Category Archives: Other Events

Yesterday I received the schedule for the Tohoku tour. We’ll be doing 20 shows, workshops, and playtimes at 11 schools in Ofunato, Otsuchi, Kamaishi and other communities along the Iwate coast. Guy, Keiko, and I will see over 700 kids in five days.

This is incredible and I am so…ready! Guy called me “overprepared” in our tour meeting yesterday. Yes, I think I might be. I have a resource book of games and activities (which I will share online when I return) , 107 hula hoops, two playlists, and four tutus. Check out my costume stash:

Thanks to everyone for their support and good wishes as we’ve gotten all of this together. My plan is to snap some photos as I can and to report in from the road, so check back next week for updates. I’ve got to sign off now, I have a little more preparation to do…

Last week, Philo Hagen from Hooping.org contacted Spin Matsuri and Hoop Tokyo about judging the next round of his virtual international hoop race. Ayumi and I both agreed to play and within an hour had organised a video shoot, costumes, and a general schedule. We convened the next morning  to make our “Welcome to Tokyo” video because it was the only time we both were going to be in the city for the next five days, though we’d each be back before for the online judging. Talk about perfect timing.

Our camera operator, Tijana, and best boy, Chaobang, were our genki support team as we dashed from location to location around Shibuya and Harajuku. They carried bags, followed us with the camera, and helped in every way as we hooped on escalators, in sushi shops, at shrines and in a huge purikura booth. I will never visit Hachiko again without remembering that dogs can’t hoop.

The four of us worked fast and furious that morning. I came home with our footage and spent the rest of the day editing and smiling at our good fortune being able to pull this off so smoothly.

The contest entrants in London, Bristol, Australia, Seattle, Wisconsin and Texas were busy, too, creating their videos that mimicked Japan and embodied grace and beauty in hooping. You can see their entries at Hooping.org: http://www.hooping.org/2011/11/amazing-hoop-race-japan

The judging results will go online on November 8th, so check back with Hooping.org to see who wins this round. They will win a prize of “Tokyo Hoopers Essentials” that I’m putting together, including at least one item that appears in our video.

Despite a huge population to draw from, Tokyo’s hoop community is rather small. How can we increase the number of hoopers in Japan?

That was one of the topics discussed at the inaugural session of the Japan Hoop Instructors Conference. Six hoop dance teachers, representing five different hoop groups, met yesterday for a half day to share ideas, concerns, and inspirations.

It was one of the best hoop events I’ve attended in Japan because it opened channels of communication, allowed us to set common goals, and proved that our community is maturing into an attitude of cooperation to improve hooping for everyone in the nation. I anticipate great things in the coming year from all of us – fun classes, more students, rocking events. Lots of hoop love.

Aside from discussing how to broaden the community, we explored dancing to unusual music, worked in teams to create a performance, figured out some great ideas for the World Hoop Day dance, talked about how to make our hoop jams more interesting and discussed promoting our various classes and events to the community as a whole.

We’ll meet in about six months to share in person again. If you’re teaching hoop dance in Japan and want to come along, let us know.

Hooping.org hosts 30/30 challenges – hoop 30 minutes daily for a month – and we love them for giving us a reason to focus on our personal practice every day and build good habits.

Today we introduce what we hope will be a series of musical inspirations for your hooping during these 30/30 challenges and beyond. The Spin Matsuri Hoop Mixes are 30 minute playlists of music that we love, put together into cohesive collections that capture mood, style, and speed. We start with two playlists in a SoundCloud set called Hoop 30:

http://soundcloud.com/spin-matsuri/sets/hoop-30/

“Geo-Bounce” is a high-energy set ideal for hoop drills, fitness, and keeping up a good pace from start to end. It draws on music from all over the world:
Tu Vuo Fa’ L’Americano, Yolanda Be Cool; Rhythm; Palance, JW & Blaze;
Pipe, JW & Blaze; Lisztomania, Phoenix; Gold Dust (feat. Ce’cile), Fresh;
Husan, Husan; La Camisa Negra, Juanes.

