2013: Grateful for a Wonderful Year!

On New Year's Day 2014, I will embark on another exciting adventure! One that is completely unlike anything I have ever done before. I will be throwing myself into the unknown - living in Nicaragua with a team of 6 other circus and dance performers, doing charity work for 3 months. What a life! I am both excited and nervous at the same time. There is no way I can know what it is I am about to experience, see, feel and learn. There will be inevitable growth from challenges such as living in a country that speaks a different language; living, working, performing, breathing, traveling with the same 6 people for 3 months and exposing myself to Nicaraguan people's lives. Since I will be volunteering for such an extended period of time, I am fundraising to get my accommodations, flight and other expenses covered, you can read about the campaign here. 

Before going on this project with Performers Without Borders, I want to give thanks for such a wonderful year. It really has been nothing short of spectacular. From the gapping cavernous landscape of the Grand Canyon, to the bustle and culture of New York City, the big stage in Las Vegas and then all the way to the Eiffel Tower and Big Ben; I have been fortunate enough to see these places with the love of my life and my other love, my hula hoop!

My year started out with a bang in February when I produced "The Burlesque Circus" a sold out, 2 night show at the Sunset Temple in North Park with my first international headliner Juliette Dragon & Rikkha of Paris. The highlights from Friday night's show can be seen in the video above. Right after the show I visited Bags in Nicaragua where he was doing the same project we're about to start in a few days. You can see an amazing video Bags made about the project here. In May, I had the opportunity to teach and perform at The Spin Summit in Colorado, there was snow on the ground when I arrived! It was another amazing flow retreat that helped the entire flow community soar to higher heights. They already have the dates for 2014, so check them out! Shortly after that is when I found out that my troupe, The Hoop Unit was accepted into the Best Group category of the Burlesque Hall of Fame in Las Vegas! It was a serious milestone and an amazing experience. Watch our performance here. That was what prompted me to start my first official crowd funding campaign. I have learned so much from it! I am currently applying for the solo debut category for BHoF in 2014 and you can see the submission for it here. 

After the Burlesque Hall of Fame in June, I packed everything I own into a small storage unit

BHoF in Vegas!

and set off for a three month road trip across the United States with Bags! We taught in 17 cities, 3 festivals, drove through 29 states, 4 time zones and covered 9,500 miles. We performed in 7 shows and taught 45 workshops to about 400 hoopers! It was the longest running and most vast (in preparation, execution and geographically) project I have ever accomplished and I am extremely proud of myself! So much preparation went into it. Communicating with all of our lovely hosts. Figuring out venues, times, prices, dates, which workshops we were going to teach, setting up payment through my website. Making promotional material, promoting the workshops. Travel logistics, getting my car ready for the journey. I mean, Jeez! It was like nothing I had ever done and there were various points in which I felt I wasn't capable of making the decisions that needed to be made. But I made them, I did my best, and it all turned out alright. I can't explain how grateful I am to the hosts in each city. They really made this project possible. And the amazing hoopers who came out to learn from us! Bags made a really lovely video that you can watch here about our tour and you can see all of the pics here. 

Nothing really went wrong! My car never broke down and we didn't get pulled over once. I am still amazed about that! We hit almost every corner of the states...starting in the Southwest (San Diego) - driving all the way through the south to the Southeast corner (Miami!), up the East Coast all the way to Maine (Northeast corner) and then down through the Midwest to Burning Man and back to Southern California. What an experience! It was such an epic adventure that I can't really articulate the whole thing into words. I tried writing a blog post just about the Tour and have failed, it's a bit daunting to put something like that into a post of readable length! What I would like to do though is to mention one or two highlights from each city we stopped at. 

Grand Canyon Hooping

Los Angeles: Introducing my mom to Bags (and Gail & Emma!), playing in the park that I grew up next to with those 3 lovely UK hoopers.

The Grand Canyon: Walking and driving along the rim of the canyon, stoping at various view points and scrambling out to the farthest point we could get to, realizing Bags and I were scarily on the same page.

Sedona: Hiking up to two peaks in the distance with no trail to follow, and making it to the top! Chocolate Tree Restaurant - delicious vegan food.

