Sunday, March 10, Tink will lead two special workshops full of tricks she learned while travelling with the World Hoop Day Dance, at Hoopcamp, Hoopy Happenings, and in Spark Circus.
Tricks, tricks, tricks (part 1)
An hour long class of amazing tricks I learned from teachers around the world, including Malcolm Stuart, Gail O’Brien, Philo Hagen, and more. Pick up some crazy new moves and combos. Sunday, March 10. 1:30 pm – 3 pm. 3000 yen. Only 7 places available. Please mail spinmatsuri@gmail.com.
Tricks, Tricks, tricks (part 2)
More tricks – this time with two hoops! Explore twin moves including isolations, moves using mismatched hoops, anti-spin and more. Try some partner play, too. This class shares techniques learned from Deanne Love, Mark Douglas, Jeff Robinson, and Nicole Wong. Sunday, March 10. 3 pm – 4 pm. 3000 yen. Only 8 places still available. Please mail spinmatsuri@gmail.com.
All registrations from March 1 will help fund one of our favorite social circus projects, Niko Niko Taishi. Share your love and help bring smiles to kids in Tohoku who are still suffering mental stress two years after the tsunami.
Don’t miss out on this one-time only download of new ideas, moves, and sequences.
We went hoop-skating at Tokyo Dome Roller Arena and Trine made this great video:
Guru-guru Camp during Golden Week was a blast. We invited the town to come hooping, weathered a windy storm, learned yoga and a ton of hoop stuff, fire hooped, and jammed at a beach festival in perfect weather. Ten days of hoopy relaxation and adventures. Shenanigans, too. Stay tuned for GGC 2013…
May
Released the Evening Hoop Meditation on SoundCloud and a list of Hoop Games suitable for parties and classes. Everybody loves free stuff and we love to create it.
And the Hooked on Robotics video we helped create in 2011 was released. Check us out dancing in the background!
June
We got busy making music for the WHD Dance this year. Our own original tune took months of effort and coordination. Over 125 people downloaded the finished track, Turning Around, via SoundCloud.
Visiting hooper, Colleen Nguyen, taught a workshop on Exploring Space. We all learned things that I keep seeing in our hoop performances and jams. Thanks, Colleen!
July
A series of “Warm Weeknight Workshops” filled the summer schedule. Above are some of the moves and choreography created in “Hoop Inventions” late one evening.
August
This year’s Edogawa Hanabi Hoop Picnic had real fireworks and lots of hoops to play with.
We premiered the WHD Dance at Little Thailand with the Hoop Tokyo crew.
September
After several months of refining the choreography and beta-testing the dance, the WHD Dance tutorials went online thanks to the efforts of Ayumi, Kana, and Bekah who danced for the camera.
Then it was off on the WHD Dance Workshop Tour. First stop, Hoopcamp in California, where I taught the dance and learned so much from all the other workshops there. I also met Taylor and Michelle in person; they won the Japan round of The Great Hoop Race in 2011.
October
Taught the WHD Dance to hoopers in 10 cities in the US and Europe. The videos above are from some of the most welcoming stops on the tour, Bath, Maine and Brighton, England.
November
Headed down under to share the WHD Dance at Hoopy Happenings in Sydney, Australia, where I got a chance to teach some of my favorite hoopers and to learn from them, too. The video above is from one of my favorite workshops on the tour – Bundaberg. They are a brand new hoop community and they rocked the dance.
And then it was back home to Tokyo and 4th Sunday Spin with more WHD Dance practice!
December
This month was full of World Hoop Day events including Hoop Lounge performance on 12/6 (above), a performance and workshop at an elementary school in Utsynomiya (above), 246 Common “Full Circle” event on 12/28, and the official dance filming (below). We raised a total of 17,422 yen that will go to buy hoop supplies for charity.
