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Remembering Philo
I didn’t expect this would hit me so hard. I met Philo Hagen only twice in person. I couldn’t call him a friend, but my life between 2008 and 2018 was shaped his influence and our online collaborations. I left my “hooping era” years ago, and so did he, but now he is gone from…
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At Fifth Elephant
Circus at Fifth Elephant. Photos by Saifi This is more of a Spin Matsuri post than one for Mediatinker, but in the interest of keeping my travel journal full, I can tell you about the personal side of attending a tech conference as a circus person. That’s what I call myself these days, when people…
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Juggling in Yangon
I spent the past week in Yangon, Myanmar, for a juggling festival & social circus project organised by Serious Fun in Yangon. Me and two dozen other international jugglers flew in to do shows and teach workshops all over the city. We worked with disabled kids, a monastery school, rescued child soldiers, and the general…
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Filming “Stars” on Niijima
Here is the latest video with the Frolicaholics. We filmed it on Niijima during Guru-Guru Camp and it was such fun that I want to share the behind the scenes bits. The Recording We sat in our campsite early in morning – there were no other campers in residence yet – and tried perhaps ten…
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Me, the Sea, and the Sunrise
One of the quiet delights of camping on Niijima is a morning walk to the beach. This year, I saw several sunrises emerging blood red from the ocean. For some of them I was busy hooping while Rob filmed me for our video project. Sunrise. I am sitting atop a 4 meter high koga stone…
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The Frolicaholics Play Hoop Lounge
Memorable birthday! Instead of going out to dinner or pigging out on cake, Tod & I played a show at Hoop Lounge. We were in a terrific line-up of acts that included a diablo player, a performance artist, and a Cirque du Soleil dancer/clown. Backstage was warm and chatty as we got to know one…
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Acrobalance
Miki and I got together this afternoon to do some acrobalance. Although I lead an acro segment in the Circus Fitness workshops, I’m not an expert. Miki’s got lots of experience and I was happy to get some new ideas from her today, especially for training. I need more flexible hips and a stronger core…
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Winter Hoop Dance
I joined a group on Facebook called The Hooping Game. Players are assigned songs, then have 48 hours to make a hoopdance video and post it back to the group. I got my song yesterday morning and braved the almost freezing temperatures at Yoyogi park to make my video. You may notice the orange-hatted preschoolers…
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Hoopiversary #5
It was five years ago today that I started hooping. What a life changing experience. Except, really, it isn’t. I am still me but I dance more. I have always been drawn to creating projects, organising events, choreographing performances. Now I have a great excuse to do all of that – the hoop. Hooping still bring…
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Contests and mental blocks
A few months ago, Ayumi and Mami announced the Japan Hoopdance Champion contest. It’s a nationwide contest for all hoopers living here. I was excited to see it come together and I wanted to enter it not with any intention of winning, but in solidarity to the organisers and to connect with the broader Japanese hoop…
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