“Meditation” slows the pace a bit with new-age and world music to get you in a mellow and thoughtful groove that isn’t boring. It features seven tracks: Ong Namo – I Bow, Gurunam Singh; Joni, Julianne; Movement, Ulele; Firewoods I, Light Rain; Dervish, Light Rain; Celestial Soda Pop, Ray Lynch; Strong Spirits, Taniki Hikaru.

Be aware that our free SoundCloud account has a limit on the number of downloads, so act quickly to ensure you get one. We’ll be bringing you new mixes in upcoming weeks and months, so if you miss out this time, stay tuned for more.

Spin Matsuri has been hosting hoop jams and other (mainly free) hooping get togethers since 2009. Here are some things I’ve learned and suggestions for making your free event successful.

1. Research your venue. Usually I hold our jams in parks or at the beach. Outdoor venues are usually free, which fits the budget.  But not all parks allow music, others are fussy about where you can play (only on the grass, only in the playground, etc), some don’t like signs. Make sure you scope out the place where you want to hoop. Know where to find the nearest toilets, vending machine, water fountain or convenience store because people will ask you about them.
2. Consider a theme. If you are holding a regularly scheduled event, an occasional theme added to the mix can be a lot of fun and provide a boost to attendance. We’ve enjoyed Hawaiian hooping, mini-lessons, a video shoot, and World Hoop Day dance practices. If you are holding your event on a holiday, consider using that as a base for your theme.
3. Get the word out. Let people know when and where you’ll be. Word of mouth is great but folks forget. Whether you use your favorite social network, e-mail or flyers, give everyone a way to get the details, including a map.
4. Arrive early. If you’ve advertised a 2 pm hoop jam, aim to get there at 1:30. Give yourself time to get the space ready. Set up your music, unbundle your hoops, layout your picnic gear. Start hooping so people can find you.
5. Bring supplies. Music and hoops, for sure. Maybe snacks and drinks to share and a picnic blanket. And don’t forget your personal provisions – sunscreen, a hat, whatever else you need to make your day pleasant.
6. Hoist the flag. Hoops will make the group stand out, but you may want to have another form of identification – a sign, a flag, a hoop display.
   
7. To disclaim or not? In the US, lots of organizers are concerned with liability and have participants sign waivers or disclaimers. In Japan this hasn’t been much of a concern for us. What you decide to do on this front is up to you.
   
8. Signups and name tags. Although I generally don’t bother asking people to sign in and wear name tags, one of the local poi gatherings does and they have a simple and elegant system. The organiser has a clipboard, a roll of duct tape and a Sharpie marker. When people arrive, he gets them to sign in and write their own name tag to stick on the body part of their choice. 
   
9. Promote your other events. Make sure you have a take-away with information about other events you’re holding. It doesn’t matter whether it is a business card with your URL or a flyer with the upcoming dates as long as there is something to hand out to interested people. 
   
10. Encourage onlookers. Spread the hoop love by encouraging onlookers. Those people standing on the fringes of the group or who stopped to watch a while – they secretly want to play with you. Give them a chance to try the hoop. I usually grab a bunch of hoops, catch an eye and run over to hand hoops to people. They may demure, but once they touch the hoop, they usually spin it, too. And some people return for future hoop jams.
11. Have hoops for sale. Set aside one or two hoops for sale. Mark them with tags and signs so they don’t get used in the regular jam. You won’t sell a hoop every time, but there will be a few people over the course of a year who are interested enough to buy a hoop on the spot.

Saturday 6
Edogawa Hanabi Hoop Picnic
Hoop dance, fireworks, picnic on the banks of the Edo river.  Although the official fireworks display is canceled this year, let’s make our own with LED hoops and all of our glittery, sparkly electric toys! (And some fireworks, too, thanks to Tod.) All flow arts welcome and there’s no need to hoop. Bring your family & friends and a delicious picnic.

Where to meet:
Point 1: 5:30 pm. Iidabashi eki, Sobu platform, middle of the train.
Point 2: 6:05 pm. Koiwa Station.
Point 3: After 6:30. Edogawa Ground. Around the baseball grounds, north of the hospital, south of the bridges. MAP You can try to call me; no promises that I will be able to answer. 090-5439-0036

Saturday 13
Finding Flow workshop
The first Spin Matsuri workshop in the US! Discover the sweet surrender of hoop flow with Tink from Tokyo. Two hours of guided hooping at the Ephrata Performing Arts Center in PA will help you release into a blissful state of movement as we explore technical and meditative aspects of flow.

