Gheumember
28 posts
Location: Hampden, Maine, United States


Posted:
Is it better to have a routine worked out when you have a performance or is it better to just do whatever you feel like. I have my first real thing coming up and I want to know if I should start working on something so that I can get it right or just go with what I know. ------------------A pig that doesn't fly is just an ordinary pig - Porco Rosso

A pig that doesn't fly is just an ordinary pig - Porco Rosso


CantusSILVER Member
Tantamount to fatuity
15,966 posts
Location: Down the road, United Kingdom


Posted:
I tend to forget everything I know as soon as I start spinning in public.Enjoy yourself and lose yourself in the music. That's what I do.And dont try to be too flash too often. Pain, misery and embarrassment are often close behind shocked wink tongue------------------C@ntusIn the past, the fools would pay, to see the freaks of the day. The contradictions of the norm. The bizarre, the wonderful and deformed.No need for the tents and the cages now. The wool is over our eyes. In front the TV circus - a freakshow in disguise.

Meh


Shouden-CrDSILVER Member
Veteran Member
495 posts
Location: Tampa, FL, USA


Posted:
I'm with Cantus on this one. Just flow with the music. Every time I do a routine it just feels so confined to me. Good Luck and make sure to let us know how your first performance was!

-=ÇrazyRaverÐude=-


Pele'sWhippingBoymember
442 posts
Location: Rochester, NY, USA


Posted:
If you want to get hired again, have a routine. Remember, it's just fire in circles to the lay-person. You have to cater to them. You have to have it look fluid. You have to look like you have it perfected. A performance isn't for you. It's for them. You're paid to entertain them. If you're entertaining you, then where's the fun for them?Watch other performers (of any kind) on TV. What tricks do they do? Easy ones. Why? Because they can be done with precision. With perceived skill. It's all about what they think is difficult and impressive.You may think the 3 beat weave is boring, but to them the fire itself is difficult. You may move to a BTB 5-beat weave and they'll be bored. But go to a 3-beat real fast and they'll be amazed. Why? They can see it.Good luck. Let us all know how it goes.Oh, to anyone commenting on my post, I am NOT Pele. I am Pele'sWhippingBoy or PWB for short. Thank you.------------------"Except for that Mrs. Lincoln, How did you like the play?"Pyromorph - Let the fire change you

FYI: I am not Pele. If you wish to reply to me and use a short version of my name, use: PWB.

English? Who needs that? I'm never going to England. - Homer Jay Simpson


CharlesBRONZE Member
Corporate Circus Arts Entertainer
3,989 posts
Location: Auckland, New Zealand


Posted:
I agree with everyone on their points (funny how often I say this wink), just with a bit more clarification..."A performance" can cover hundreds of different situations. A show where you are on a stage is completely different to walkabout at a fair or as a short highlight beside a larger event.Think first sbout how long the average person will spend watching you. If this is more than 5 minutes, it pays to think about a routine, although this can be a very general, dancing style routine, that will look the same as freestyling to onlookers. If you are on a stage, and the people will be sitting down or standing for 10 minutes or longer, it pays have some patter, some definte routines and buildups to different looking tricks (not just tricks, but those thta the audience can see are different).This is all assuming that people will be watching you soley, and all of the time.If , for example, there is other acts, especially music, nearby, the crowd will likely watch them or listen to themand not give you their full attention. This makes freestyling a better option.But, overall, IT ALL DEPENDS on the crowd. Watch them, if they ar elooking bored or listless try more impressive things (that you can always pull off). Or ask them to stand aside a little and let others from the back get closer look (great way of getting a newer audience and letting th elittle kids see better).So keep an eye on the crowd's reaction and start with the simple freestyly stuff so you have the option of routined work to build up too.This approach works well for me, as long as you are ready to change with the crowds needs...------------------Charles (INFERNO)newdolbel@hotmail.comhttps://juggling.co.nz

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adamricepoo-bah
1,015 posts
Location: Austin TX USA


Posted:
I've seen some great performances that included both choreographed sets and freestyle sets. Clearly, the performers knew what music they'd be using for the freestyle sets, and had some idea what they'd be doing, but if you know you can do an interesting set freestyle, I don't see why it would be a problem.I should define "interesting" here. I don't mean a lot of fancy moves--I mean really dancing and moving around, having some verve and personality that comes through, and a good library of transitions in your head.

Laugh while you can, monkey-boy


Gheumember
28 posts
Location: Hampden, Maine, United States


Posted:
Thanks for the help, I'm probably going to end up going between both, or just getting a general idea of what i'm going to do. Unfortunatly for me this is going to be at a school and fire saftey laws prohibit me from using fire, in any sort (damn, so much for those 12 ft bursts of flame I was going to have on both sides of me), so what I'm going to have to end up doing is having a couple of black lights and strobe lights going at the same time so at one point its going flash see me and poi, and then nothing and you see only glowing poi, and then doing some other lighting affects, only with black light, and only with strobe, going to have to play around so I can do this without fire and still have it look really cool. smileGheu------------------A pig that doesn't fly is just an ordinary pig - Porco Rosso

A pig that doesn't fly is just an ordinary pig - Porco Rosso


Shouden-CrDSILVER Member
Veteran Member
495 posts
Location: Tampa, FL, USA


Posted:
PWB,I dont believe routines are necessary in all situations. I personally freestyle every time I spin. I do have routines, but I opt not to use them as I don't get as much enjoyment out of spinning a routine. I spin because I enjoy spinning..the fact that the audience enjoy's watching me spin, and I get paid doing it are all just added benefits for me. If my employer decides tomorrow that my show is too bland and just "circles of fire" then that tells me that I need more practice. (:*striving for perfect fluidity*------------------ [PLUR]-=Crazy Raver Dude=-