Tucson: The beautiful Cirque Roots space, feeling so at home with Britney, Zoe and Stephanie that I wanted to stay there with my new friends, the cactus forest outside the city that looked eerily otherworldly.

Albuquerque: Eating home cooked southwestern chili made by Nicole Evans, jamming in the park, performing with Gilded Cage Burlesque.

Austin: Kim Patty, we love you! I loved teaching Burlesque at the Inner Diva Studio! Swimming at the big swimming hole in town, meeting up with my Irish friend Catriona :)

Miami Hooping!

New Orleans: Driving through a slightly sketchy neighborhood to get to our gig at Siberia with Big Deal Burlesque (they had amazing vegan burgers there), walking around the French Quarter, performing at the House of Blues with Bustout Burlesque (standing ovation!), seeing live washboard playing jazz musicians and saxophonists who got on top of the bar!

Sarasota: Sleeping in a rest area in between Nola and Sarasota because the drive was so long! Going to the drum circle at the beach after our workshop with Bonnie Brown. Thank you Abby Albaum for hosting us as well :)

Lake Worth: Casandra Tanenbaum felt like I had known her forever when I had just met her for the first time :) Driving in a torrential downpour to get there. Swimming in Casandra's pool with Jodi and Jasmin, helping Bags teach his workshop on the beach!

Miami: Having a complete giggle fit in the ocean, Bags in Banana Man pants, making dinner in a parking lot at a park and finishing the cooking right when a tropical rainstorm hits, eating dinner in the car :) Taking epic pictures on the beach for 4th of July and spinning at the park in Lake Worth with Casandra and her flow friends.

Jacksonville: Karma Kream - amazing vegan ice cream!

NY Sunset Skyline

Atlanta: Getting to know sweet Rebecca Deshon better and meeting her husband for the first time, hooping with them both in their basement and going out for delicious vegan food.

Carrboro: Staying in Beth's barn and getting closer with her, feeling such a strong connection and bond with that wonderful woman, drinking beer with Baxter, taking his weekly class, having birthday drinks with Jaguar Mary, eating at Vimilas, spending time with Julia at the FlowJo, hooping in Beth's skirts at the Haw River Ballroom.

Charlottesville: Going to a house party with Anne & Derek, there was a live bluegrass band playing in the living room, getting in their jacuzzi under the stars, walking in their forest backyard, driving to an orchard for a viewpoint of the city.

Washington, DC: Seeing the Lincoln monument and flipping off the White House. 

Bags teaching at R2R

New York: Staying at the Floasis with Tara & Rob, the invention of the 360˚ kiss (Times Square), meeting Evan Davis and his Synth hoops, drinks with Stefan, the Bex and Ali, going to the top of the Standard Hotel, the Met, Coney Island, Pure Food & Wine for my birthday, vegan Dunwell doughnuts and ice cream for birthday breakfast, staying with the lovely Claire de Lux.

Boston: Teaching the best Performance Skills workshop of the whole tour, drinks with Lolli at the lovely after party, finding the vegan food/yoga studio run by a happy family.

Brockton: Spending time with my dad, seeing Theraeu's pond in the rain, hiking and seeing owls and a snake.

Rockland: Walking into Maria's house and laughing hysterically from the combined sense of humor between her, her lovely husband and her wonderful daughter, hoop jam after the first day of workshops, drinks later with Maria, her daughter and Beth, finding the delicious food at the Food Co-Op.

Hooping at Boulder Falls - Photo by Hoopologie

Return to Roots: Epic play sessions, Bags taught Z Spins to practically the whole festival, Justin Aubuchon blew my mind with his beautiful DJ sets, ecstatic dance jam for breakfast on Sunday morning, performing my hoop burlesque act in the show, taking Stefan's performance workshop, teaching hoop burlesque, hanging with Lolli and the Bex in the cargo net, playing with Evan and Matt!

Chicago: Bags explodes with new ideas after flowing with Evan and Matt at R2R, stayed with Emily Perkulator, amazing downtown architecture, the Art Institute, Native Foods vegan dinner, the beach.

