Illuminopolis Review

Walking in to Tilted Torch: Illuminopolis the idea is to be transported to another world - one of light, music and expression. Our aide on this journey was our bartender, Shortstaxx who  bawdily introduced the performers as they sauntered out, lights blazing. She worked double time at this Sunday afternoon show, as it was more of a matinee crowd than the late-night party goers that are normally seen at Tilted Torch productions. With humor and a powerful cadence she coaxed the matinee crowd into the lit up wonderland of Illuminopolis. 

Some familiar faces reappeared, with Miss Joule starting things off. As the room went dark, loud music boomed and she wriggled out from behind the curtains to reveal a completely black light reactive costume and two blazing neon yellow scarves with which she danced. The dance was hypnotic and transportive. Indeed, I felt as though I was watching an alien in a strange land writhe for the audience.  The amazing Malibu followed and was, characteristically, a show stealer.  Walking out as mad scientist, she used a fire dance to breathe life into a robot companion on the stage.  I don't know what it is exactly that she she does to make herself so insanely watchable - but she always owns the stage. 

The Sweater Set

Two more performances rounded out the first half of the show. The first was gorgeous belly dancer Na'la as a wandering woman, new to Illuminopolis and wrapped in rags. Steadily Short Staxx helped her  unwind, revealing a glowing costume, and beautiful dance, beneath.

The final act before the second half was by jazzy indie folk band The Sweater Set.  Though the two buttoned up and giggly girls initially seemed out of place in the seedy underworld of Illuminopolis, they ended up as show stand outs.  Emotive, genuine, and unique, they were crooners from a different era which lent a hazy, old timey bar, feel to the event that actually worked beautifully. The small venue, the charmingly lewd bartender, dancing girls and dreamy tunes really encapsulated the feel of a scifi bar. I only wished that they had all performed something together, setting up the scene in it's entirety. 

At this point, Short Staxx was guiding us through, introducing each character's performance as if they were walking into the bar. The pretense was forced at best (a drunken crying girl is at the end of the bar belly dances to 'cheer up') but suspension of disbelief is requisite in a good audience member, and it's easy to ride on the enthusiasm of the performers. For the second half the same performers treated us to variations on a theme. I won't give away all the surprises, but the costumes were bigger and brighter,  the fire was hotter, and the performers less clothed. (But I will say, I was excited to see the LED hoop action Miss Joule rocked in the second half...) The standout of the second half was Na'la's radioactive belly dance while draped in flashing LED strings. 

It was a brief engagement, wrapping up in an hour. I recommend an evening showing (because, really, you are SO going to want to drink and dance afterward) and an open mind. I expected to enjoy Illuminopolis,  and I am happy to say that my expectations were beautifully met. 

There are still a few shows left - so if you are in for a bawdy, naughty, lit up treat - I suggest buying a ticket to a land called Illuminopolis. 

photo credits: Devon Rowland Photography 

Farmer's Market: Cold Wet Chaos & Fun

After setting up in the rain (and getting a "You Can't Do That on Television" style dumping of water from the canopy right onto my head - good times) the first hour at the market proved to be pretty slow (and wet.) 

Awww yeah! Stoked and soaking wet!

But it grew as the day progressed and overall was a total blast and awesome learning experience. I sold some hoops, met some great folks and got to hoop - a lot. Actually, nonstop for four hours. The thing with selling hoops is that no one is going to buy 'em if  I am just sitting there saying, yeah these are cool - promise, now gimme some money. I had to show them. So I hooped, hooped, hooped, hooped, hooped - and just as I was getting tired a bus load of kids arrived and ran, screaming, en masse to the stand. A wave of screaming children. This was not going to be my time to rest.

They all clamored for a hoop and shouted different things for me to watch and show them. Hoooray for kids trying out the hoops!  Boooo for them not paying for hoops that they then played with on the rough asphalt. Ouch. Although I had done lots of prep work, the kids, the non stop rain and non stop hooping were all things for which I hadn't planned. Next time I will be making a few changes...

Mid way through set up

After proving themselves so, I will now be selling my hoops as "water resistant."

Things I will be glad I do next time

PLAN FOR RAIN!

Geez! Those awesome pricetags I made? TOTALLY destroyed within the first hour. Oh well, you live you learn (right Alanis?) Wet cards everywhere was not what I had in mind, and the considerable effort they took means I won't be repeating them. I'm also going to throw some extra towels in my car to wipe down any wet hoops during the event and before pre-loading. It's rather...moist....in my car thanks to the drive home. Just what nobody wants.

