different...i put it all together last night and it looks quite cool, but some moves are not smooth enough to perform yet though frown well happy swinging,Simos

emptysetmember
98 posts
Location: Albany, NY United States of America


Posted:
the majority of the time i keep my wrists together, but there are somemoves such as the figure 8 at the elbows where u cant keep your wrists together. as for a description for the figure 8 that is very hard to do, probably more complex than describing the weave. but a good way to think of it is just do the hand motion for the windmill or the corkscrew with your wirsts close and tight together, and with your hands infront of u. also dont listen to some of the stuff that guy says on the page i gave. he says not to do the figure 8 (type 3 he calls it even though there is only one type of figure 8) becuase its too slow but if your wrists are strong enought u will move very fast and it will look incredibly cool when youre doing it with glowsticks. most of the stuff i do is actually a variation of the figure 8, along with a few other moves. this along with liquid gives me a very quick and smooth style. since there has been such talk of sticks latly, im going to make sure that atleast the sticks portion of my video is up either tomarrow of the day after. ill keep you all posted------------------bring light into the night

Its all in good, clean, light producing fun.


AnonymousPLATINUM Member


Posted:
Hey all,I went to Rainbow serpent festival on the weekend, and saw some great twirling...I also took the opportunity to buy some large glowstix, and do some twirling with em...All I can say is TOO FAST!! :)I was doing the tightest crossflow and the stixs were absolutely flying (loads of crowd were cheering and stuff) but man...They seem to have a limitless top end!I remember once I was twirling stix on the bow of a ferry at night, doing a fast butterfly, and they tangled round my head and one cut my cheek...it didnt stop bleeding for hours...(not a nice party experience). The worst I can get from my poi is a black eye.Anyone else got any stick twirling horror stories?Also, I'm wondering what moves ppl think they can do with Stix that are impossible with Poi.[Josh]

SimosBRONZE Member
enthusiast
384 posts
Location: London, UK


Posted:
emptyset, since i am very puzzled with all this names; what exactly is liquid dancing? what is the difference between liquid and finger dancing? apart from figure 8 variations and weaves etc what do you in liquid - is the basic principle to have a leading hand and the other one following exactly the moves the first hand makes? happy swinging,Simos

Hapes-Novamember
60 posts
Location: Albany, New York, USA


Posted:
yeah ive been doing sticks for a few years now, and i like sticks a lot, even moreso than strings or poi (dont hate me). A message to emptyset: while it is generally good to keep the wrists together, quite frequently i'll purposely separate my wrists in order to create wider sweeps and larger patterns. i find that it is generally more interesting and more fun to not only vary your moves around, but also the sizes, which can be done quite easily by separating the wrists and spacing your arms. Simos, i might be able to help you with some stuff. you are absolutely correct about having a leading hand and a following hand that goes where ever the leading hand goes: that is basically the whole concept of glowstick raving and thats what makes it look cool. i am right handed, and i usually have my right hand lead, but sometimes i'll lead with my left hand to make it more interesting.Also, i may be mistaken, and someone correct me if i am, but i think liquid is a very specific form of glowsticking and actually does not contain figure 8's or weaves. figure 8 and all that other stuff is a different kind of glowsticking, and i think that might be the "finger dancing" as opposed to liquid dancing, but ive never heard of finger dancing so im not sure. Both forms as well as some other things fall under a general category of "glowstick raving."Liquid i believe, (someone correct anything if you know its wrong) is where you have a leading hand and a following hand still, but the fingertips are facing each other, and you make wave-like patterns with the 2 hands which tends to "flow" and is very smooth and liquid-like. Because of that wave-like motion, i usually call it "wave" and not "liquid".I dont think im very good at explaining stuff like this in words, so sorry if i confused you more, but i hope it was helpful. -Hapes-Nova, a happy glowstick raverspecial message to emptyset: --guess who this is.