Bags in Moab

Madison: Beautiful bike ride through the town with Danielle, the massive and beautiful Madison Circus Space!

St Louis: The City museum (seeing the Circus Harmony show), going to the top of the arch, staying with the lovely Michelle Schaeffer, thank you for hosting us!

Columbia: Spending time with the fam! Hooping with them, jumping on the trampoline,  walking around their farm and finding caves and a vine to swing on, delicious vegan food at Main Squeeze.

Boulder: The Boulder Circus center, spending time with Danielle and Kanyon, hanging out with Cindy Marvel and going to the Boulder Juggling Jam, preparing for Burning Man, performing at Lannie's Clocktower Cabaret in Denver, photo shoots with Melinda of Hoopologie, going to the Identi-tape warehouse.

Moab: Riding bikes through the town, getting stuck in a rain/lighting/thunder storm and having to go under a rock overhang to wait it out with my love, the most beautiful place I have ever been!

Burning Man

Burning Man: Vulcan flow jams, hanging out with our Fire Spinning Squirrel Evan :) The hexayurt palace! Riding bikes and looking at art with my love, running into Allison on Tuesday night, hanging out with Jillian, spinning fire with the UK FireWorks collective in the Great Circle, getting the loudest cheer of my life while in a two high fire hooping, the Spin Cycle Hoop Jam.

Lake Tahoe Flow Arts Festival: Bunking with Emma, Revolva, Marria and Zach, the hot tub, playing games with Zach & Marria, juggling in a two high with the Ninjas, performing in the fire gala show, visiting Christy in her amazing shop Jai Yen.

Well that's it! That was the tour! I think one of the major things I got from it was realizing how epically beautiful some parts of the US are. I think I had this idea in my head that the only place in the US to live is either California or NY. But there were many times when I looked around and thought,"I could live here. I get why people live here." It was good for me. As Mark Twain said, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”

After the tour I got to live with my wonderful friends Matt & Lily. Their house is full of signed photos of

The Time Traveling Circus

Burlesque legends. I got to wake up to look at them every morning :) I got a job working with Life Play Productions teaching kids hoop dance after school every day. It was an incredible learning experience and I truly fell in love with my kids! I also started practicing Spanish everyday to prepare for the Nicaragua trip. I love exercising my brain in this new way. I have wanted to learn Spanish for such a long time and it's ridiculous that I don't know it so it's been the perfect opportunity to teach myself. In September, I was fortunate enough to perform at the New Orleans Burlesque Festival. I gained massive amounts of inspiration from seeing the amazing shows and meeting all of the lovely performers. In October, I produced another sold out show, "The Time Traveling Circus" and hosted a day of workshops (I called it "Find Your FlowDiego") with Caterina Suttin, Revolva, Aileen Lawlor and Tiana Zoumer. It was a dream come true to produce a show with women in it who have really inspired me quite a lot. I also performed a Vampire French Maid Burlesque piece with about 25 women, it was the largest group Burlesque piece I have ever performed in!

Stars of the Orient in Reims, France

In early November I flew to Bristol for Swhoop! Bags & I started working on our first indoor non-fire gala piece for the Saturday night show and put it together in just a few days. We worked our booties off and I really enjoyed performing with him. We also both taught there and took some amazing workshops. After Swhoop I went to Paris and taught a Hoop Burlesque workshop hosted by the amazing Juliette Dragon. Then I went to Reims to teach and perform in Houria's Stars of the Orient Belly Dance Festival. I got to stay with her family in her home and I felt really welcomed into their life. I feel like I gained a new French mother! She really reminded me of my mom - a leader of a big belly dance troupe, teacher, mentor, dancer, performer, organizer and promoter of a large scale event - sound familiar? ;) I also gained a new German best friend, Antje and loved meeting Stella from Greece and two fabulous Ukranian belly dancers, Katerina Golub and Darya Spitsyna.