The doors open with music at 9:30 am; workshop begins at 10:00. Cost is $30 and includes class materials and a CD of music used in the workshop. Please bring your favorite hoop. Details and registration info at Whirligig Hoopers: http://whirligighoopers.co​m/?page_id=127

Sunday 28
4th Sunday Spin
The monthly Spin Matsuri hoop jam at Yoyogi Park. Free and open to all hoopers and flow artists. Starts at 12:30 on the Harajuku side of the park; ends at sunset or when we all get too tired to hoop any more. Every month there’s a surprise and even we don’t know what it is!

Also this month, check out Hooplovers’ Hoop Lounge at Super Deluxe in Roppongi. Friday August 12th from 7 – 11:30 pm. Stylish hoop dance party and performances. Free!

Flow is about surrendering your mind and your ego to the hoop and allowing your body to control your movement automatically. This workshop explores some of the barriers to flow and help you find ways to overcome them.

Smooth Transitions
Transitions are key to flow. Your mind (and the evil Inner Critic) turns back on instantly when you get stuck in a trick and don’t know how to flow into another move. “Hey, I’m doing this reverse weave thing really well…but, um, now what? Right, I suck.” In this workshop we’ll explore a variety of transitions, hand grips and sequences that you can play with. Train your muscles to do them without thinking and your flow will expand. We’ll tell the Inner Critic to shut up, too!

Connecting to Music
I like dubstep but it doesn’t induce good flow for me. I love to sing along with the latest pop tunes, but they don’t put me into a state of bliss while I’m hooping. Sometimes the music you like and the music you flow with are very different. In this workshop we’ll get a chance to dance to a wide range of musical styles – slow, fast, vocal,instrumental – and discover which ones you connect with. We’ll also play with dance moves to inspire your flow.

Letting Go for Flow
To connect to the body, we must learn to quiet our minds and our egos. This session borrows some meditative techniques from hoopers and others around the world, including visualizations (Caroleeena), blindfolded hooping (Baxter/Hoop Path), ecstatic dance (OSHO), and dervish whirling (Sufis).  We’ll also hoop while pretending to be drunk (Brecken) which will put your ego in its place and get you laughing.

The workshop includes a 30 minute opening jam, warm up and cool down as well as the main topics. The workshop will be held in two locations:

Tokyo
Wednesday, July 27
7-9:30 pm. Yoyogi Park.
“Doors open” at 7 pm with music; workshop begins at 7:30. RSVP to info@spinmatsuri.com or on the Facebook event page. Please bring a hoop, if you can. Water to drink and bug spray recommended for the sultry summer nights.

Pennsylvania
Saturday, August 13
9:30 – noon. Ephrata Performing Arts Center.
Doors open at 9:30; workshop begins at 10. Hoop jam in the park afterward, weather permitting. Details and registration at http://whirligighoopers.com/?page_id=127

(P.S. Please ignore the dates on the flyer above; the series has been consolidated into one intensive session.)

Thank you for a wonderful and heartwarming day!

I watched Pania’s eyes tear up when she saw the big pile of donations next to our hoops. I don’t think she expected so much generousity in the park today and I was overwhelmed myself. I’d brought one large box to put everything in. We filled that box up and had another box and about 10 bags more!

You are all quite amazing. In addition to the cooking condiments we collected, we received 20,000 yen in cash donations. Wow! And thanks so much to Sareh who organised the free market and called on her Couchsurfing connections to come out, too.

As we were walking all of the bags and boxes out to the street to find a taxi, Pania told me she knows the people who will be on the Peace Boat cooking team using all of these things. I could see her imagining the scene up north as we loaded the trunk of the taxi with all of the donations – it was filled to the brim. And there were four shiny new Hooplovers hoops riding in the back seat, so not only are we feeding the evacuees in Ishinomaki, but we’re giving them some fun and exercise as well.

Thank you!