Alexlexexmember
24 posts
Location: Staten Island, NY, USA


Posted:
You know what's cool about glowsticking on strings? You can double them as not only poi but nunchaku grin. If you learn some basic nunchaku moves and get better you can incorporate them into your glow sticking routine (I can't really teach you basic moves, or link you to sites cause I don't know any but you can buy videos or books and learn). Also since I am talking about nunchucks there is a set of nunchucks out there that you can insert 2 glowsticks in each handle, and they are pretty cool https://www.karatedepot.com/store/catalog/scan/se=wp%2dnu%2d67/sf=0/sp=large/ml=1.html
this is where you can buy it, its kinda expensive for plastic but its well worth it, I recently bought a set and I love it. Its really fun to use them in the dark with music too. I am going to go on a search for glowsticking sites, if I happen to find something useful I'll share smile. Tootles, >:-]

NY FirebatsA shirt that is soaked in fuel burns very nicely. - Not By Me


Jeff Duncanmember
140 posts
Location: sidney, bc, canada


Posted:
liquid is a form of dance where your finger tips are always touching and it creates the illision that your hands have no bones in them and gives a "trippy effect" when done right. later you can learn how to use your whole body with your hands(i do this and it is quite a bit of fun although it is quite common in raves on the west coast of canada)

Hapes-Novamember
60 posts
Location: Albany, New York, USA


Posted:
Jeff, i understand what you are talking about with liquid (wave), i am pretty good at it too, and its really fun, but your fingertips dont necessarily have to touch each other. i keep a few inches of space between my fingertips and i think i like it better that way. it may be more difficult at first, but i think it makes it look a little more fluidlike, and its a bit more impressive because your fingers arent in contact with each other, but it looks like they are still moving in sync with each other to create that wave/trippy effect.If you like it with your fingertips together, thats fine, but i prefer to separate them. I started out with my fingertips touching in order to get the feel of it, but now i try to make them never touch at all. Just my thought.i might refer to liquid as "wave" sometimes, just because thats how im used to calling it. just know that they are the same thing. i wouldnt want to confuse anyone.-Hapes-Nova, glowsticker

Jeff Duncanmember
140 posts
Location: sidney, bc, canada


Posted:
i never touch mine either (1mm apart most of the time)i also make the gap grow and shrink (depending on how my body is moving with my hands)

emptysetmember
98 posts
Location: Albany, NY United States of America


Posted:
while doing the wave also try make it appear as you have to dodge it as it moves around your body. this along with moving your whole body fluidly gives a whole new style and feel to just doing the wave with your hands------------------bring light into the night

Its all in good, clean, light producing fun.


Hapes-Novamember
60 posts
Location: Albany, New York, USA


Posted:
word to that.

emptysetmember
98 posts
Location: Albany, NY United States of America


Posted:
some discussion has come up over the differences between using glosticks and photons. while there is a quite a few things that would make using photons more favorable, but after looking into them alot i decided that glowsticks are the way to go. and here are my reasons.1. price:while glowsticks may in some cases cost $1.50 (US) a piece this still in many cases is cheaper than photons. there are alot of places where u can find glowsticks in large numbers with a number of differnt colorsfor cheap (i recomend https://www.e-glowbiz.com
). photons cost alot more, around the $ 20 mark a piece. and if u want more than just one color... well, start saving more2. size: while 6 inch glowsticks mayt be consisdered bulky by some they're alot easier to find in a club than a little photons when u accidentally through them. 3. Holding them: also there a a few ways of holding glowsticks alowing the same move to have several different looks. also becuase of the way u have to hold photons its beomes very difficult to do wave (liquid). if u do, do it with photons, in many cases it comes out looking really bad.4. waste: while many attribute glowsticks to having a lot of waste. i have found its good to either save them for practice, or if u want to dispose of them: drain the liquid in a sink so it can go to a water treatment facility, and recycle the plastic5. lightshows. although glowsticks arnt as bright as photons, u can give people light shows with out the worry of blinding someone. what is a lightshow u ask? it is bassically where u do small figures 8s waves in such right infront of someones eyes. i have heard this is a very cool experience when high. i myself dont do drugs or even drink so i would knwo this, but i do know that this is still really cool when done to sober------------------bring light into the night

Its all in good, clean, light producing fun.


emptysetmember
98 posts
Location: Albany, NY United States of America


Posted:
and for all this talk of the wave... here is 2 pics of my doing it.
Non-Https Image Link

Non-Https Image Link
------------------bring light into the night[This message has been edited by emptyset (edited 02 February 2001).]

Its all in good, clean, light producing fun.


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