Forums > Social Chat > Spinning @ Flashback 2, Aug 2nd (Sydney, Aus)

Posted: 12th Jul 2003
Congrats on getting the gig!

First off I was nervous too when I first performed in front of an audience. The thing that helped me was just do the moves you are comfy with and know how to do. I sometimes throw a few moves together to make a tiny routine. I then just flow with it, changing in between moves and my tiny routines to create a great show.

Warm-up time I would say practice will make you more comfortable with your poi and help calm your nerves alil.Take a few practice sessions throughout the day up until your performance.Trust me this helps tremondously!

Clothing I would say for fire remember to wear clothes that will not turn you into a human torch. When using fire,IMO,safety should ALWAYS come first and your clothing apparel second.

For electro-glo, wear raver gear that won't intefere with your spinning.It is best to wear something that will let you move around good and keep you from over heating your body.

Don't worry I'm sure you will do fine.Another thing that helped me out is that most of the people in your audience won't know the difference really between your different moves, they will be more tranced by the pretty lights!

Another thing that I tend to do when performing is to concentrate on my spinning and ignore the audience.Even when I face the audience, I don't make eye contact.That may change as I get more used to an audience watching me.

Hope that helps!

RISK: Do not follow the common path; Go where there is no path and leave a trail.

Posted: 13th Jul 2003
Thanks Aurora, that's just what i needed to hear

I had another idea too. I'm sure someone must have tried it already, but what about having LED rings on while spinning? So you get hand trails as well as the poi themselves....I'm going to borrow a pair for the next practice session we have and see if it looks any good. If so, i'll prolly buy some along with that shiny new set of Beaming Poi i'll likely buy for the night

Damn, i'm getting all excited now!!
I'll have to get someone to take photos on the night so i can post them here after it's over!

Posted: 13th Jul 2003
The LED rings would be kewl I think. Another thing if the club is going to be pitch black while you are spinning is to wear all black, so only your lights will show up.

Can't wait to see some pics!Good luck and have fun!

RISK: Do not follow the common path; Go where there is no path and leave a trail.

Posted: 13th Jul 2003
imho, led rings have really bulky heads and may interfere with your handles depending on the smallness of your fingerloops.

also, if you are wokring for payment, get it down on paper specifying exactly how much you are getting paid, and the nature of your performance - individual/group piece, roaming, queue entertainers etc. Specify clearly in your agreement the nature of the insurance arrangements.

also, it's handy to drive to the event, cus fire gear does not come cheap and the best place to store em is in the boot when not in use. raves are an easy place to forget things

have recoveries ready - if you drop your staff/poi, don't break your routine - pick it up quickly, or better yet, leap over it while grabbing it to make it appear part of your set.

most of all, take photos or footage of it to build your portfolio, should you chooose to further pursue twirling gigs. be sure to have the crowd in the background, cus that's all promoters think about.

GOOD LUCK!

Laugh Often, Smile Much, Post lolcats Always

Posted: 13th Jul 2003
Insurance was the first thing i mentioned to the promoter. Neither of us has public liability insurance and we're not part of a performance group either. He said he's going to check how we can be covered under the events insurance, so i'll be making sure that's made very clear and we're all in agreement and signed or whatever before we light up.

As for payment, i've never been paid for a gig like this before. What sort of fee is considered reasonable? All i think we're slated for is an outdoor performance to entertain the punters in the queue, and a spot or two on stage at least once during the night inside....

Posted: 14th Jul 2003
hey there,
performing is fantastic! you'll love it. for some tips, do a search on 'performance' and 'performing' etc on HoP site, im sure theres beens some discussion on it before.

ive been performing for about 10months now. here are some things ive worked out. incidently, i am also sydney based, and have just started to go to firearts at glebe on thursday evening. mb you can pop by sometime?
anyway, heres a few points.

1) the most dangerous thing when performing is those around you. when twirling, make sure you are in an area that random ppl are not walking across etc - especially at a rave, when certain attendees may not be feeling very rational due to consumption of various substances.

2) fees. mostly i work by word of mouth. if its a accquiantance, id charge $50, which covers a show with a burn of the fire poi, fire breathing, and fire eating. after that climax, id do two more burns of my poi. that takes about 20mins, but with set up/packup shower time etc etc is fairly generous. thats what i charge for aquaintances and uni parties. you always get quite a few drinks thrown in with that, so thats fair.
i dont perform too much for complete strangers. so id have no idea what you should charge. depends how long you are doing stuff for, and breaks etc, also what are YOU getting out of it. at one uni party, we rotated on and off for 2 hrs, got paid $50 each, but had free alcohol for the evening

3) clothing? if playing with fire, take a change for later, and see if there is a shower at the location. kerosene stinks. for fire, ive got some raggedly cut off black pants and singlet top thingy - gives you the 'savage with fire look.'
i think for fire, black, with lots of skin showing looks awesome.

inside? whatever you want, but darker clother works better.

4) make sure there is a secure place for your equipment - if you want to have a dance later

5) insurance? i normally work cash in hand, so dont bother. however i have cancelled shows on the spot if have judged it to be too dangerous with drunken/drugged persons staggering around. make sure theres a fire blanket and extinguisher, and someone who can use both. if there are 2+ twirlers, you can rotate with burning and watching.

6) routine. dont do anything too complex, and most of the audience wont care/give a shit. i love the 5 beats weaves and one handed corkscrew stuff, but dont bother doing anything that hard for a show no one cares.
stick to simple stuff, but make it look fluidic...so you can dance with the music. if you hit yourself, dont stop, just keep on going. to warm up, just do some gentle twirling, and dont do too much too soon. if youve gradually built up the pace, you should be able to go for ages.

thats all i can think off at present. drop us a line if you can come to glebe one thurday evening.
btw, if you promoter is still after some performers, im prob free that nite. i mostly twirl poi (both fire and led), fire breath, and fire eat, but do some staff as well.

cheers.

"Here kitty kitty...." - Schroedinger.