La Tour Eiffel Amour

Then Bags met me in Paris and we spent a week celebrating our one year anniversary and exploring the city. We stayed with the fabulous Lila Chupa Hoops who also hosted us to teach a Partner Hooping Workshop in Paris. After Paris went straight to Brighton to spend time with Jo & Andy and for Bags to teach at the Brighton Flow Fest. We had my favorite UK day ever that consisted of walking around the countryside and along the seaside, mulled cider and chips in a pub, cooking vegan pizza and watching the Dr Who 50th anniversary special live. After Brighton we went down to Portsmouth to play with Sally Cox and her new baby Violet. We taught a huge Partner Hooping Workshop there. After that we were all over the UK - Reading (Samantha Peel), Sheffield (Charlie Ledger), Manchester (Cathy Mizula), Birmingham (Julia Hurley) and London (Anna Hulagan). Staying with Samantha Peel in her home with her beautiful family was one of my highlights. I loved teaching the Partner Hooping Workshop at their Steiner School in the community room. There was something about the chemistry between Bags and I as teachers and the vibe of the carefree students, it was one of my favorite workshops I've ever taught! Samantha's lovely family life in the countryside made me think that having one of my own wont be such a bad idea one day :) We also performed and taught for the kids at the Steiner school, one of my favorite parts of the trip! Thank you to all of our hosts in the UK & France! We loved coming to visit you!

The Millenium Eye in London

Since then Bags and I have been working on videos, putting new routines together, preparing for Nicaragua, practicing Spanish and spending time with family/friends for the holidays. We have also officially joined forces at Twisted Orbit! You can see the video Bags made for me at Troopers Hill in Bristol below. This video shows some of the new moves I have acquired this year. 2013 really has been a year of leveling up my skills within the hoop! I have started juggling - performed it for the first time passing 6 hoops with Bags at the Swhoop show. I bought my first pair of clubs. I started performing with 4 hoops - nailed the box and 2 hoops on each arm and I'm still solidifying my 4 hoop split. I've also started performing acrobatic hoop moves with Bags. I believe that the Nicaragua project will continue push me in these new areas of performance. 

Some more lovely people I got to work with this year also include Sassy Stiletto and Lizzie L'amour of Bourbon Dames Burlesque, Lola Demure of Demure Productions and Mynx D'Meanor of the Fishnet Follies Burlesque Revue. 

I want to express my gratitude to everyone who has made my 2013 so amazing. I hope we can continue to play, dance, perform and grow together in 2014 and beyond! I can't wait to see what the new year has in store for us. THANK YOU!






   

The Courage to Ask for Help, Counting Your Blessings & Diving Into the Unknown

The Courage to Ask for Help

As I sit on the brink of my biggest dreams and projects getting ready to unfold, I reflect. 2013 is almost half way over! Wow, that went fast. Pretty much all of my 2013 has been spent in anticipation of this moment. Or the moment I'm about to experience actually, The Burlesque Hall of Fame in Vegas and my US Tour with Bags. I have been planning, organizing, promoting, creating, communicating, working and dreaming about this tour since December of last year. 6 months in the oven! This project has been baking real good :) And it's about to be ready for consumption! It's the oddest feeling to about to be doing something you've spent the last 6 months thinking about. I just want the next few weeks to happen already!

They are going to zip by! I know it! In about a week I will be driving out to Vegas with 3 amazing women to compete in the Best Group Category at the Burlesque Hall of Fame. We are SO excited! We have been working extremely hard to get ready for this. I launched a crowd-funding campaign to help us afford this expensive endeavor, and we made our goal! Thank you to everyone who contributed or helped spread the word about our campaign! It was the first time I have launched such a project and I have to say it was an amazing experience. It made me think about the concept of asking for help. It's hard to ask for help. I know I struggle with it. Something inside me tells me I'm supposed to seem as if I can do everything, all of it, on my own. That's just craziness! That mixed with my own notion of...if it's going to be done right, I have to do it myself. Silly! I watched Amanda Palmer's Ted talk "The Art of Asking" and was so inspired by her courage to ask for help. That video is definitely worth a watch! 