All the kids wanted to play "how many can I do at once."
Also known as - how many hoops can I destroy at once.

BRING MORE TESTER HOOPS!

...and for the love of God, keep the ones for sale out of reach. Excited children will grab anything they can and most of the time that meant a brand-new hoop for sale being scraped and dropped on the rough asphalt. Yikes. I now have many bruised hoops that I cannot sell as new. From this point out I will have the bulk of tester hoops on the ground and everything else suspended from the canopy. 

BRING ARTICLES and INFO ABOUT HOOPING

Honestly, I forget that people don't know what it is. But, nope - they don't. I want to have some flyers about what it can do for you, how to get started, and resources so that people have a "Step 2" after getting the hoop.

but for the most part everything went without a hitch - largely thanks to some preplanning: 

Things I am Glad I did

Run Through. 

I practiced setting up all the merchandise and decor as well as putting up and taking down the canopy several times before the day of. We were set up in 14 minutes flat. Getting an hour to sip warm coffee inside the nearest McDonald's was a life saver with the day that was ahead.

Will gave free juggling lessons. This kid ^ was an
AMAZING hooper and juggler.
He picked up isolations in 5 minutes. For real.

Prepack car

With the market fees due at each market and separate fees annually, as well as the cost of materials and labor for hoops that may not sell - the last thing I wanted to do was have to rent a car to make this happen. Luckily doing trial pack ups ensured that the impossible was possible and everything fit in my teeny tiny vehicle. It also felt really good to zip up in the little Hyundai in the sea of everyone's giant Suburbans and SUV's. Gas mileage for the win!

Bring LOTS of cards

Perfect for folks who are interested but can't commit. Since I am usually that person at any farmers market, I was happy to give folks plenty of time to think and the opportunity to find out more about hooping. (Or politely blow me off.)

I wanted an Army man.

 FREE toys!

I had a bucket of dollar store toys for free on my table. This way when kids are running around with cool pink sunglasses and someone asks, 'hey where'd you get that?" they come a-running to my stand. It worked great and was a good consolation prize to the kids who wanted a hoop but got the "no way" look from mom or dad.

Art Carnage Review

If you are a local to the Virgina/DC area I can't stress enough that Art Carnage is event worth exploring. It is like stepping into a world of the bizarre and creative, where everyone wants to share and see what you have to offer at the same time. As an artist - it is a dream world. As an observer there is no shortage on interesting things to see, do and experience. As a participant, I still loved the atmosphere but I did learn that sometimes it takes a little organization to encourage 'spontaneous' collaboration. 

As a participant, I would liked to meet all the acts before the show. I feel that the free-flowing nature of the event did not allow me to know who or what was going on until it was actually happening. I would've loved a chance to chat with bands to potentially set up hooping with them during their sets, and get to know the other performers a bit better in general. If I was going to make a change a more organized structure for collaboration would have been it! But -logistics aside, it was a great experience surrounded by talented and friendly folks and the performance went off without a hitch!

While I was on stage I just kept thinking - keep moving and remember to smile. I was surprised at how effortless it was to smile and appear energized on stage - because I really felt it! With weeks of planning and practicing behind me, I felt prepared to just pull something out of a hat - which, I had to do as the space was quite different than my expectations and all those fancy tosses and lifts I had planned were not going to work.

That is the lesson I really took away from this experience - sometimes you have to trust that you are prepared even if there is no real way to be prepared. Don't worry about perfect choreography - just start hooping. If you have thought about getting out there with your hoop, but don't feel 'ready' - go anyway! It was super fun jamming to my tunes on stage and I got to teach some impromtu lessons after the show. 

Learn to hoop!

Graffiti break dancing

Pre-show hair check 

For the next time around I am going to make a few changes. I definitely had a blast dressing up, but am going to go bigger, brighter and bolder next time. I am also not going to worry about trying to have the 'perfect' act - it was great having to deal with so many unexpected changes because I was forced to flow and listen to the music for inspiration and trust myself to get through it. This was a fabulous experience for learning what I want my performances to be, and how to pull them off! I hope to go back - and to see you there!

What Did I Learn From Malcolm Stuart?

Malcolm Stuart's hoop class was about learning how to find your own way to innovate. It wasn't about learning moves or copying a style - but rather a tutorial in how to find your own style by using warm-up and in practice techniques that make your body and mind more open to new ideas.