At our last 4th Sunday Spin of the year, we froze but we looked festive! Also for the holidays, we released a new DIY Hoop Journal. Print it out for the new year and track your hoop journey in 2013.
Thank you to each and every hooper who participated in Spin Matsuri activities and events this year. Hoop hugs to all the wonderful WHD Dancers around the world. Wishing you all the best for a hoopy new year.
Here we are, turning around! The 2012 World Hoop Day Dance performed by Tokyo hoopers at Yoyogi Park. Dance leaders: Ayumi and Kana. Video by Rob and Jesse. Silent cheering off camera by Tink, who had laryngitis that day.
Whether you are celebrating the solstice the new year, or World Hoop Day, here is a gift from Spin Matsuri to you – a DIY hoop journal.
Keeping track of your hoop journey on paper has many benefits. You can see progress over time, recall moves you worked on, note your inspirations and sketch out new ideas. Now you can put everything in one place, a journal that you can carry with you.
We’ve supplied page templates and two colorful cover options. Take them to your local copy shop to put it together. Make a few and gift them to your hooping friends!
Mother Nature gave us a gift of unseasonable warmth for our WHD Dance filming yesterday. It was beautifully sunny at Yoyogi – everyone took off their coats and danced for almost two hours while we shot several takes.
I woke with laryngitis and aching lungs from a theatre workshop the day before, so I could neither lead nor follow. I am extremely grateful to Kana, who listened to my whispers and voiced them in two languages, and Ayumi who jumped in and got everyone rehearsed and drilled. Rob took charge of getting the right shots. I stood back and scribbled messages in my notebook. Thank you to everyone who read my notes and understood my terrible handwriting.
Rob says the raw footage looks good. I will edit it into a proper video to share later this week. Jesse’s fun panorama pictures look great. Visiting hooper Grace brought a friend along to photograph the event and I hope we’ll see those pictures soon.
Look it’s us…and us!
Beautiful day, beautiful hoopers! Thank you all so much for joining in.
Yesterday was the last stop on the World Hoop Day Dance tour – an elementary school in Utsunomiya. I taught three 6th grade classes excerpts from the choreography and gave everyone a performance along with their English teacher and hooper, Heather.
Heather and I practiced the choreography for about two hours on World Hoop Day and made some modifications for the kids’ version. It worked out very well and I think we are both happy with the results. We sneakily filmed one of the classes dancing, so expect a clip of them in the final compilation.
It’s 12-12-12 and that means we are celebrating an international day of hoop love. Wherever you are today, we hope you will have a chance to spin and dance.
I am fundraising for Spark! Circus, a social circus based along the Burmese border in Thailand. I will be performing with them in January and February. Please support this project by signing up for classes and private lessons with me.
Hoop Fitness A killer class for strength and cardio training. 60 minutes will knock you out. This class features core hooping with multiple hoops, circus drills, jumping, running, and sustained movement, plus some intense exercises to build strength. This workshop incorporates a mix of techniques from Jewelz and Lisa in Australia, plus drill patterns from Hoopcamp. Sunday, March 3. 10:30 – 11:30 am. Only 10 9 places available. RSVP by 12/31: 3000 yen. Please mail spinmatsuri@gmail.com.
Hooping with Kids Whether you are a parent, game leader, or a teacher, this workshop will show you some incredibly fun ways to incorporate hoops into your classroom, parties, or daily life. Kids age 5 and over are welcome with parents. Sunday, March 3. 12:30 – 1:30 pm. Only 12 9 places available. RSVP by 12/31: 3000 yen per adult or Family ticket: 1 parent + 2 kids: 5000 yen Please mail spinmatsuri@gmail.com.
Tricks, tricks, tricks (part 1) An hour long class of amazing tricks I learned from teachers around the world, including Malcolm Stuart, Gail O’Brien, Philo Hagen, and more. Pick up some crazy new moves and combos. Sunday, March 10. 11:30 am – 12:30pm. RSVP by 12/31: 3000 yen. Only 10 9 places available. Please mail spinmatsuri@gmail.com.