Not only did I put myself out there in a new way to ask for help financially with BHoF, I have also asked dozens of hoopers to help us with our tour. We will be hosted in about 20 different cities this summer! That is a lot of hosts! I have hosted countless hoopers over the years in San Diego and I have also been hosted in Canada and the UK. I know what it takes to host a touring workshop instructor, it's no small feet! Organizing the space rental, spreading the word to your local hoop community and managing sign-ups. Hard work but totally worth it! I wrote a blog post on The Hoop Hub about the benefits of hosting and taking workshops from out of town hoop instructors. It brings in outside inspiration, grows your community, creates a bond within your community, generates revenue and allows the host to network and pay it forward. 

I hope that my Indiegogo Campaign as well as my tour has inspired you to have the courage to ask for help! Sometimes dreams are so big that they take the greater community to manifest. I know that both of these impending projects are bigger than any other dream I have attempted to bring to fruition. That's why they required collaboration on a larger scale. Dream big! Ask for help! One of the most satisfying things I do in my life is help people's dreams of performance come true. I alter people's life-paths by providing empowering performance opportunities, and it feels great!

Counting Your Blessings

On the news with The Hoop Unit as 1950s hula hoopers

April might have been one of my most exciting months to date! I got to do a few gigs with Anahata at the Figueroa Hotel in downtown LA, taught some awesome hoopers private lessons (including Kana from Japan!), The Hoop Unit performed at Lucidity Festival, I was flown to the Bay Area to perform at the Vaudeville Festival in Tracy, CA, I performed on a yacht for The High Seas Tease, Ninja Hoops from Oakland came to town for workshops AND we were featured on San Diego Living's morning news show to talk about Hooping as a tool for health. Whew! 

The Hoop Unit at Lucidity!

Lucidity was amazing! Our performances were different than any I have ever experienced. We were slated to do a renegade performance of our new Space routine at the main stage in the middle of the crowd at midnight on Friday night. Earlier that evening we looked at the main stage and wondered how we were going to work our way into that massive crowd! We were certain people would give us room when they saw a dozen girls all in the same spacey outfit coming through with glow hoops. We got ready and rehearsed a few times at our camp. Even that caused a scene! This routine is different because it isn't set strictly to music with counts like all of the other numbers I've choreographed in the past. It has a lot of partner work that's more loose. We set off from our camp as a caterpillar (each person's hoop looped on top of the person in front of her) and snaked our way over to the main stage. I was in the front and waved our train all over the place! The reactions we got from people were amazing! When we got to the main stage just after midnight, the music was off! Turns out the person who booked us forgot the music ended at midnight, duh! Well we didn't let that stop us! We set up and did our whole routine anyway and allowed a crowd to form around us. It was interactive and spontaneous. I loved it! We did the same thing a few more times in various places around the festival. Pretty much wherever we felt like...at a silent disco (people all wearing headphones listening to the same music), at the Spin Cycle camp, etc. I am usually performing on a stage and it is very planned out. This was the exact opposite! It is so nice to have opportunities to switch it up every so often!

Performing at the Vaudeville Festival in Tracy, CA

One of my favorite shows I have EVER done was at the Grand Theater in Tracy, CA for their Vaudeville Festival w/ the Fishnet Follies Burlesque Revue. It was in a huge, beautiful original theater from the 1920's! The stage was amazing, the cast was epic and the show was spectacular. I really enjoyed being surrounded by such beautiful Burlesque stars in a venue that was truly worthy and deserving of our talent! The night that I arrived in my hotel room, after driving from the airport in my rental car (all of which was provided by the festival who hired us) - I laid in bed and counted my blessings. I was feeling so grateful! I thanked everything that I could think of. I started with the things that were closest to me and the gig I was doing. Thanking Mynx, the festival organizers, etc. then I started moving outward and thanked everything in my head that I could think of, getting as far away as the moon, stars, mother earth, trees...everything! Naming them all off in my head. Thank you "fill in the blank." I can't stress enough how important it is to carry gratitude with you through your daily life! It is the only way to move forward.

The High Seas Tease

The High Seas Tease was definitely one for the books! I danced with my snake, Manasa as well as performed my 4 hoop routine. It is the first time I have done a summersault on a moving yacht while hooping on my foot :) I am always up for a challenge and I love firsts! The Bourbon Dames Burlesque will be producing another amazing event on June 7th at Sunset Temple: Rack of Ages. I am really looking forward to performing to one of my favorite Pink Floyd songs. It's one that I have wanted to dance to for years! Don't miss it!