We warmed up by flailing our bodies every which way to explore 'forgotten spaces.' The area between the shoulder blades and behind the back are easily forgotten when you have a big hoop spinning around, and by intentionally asking our bodies to acknowledge and explore these spaces we had a way to 'bookmark' and interesting spot for later use. It was like saying "hey, this is a good new spot to explore once you pick up the hoop - try and check it out." Intentionally, music was left off so that we would not fall into the pattern of rhythm.  The aim was not to look pretty or polished but to simply get the mind churning about what areas are not normally explored and how to incorporate them.  The first step of learning how to innovate was taking away that which you normally fall back on and then seeing what else you can use.


Simply jumping around isn't enough, though; it takes a calm mind to use the tools that the body gives.  Malcolm suggested keeping the mind as still and calm as a 'river of glass' despite what may be going on around it. Visualizing this image during practice is a great way to get there. This allows you to attend to what is happening as an observer instead of creator, allowing your body to do what it wants. This paired with the bookmarked spots to explore can lead to some new and interesting patterns that are outside the familiar hoop repertoire. I didn't worry about what I was going to do next and just let it happen. Stop telling your body what to do and listen to what it is telling you and you are more likely to experience moves that you haven't before.

This is a picture of the inner workings of my mind.

After these helpful tools were explained we put them into action with unstructured hooping to music for awhile. Though it was easy to slip out of 'river of glass' mode into 'what the crap should I do now' mode, just having the idea to visualize lead to much calmer practice in general. An easy remedy for not knowing what to do next was to stick with the same thing again and again. I used to think of repetition as boring - but Malcolm recommended sticking with just one move again and again so that you mind could start thinking - what can I add to this? Where can I go next? Adding spins, turns, alternate hand grips and reverse direction are all basic ideas that can really transform a trick.

In no time everyone was panting and sweating with the effort. it was the perfect time to slow things down and be treated to a couple of Malcolm's own choreography and moves. His combinations turned simple things like weaving into 3 and 4 step processes that we certainly advanced, but worth it. Innovation and inspiration go hand-in-hand, and learning moves that are new to you can be just as inspiring as creating ones for yourself. I finally realized that it is okay to "copy" someone's moves because it can be a tool for learning. From there you can take those moves and become comfortable with them and then transform them for yourself.

In the end I walked away a better hooper, teacher and performer. This is the perfect workshop for those looking for something a little less tangible than "new tricks" to add in to their work. It was truly a lesson in how to listen to yourself and understand that there are preliminary steps to innovation. In the days that have passed I've noticed that I am being much more adventurous in what I am trying to add into my practice and not nearly as controlling of my own body and mind. Simply put, I am having more fun and it looks better. Now that is money well spent!

Tilted Torch: The Bipolar Show

Death was dancing on stage in leopard booty shorts and 3ft stilts. 

Paco Fish
Not pictured, recently
removed death shroud.

It was Saturday night and I was knee deep in the second act of Tilted torch's Biploar show - the theme of which was "bipolarity," complimentary opposition, like the yin and yang - with some part of lightness always in the dark.  Paco Fish interpreted this by showing us what "death" did when he was off the clock. Which was, apparently, join the Love Parade.

It was par for the course of the evening, which had already included everything from traditional Egyptian belly dance to a 5 minute opus set to Enrique Iglesias's  "Tonight I'm Lovin' You," with the "you" in this case being...cotton candy. Or, cotton candy shaped poi that performer Magnificent Malibu spun around her with  undeniable charisma and talent. 

Ariel

The production's generous view of the theme allowed for great diversity in the acts, with each performer coming out with their own interpretations of a light and a dark act broken up by a short intermission.  The "light" performances acted as a delightful appetizer to the ridiculous, hilarious and unforgettable "dark" second act.

The first dancer was, Ariel, who began with the lovely traditional Egyptian belly dance, but really wowed us with her "dark" second act which was an unexpected mix of belly dancing, pop and lock and break dancing. Co-creator Miss Joule followed her with a traditional burlesque and feather dance act that, I will admit, made me think for the first time that taking my clothes off in public could be a lot of fun.  Her second act was described as "walking on glass," which was one of the bigger understatements I may have ever heard. She took to the stage and gleefully stripped down to roll, jump, and stretch on top of a row of broken glass with the same enthusiasm as a kid jumping on the bed while their parents aren't looking. This was the real zest of the show - no matter what they were doing, every performer did it with a confidence that made you think - "I wanna try!" Even if they were rolling in glass...half naked.