Tricks, Tricks, tricks (part 2) More tricks – this time with two hoops! Explore twin moves including isolations, moves using mismatched hoops, anti-spin and more. Try some partner play, too. This class shares techniques learned from Deanne Love, Mark Douglas, Jeff Robinson, and Nicole Wong. Sunday, March 10. 1 pm – 2 pm. RSVP by 12/31: 3000 yen. Only 10 9 places available. Please mail spinmatsuri@gmail.com.
Private Lessons with Tink Learn in the comfort of your own space and at your own pace. Individual instruction allows you to focus on exactly what you want to learn and ensures you are geting as much attention as you want. We’ll discuss your goals before our session. By appointment only. December 1- 30. 60 minute session, 5000 yen. Please mail spinmatsuri@gmail.com for an appointment.
Performance Preparation with Tink Have a show that you need some help with? Getting ready for your debut at Hoop Lounge? Looking to add more oomph to your stage act? Not sure what to wear? Call on Tink to give you a positive and helpful critique along with pointers for wowing the audience. By appointment only. December 1- 30. 60 minute session, 5000 yen. Please mail spinmatsuri@gmail.com for an appointment.
Extra Special Fundraising Goodies
Hand-drawn Postcard from Thailand (10 available): 2000 yen
Hooping Life Playing Cards (1 available): 1500 yen
Handmade Flower Hair Accessory (1 available): 2000 yen
Hoop Button and Sticker Pack (2 1 available): 1000 yen
Why am I doing these workshops in March? Why do you have to pay in advance? These workshops are a fundraiser to support Spark! Circus’ upcoming performance tour. The money raise by advance sales of these workshops will support the shared costs of the tour, including toys and circus supplies that we donate to the refugee camps, orphanages and schools around Mae Sot.I will be participating in Spark! Circus in Thailand from January 5 – February 22, 2013 and Since I will be busy preparing my acts, costumes and workshops for the kids before I go, I will do the Tokyo classes when I return. Plus, I expect to have some great new moves from my fellow performers to add to the workshops!
We have just a few weeks left before World Hoop Day. I arrived home from the tour today and I am ready to take Tokyo’s hoop dancers to the next level with this choreography. I hope you have been practicing! If not, there is one official workshop and several practices scheduled before our filming date on 12/16.
WHD Dance Workshop
11/26 (Monday) 7-9 pm
Edogawabashi Gymnasium (map)
Learn the whole dance from beginning to end!
The workshop is free, but there is a 300 yen entry fee for the gymnasium. RSVP is essential via e-mail or FB.
WHD Dance Practices
11/25 (Sunday) 3 -4 pm at 4th Sunday Spin, Yoyogi Park
11/28 (Wednesday) 1 -2 pm at Edogawabashi Gymnasium
12/1 (Saturday) 1-2 pm at Yoyogi Park
12/9 (Sunday) 7 – 8 pm at Edogawabashi Gymnasium (to be confirmed)
These practices are free (300 yen entry at Edogawa Gymnasium). Please bring your own hoop. We will refine our group dance, work on duos, and smooth out any tricky bits.
WHD Dance Filming
12/16 (Sunday) 1-3 pm @ Yoyogi Park
One final rehearsal followed by the filming. Wear your favorite hoop costume and bring your hoop.
If you would like to make a donation to World Hoop Day, it will be gratefully accepted. World Hoop Day funds raised in Tokyo will be going to hooping activities with Spark! Circus and the Peace Boat.
For this year's WHD Dance, staying synchronised throughout the choreography is an important point. Here are some tips and notes that I didn't put into the main tutorial videos, but are essential to getting the dance and all the dancers looking their best.
Shot in a little park in the Inner West of Sydney on a sunny Wednesday. Thanks to Julian for loaning me his hoops, which appear as set decoration in this video.