Ninja Hoops came to San Diego to teach 2 days of amazing hoop workshops! Wow! My brain was all full and melty. I loved it! Thanks to Zach and Marria from Oakland for making the trek down to teach us your amazingness!

Ninja Hoops Workshop in San Diego

The weekend after Ninja Hoops were in town, I went to Colorado to participate in the Spin Summit. This was my second year teaching and performing. It was a really good time for reflection because that event last year was the start of my huge self-initiated life change. I got to sleep in the same exact bed I slept in last year and think about  all that I have experienced since then. I got to compare my current self with my past self. Something I noticed was how much more comfortable I feel inside myself. I am so much more ready to be me. And nothing else. No one else. Just me. I also feel much more empowered within my potential as a hooper and circus artist. I have grown a lot as a hooper in the last year. I can feel how much I have pushed myself to grow. 

Diving Into the Unknown
I like details. I thrive on organizing and planning them out. Something about my tour that is both scary and exhilarating is how unfathomable it is. I can't fathom all of the details. It will be for 3 months and it will mostly be in places I have never been. There is A LOT of unknown factors. No matter what I do now to prepare as best as I can, there is no way I can know everything. I'm freaked out and excited at the same time. I think this must be the reason I'm doing this. I'm in a phase of my life where I am pushing myself into the unknown, the uncomfortable, the unfathomable. I think if you're not scaring yourself, you're not really living your life to the fullest. Scare yourself. Just a little bit. Get out of your comfort zone and grow! I am also pushing myself into a place of discovery about what I really "need" to survive. Putting everything back in storage, and packing up only enough for a 3 month adventure in a car is going to put the idea of "need" into perspective!

What's Coming Up!
Rack of Ages - June 7th at Sunset Temple

Bags is coming to teach!

More info: http://rackofages.eventbrite.com/

Show Variete - June 7th at Queen Bee's
More Info: http://queenbeessd.com/

Del Mar Fair Performance - June 9th at the Del Mar Fair
More info HERE

Double Hoop Workshop w/ Bags in San Diego! - June 13th at Dance Place San Diego, 7-9pm, $40
More info: http://unityhoops.com/events/bags-uk-hoop-workshop-san-diego

OB Spin Jam and Farewell Party! - June 14th at the Saratoga Greens in OB
More info HERE

UK Hoopers Invade LA - June 15th at Fred Astaire Dance Studio in Pasadena w/ Bags, Kenna Hoops & Gail O'Brien
More info: http://unityhoops.com/events/uk-hoopers-invade-la

The Power of Play

I love these Juggling jesters :)

As I think about my England trip, (yes I am STILL thinking about it...it had that much of a profound effect on me) I think about what else I want to write about. I already talked about some of my favorite experiences from the first couples weeks in my last post, but haven't really touched on the rest of the trip. There is so much more to share!

One of the main things I think I gained from the experience is a new outlook on how I want to structure my life...and my time. What's important to me? I think that my value system has shifted slightly. That's why we travel, right? New perspectives on life...stuff like that :) 

I am a Type-A personality, I have a slight case of the overachiever syndrom. This can be both a good and a bad thing! I have been taught from a young age how important it is to work hard. Do good in school, and do so by working hard. Study, spend time, read. Reap the benefits of that hard work! It can be rewarding! I have transfered this approach into my daily life and into my business. Self-employment means that you do have to work hard, very hard. Especially in the industry that I am in. A self-proclaimed performer and teacher in the circus/dance arts seems like a fun route, but it is not always the easiest. As a self-employed entrepreneur, you can ALWAYS be working. There is always something you can be doing for your business. I think I have allowed myself to get sucked into that and have put too much importance on spending time being productive. Sounds silly but it's true. I can be my own worst critic and I can really push myself, sometimes too much. 

Playful Bags at the beach!

