This is Maru, the “on beyond smart hoop” that Chris Wang of Freaklabs has been working on. It’s version 1. Version 2 is already in the lab with a tinier logic and power supply:
Chris watched the Maru video above and decided to switch from slow software serial to faster hardware serial to eliminate glitches during heavy data transfers like fading. So he made a new board right after our meeting yesterday, and explains, “Here’s a shot of the new logic and power supply circuit for Maru. The power supply IC is tiny now so it heats up quickly. I’m going to have to figure out how to dissipate the heat. Otherwise, logic gating works fine. It’ll be nice to be able to use hardware SPI. Software serial is so flaky.” He made a video in the lab of the faster acting updates
This video has a rather long history. It started when the Japan Hoop Dance Championship was announced in spring of 2013. I passionately dislike contests, but I wanted to support Ayumi’s project, so I devised an entry based on one of my favourite ska songs, Every Day is Sunday by The Slackers. Then I read the rules more carefully – no editing!
Well, I was still up for the challenge of hooping to ska. It’s super bouncy music and the traditional ska dance movements aren’t ideal for on-body hooping or many fancy tricks. Dancing to ska is full of abandon. Hooping to this song led to a lot of joyful, gawky gyrations. I kept the tricks to a minimum, focussed on dance, practiced a lot, and still ended up looking like I’d just learned to hoop. Yay, me!
During Guru-guru Camp on Niijima in May, Rob & Tod helped me shoot the video. Rob & I scouted the location in the windy, grey dawn capturing some pre-coffee footage, By afternoon the sun had come out for some beautiful blue sky shots.
Although I’d been practicing singing the last line of the song backwards for the final scene, I wasn’t happy with the results, so I kept my mouth closed as we shot the bit in the water. Good thing, since I concussed myself in the outgoing tide.
It was worth it, though. I love this video, wonky moves, windy mistakes, B-roll and all. It helps me remember that every tomorrow’s Monday.
Greetings and salutations to hoopers around the world! Wishing you all the hoopy best from Japan.
World Hoop Day is a good time to reflect on your hooping and connection to the global community. Here at Spin Matsuri, we are thinking about events and activities for 2014. Here are some of the questions we’re asking; maybe you’d like to share your ideas?
How did I participate in my local hoop community this year?
What have I done in the global hoop community?
In the coming year, what events will I attend in my area? Outside my area? Online?
What events do I wish to host/organise?
How will my hoop and I contribute to society in the next 12 months?
Thank you to everyone who joined me for workshops at Flow Camp over the weekend. Hello Hoop Dance, Ideas for Group Choreo, Hajimete Hoop, and the WHD Dance workshop were well attended. I had a great time teaching and sharing all weekend.
Nine participants in the WHD Dance workshop performed the dance for an audience of about 100 people during the open stage on Sunday night. Four of those dancers had just started hooping that morning, so congratulations on your hoop dance debut!
Tokyo won the bid to host the summer Olympics in 2020. What does this mean for our hoop community?
First of all, we can attend the rhythmic gymnastics events on August 5-7 and cheer on our hoop sisters. Inspiration!
Secondly, we might not be hooping in city parks for the duration of the event. We’ll have to hold July’s 4th Sunday Spin somewhere else in 2020. Yoyogi, Ueno, and Hibiya parks are all slated to host “live sites” with video feeds for people to watch events for free. What this means will happen our favorite park during and after the event, I don’t know because the plans don’t specify. I hope it is nothing permanent.
Finally, I think we ought to form a hoop troupe to perform either near the venue areas (special performance like that is in the plans) or in the Opening Ceremony itself. That sounds terrifically fun. Get in touch if you are interested.
Last week, I kicked off a new project with Chris Wang of Freaklabs. Chris is a wireless expert and does the electronics for the Wrecking Crew Orchestra costumes. He and I are working together on a programmable LED hoop. This hoop will be beyond smart. I am beyond excited; this is the hoop I have been waiting for since I first saw LED hoops.
This is a hoop for performers. For hoop troupes. For soloists. For circus acts. For any sort of choreographed hoop event with a soundtrack. You will pre-program the hoop to your musical score. You will be able to set lights and patterns to any MP3 you wish, giving each hoop in your troupe a unique routine or making them all the same. They will synch wirelessly to the controller so when it comes time to perform, you press play on the computer which starts the music and the hoops’ instructions.
Chris is working on a prototype over the summer. The plan is that the hoops will use 50/50 LED ribbons and LiOn 14500 batteries. The wireless control boards are designed to fit inside tubing with a 15mm (5/8″) ID. The LED ribbons have 50 color and pattern options. Of course all of this is subject to change – it’s a plan and plans can morph.
We’ll spend a few months with the prototype working out bugs and physical issues. A hoop takes a lot of hits (literally), acceleration, and torque as its used. We want to make sure it isn’t going to flake out mid-show.
I’m planning to use this year’s WHD Dance as my test choreo. I can see in my mind’s eye how programmable hoops can enhance the dance by changing color on key movements, turning off and on to spotlight dancers, sequencing across a formation, and giving the audience an extra spark of interest and excitement.
The coolest thing is that once we’ve gotten everything to spec, tested the hoops, tried out the programming, and are sure it works they way we want, Chris will release the designs open source so you can make your own. And maybe, just maybe, there will be kits or pre-made hoops for purchase.
The Japan Hoopdance Championship showcases Japan-based hoopers in three categories: soloists, groups, and kids. Voting is open to the public – from anywhere in the world – through June 17. Please join in with your vote.
There are so many ways to work out choreography. Sometimes I listen to the music and visualise the dance. Sometimes I count out beats. I use the lyrics to suggest motions.
Today I have spread out all of my dance movement cards and sorted through my hoop trick cards to create the foundation of a dance. I like doing this because it ensures that I don’t repeat myself too much. You know how easy it is to fall back on the dozen moves you love most. While repetition feels great during practice, it’s not meant for an audience. It’s not so interesting to see the vortex again and again…and again.
With cards on the floor, I find it easy to move things around, add and subtract ideas, and rearrange the structure for a better fit with the music. When I start dancing, I can peek at the cards to see if I have got all the bits I wanted. Sometimes I add more. I even hand-write new cards if I discover a missing trick or add some new movement concept.
The dance pictured is about a relationship: meeting, wooing, winning, arguing, leaving. The choreography fits the music, but the exact details aren’t decided yet. Cartwheel? In my dreams. Perhaps not in this dance.
This choreo will be my entry for the Japan Hoopdance Championship. Video entries are due by the end of the month and the contest is open to all hoopers who live in Japan (and are available to perform on October 19th, 2013 if they win). There are categories for solo, group and children. This is an unprecedented contest in Japan; please consider making an entry!
During the “High-Low Hoop Dance” workshops I taught at GGC, we played a game using action verbs to create more varied body movement in our hoop dance. This video shows the dynamic sequences that our hoopers created using the prompts.
All the details of the Hoop DANCE Game, including ways to play the game and a list of the 64 dance verbs, are in the FREE STUFF section for you to enjoy.
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.