-=ÇrazyRaverÐude=-


Pele'sWhippingBoymember
442 posts
Location: Rochester, NY, USA


Posted:
CRD, Thanks for the perspective. I mean no disrespect for all of the spinners that zone out. It's just that I've noticed that some of the people that zone out do not know how to spin while doing so. Because of it the audience can lose interest. I'm glad your audience is interested, you must be doing something right. It seems it may be based on what the spinner is capable of. My opinion is still the same. I think that if the spinner finds (what I'll refer to as) a sequence of moves, and transitions between those moves, that keeps the audience entranced then repeats it they can have a higher guarantee of entracing the second time. I'm not saying it's pure guarantee or absolute. But after seeing shows of varying skills this is how I feel.------------------"Except for that Mrs. Lincoln, How did you like the play?"Pyromorph - Let the fire change you

FYI: I am not Pele. If you wish to reply to me and use a short version of my name, use: PWB.

English? Who needs that? I'm never going to England. - Homer Jay Simpson


adamricepoo-bah
1,015 posts
Location: Austin TX USA


Posted:
Oh yeah...I thought I should mention: the winning poi entry (by Sage) in the recent video competition was not choreographed. It was also done to music that Sage had not selected in advance or necessarily ever even heard before.

Laugh while you can, monkey-boy


flash fireBRONZE Member
Sporadically Prodigal
2,758 posts
Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia


Posted:
just a quicky:I think that the more you practise and freestyle, the more likely it is that a routine of sorts will form itself.I didn't know until a friend pointed it out, but I have sequences of moves that I almost always put together in every burn that I do... I have my signature starting move (as seen on COL1) and although I heavily rely on the music to move me, I'm sure I have a build up, climax and wind-down loosely based on the same series of moves and combos with the occasional crazy move pulled out of I-don't-know-where! smile------------------"she dances in a ring of fire and throws off the challenge with a shrug"

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CantusSILVER Member
Tantamount to fatuity
15,966 posts
Location: Down the road, United Kingdom


Posted:
quote:
Oh, to anyone commenting on my post, I am NOT Pele. I am Pele'sWhippingBoy or PWB for short. Thank you.
LMAO.Maybe you should put that in your signature. Just to clarify in future.------------------C@ntusIn the past, the fools would pay, to see the freaks of the day. The contradictions of the norm. The bizarre, the wonderful and deformed.No need for the tents and the cages now. The wool is over our eyes. In front the TV circus - a freakshow in disguise.

Meh


Stringsmember
25 posts
Location: Wilmington, NC, USA


Posted:
My performances are all freestyle, but i have seen some people who choreograph them and i love to watch them to. The real answer here is just to do what you feel is comfortable. But i would advice thinking about where you want to go. If there is a specific trick you want to get into the routine try thinking how you can get there smoothly, or if you are going to need someone elses help in the middle of the routine make sure that you have pre-aranged signals with them before hand. As with anything the most important thing is just to be loose when you walk onto stage, if that means having a routine go for it, but personally I can never remember one once I am us there. And if you are spinning at a club or a party the music is dictated by the DJ, and he probably won't know what he is going to play untill it happens, so don't get ridgid with your act before you know what will be playing.

Never get over confidant... That is when your chains wrap and you hit yourself in the face.


DurbsBRONZE Member
Classically British
5,689 posts
Location: Epsom, Surrey, England


Posted:
I wouldn't say learn a routine as it limits your length of performance and you'll focus on that rather than the fluidity or whatever - BUT, I (and I'm sure most of you) tend to have sets of moves/transitions which incorporate several moves and I'd do these in a pre-worked-out order with free-styling in-between so you don't lose your structure.Just my tuppence worth smile------------------https://welcome.to/thehugbubble I have only one burning desire....let me stand next to your fire

Burner of Toast
Spinner of poi
Slacker of enormous magnitude


PeleBRONZE Member
the henna lady
6,193 posts
Location: WNY, USA


Posted:
Yup, what FF said. There are alot of moves you just get accustomed to doing together and they become a routine of sorts.I think it depends on you, your audience distance and stage space (the smaller the space, the closer the audience the more comfortable I am in a routine, so as not to miss and have an accident).With a routine I am less likely to zone out and a set routine can be perfect if you are not typically an audience aware type person when you spin.Routines can flow sometimes better than freestyling if you have it committed to "bodily memory", where your body can do it automatically. Then it is so fluid and graceful.I do a mix of both. I set a routine and have areas where I can play. This way I know the audience gets the best view of what I am doing (let's face it, you turn your back on the audience because you zoned out doing a weave and it is a shitty perspective for them), I get a bit of play time, but I also don't zone out and forget them either. I can also then be assured that I am making the best use of my stage area, and the safest show I can present in the venue. Best of all worlds.I also have to say in a performance it is good to have a generally mapped out routine in a biggish venue so that your safety will know where to pay attention in case something goes wrong and they have to cover 15 feet worth of stage in short time.To sum it up...map a routine, leave space for playing and then return to routine. Practice until fluid. It's a good thing imho! smile ------------------Pele Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir...https://www.pyromorph.com

Pele
Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir
"Oooh look! A pub!" -exclaimed after recovering from a stupid fall
"And for the decadence of art, nothing beats a roaring fire." -TMK



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