Being in England and having free time to JUST PLAY showed me how important playtime is. Playtime is just as important as productive time! Lots of my days in Bristol consisted of spending hours in the practice space at Bags, Nick and Gail's house. I did have some obligations like workshops on the weekends and a couple shows, but for the most part I had more free time than I usually allow myself to have in San Diego. I felt myself grow tremendously. Not only did my hooping skills grow, my psyche was bursting with freedom. No constraints! Having such an amazing play partner around like Bags didn't hurt either. The balance between play and work is super important! It has been so easy for me to get wrapped up in the work side of things, I think I forgot how important it is to play!

When I was learning to juggle, I experienced a meditative state that I had never felt before. I was able to have an out-of-body experience where I could look into my own brain and see my thought process pathways. Whoa! Nothing like that had happened before! I think I haven't given myself proper meditation time up until now. A similar thing happened when I went to my friend Monica Grave's meditation class last week. It was my first structured meditation experience. I was able to see what I think about! Having a mantra to continue to repeat in your head allows you to see what your thinking about that's NOT the mantra. So funny. I actually kind of laughed at myself when I thought about what it is my mind wanders when left to it's own devices. A lot of it was about hooping, some of it was about guilty pleasures like fashion, clothes and costuming. I'm such a girl! Definitely some worries, insecurities and anxieties came to the surface too. I think meditation, weither it be through movement or not, is a good way to see what your voices are telling you in your head. Awareness is the first way to stop some of the negative ones.  

Playfulness with 2 of my besties :)
WHD, Nov 2011

Well the reason I finally did start writing this blog post today (I have been putting it off until it felt like the right moment) is because I am so blissed out from my day. I spent about 4 hours hooping and juggling on the grass at the end of Saratoga in OB. I nailed some super tricky tricks I've been working on. Finally stuck the foot hooping headstand! YEAH!!! I do also feel like I am officially a hoop juggler. Got it on lock down! Also feeling solid on a couple 4 hoop tricks. Today in between my little mini training/flowing sessions, I found myself just dancing and jumping up and down. Literally I was just jumping around. For no reason at all. Well I guess there was a reason...purely for the sake of joy. PURE JOY! WOW endorphins are the best drug in the world! Thank the goddess who invented endorphins. They rock!

So my current outlook, mantra, mission, power-word, whatever you want to call it...is PLAY. Another concept I am really feeling right now is collaboration. Collaborating with a partner or with groups of people, many people...to make something bigger than what you can do on your own. The power of collaboration is most evident to me right now because of all of the partner circus fun I've been having lately. Partner poi, partner juggling/passing, partner hooping - GROUP hooping! Yes it's possible and I have been playing with some super rad group hoop awesomeness (a la Bags) with my troupe. I really love the feeling of partner work in circus, it's addicting. To have that connection with someone else, get on the same wavelength, the same rhythm as someone else. It's magic. Especially with hoops!   

Hooping Headstand!

I dedicated today to me! I carved out the whole day to do things that are fun and that, in itself, is productive. I am building the skill of play. I am building skills in hooping, in bonding with others and in nourishing myself. Nourishing myself with things that I enjoy and that feel good. It's important! It makes me happy and makes my work better if I'm happy while I'm doing it.  

HERE's a video my friend Ringo made about Flow.

Halfway Through my UK Tour: The Gift of Breakthroughs

Giant's Causeway Hooping

I am not even halfway through my UK workshop tour adventure and I am already reeling! Soaking it all in. Feeling the inspiration and new environment do it's thing in my brain. My body is constantly sore, I am sleep deprived (insomnia is a bitch when life's exciting), I have been living out of a suitcase for months and spending LOTS of time in airports, buses, trains and taxis. But it's worth it. Sooo worth it.

This trip has allowed me to surrounded myself with people that truly inspire me. People that are artistically and creatively pushing the envelope. I look around and see absolute rockstars and marvel in any possibility that I could complain about my life. Ever. Again. 

This realization of sublime gratitude came when taking pictures and shooting a hooping video at the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland with such badasses as Gail O'Brien, Revolva, Tiana Zoumer and Catherine Simpson. 

Giant's Causeway Rocks

The Giant's Causeway is a beautiful and unique natural land formation on the Northern Irish coast. There is a story that is was created by an Irish giant who wanted to battle a Scottish giant so he started building a "causeway" or road to Scotland. It is actually created by a specific dance between the ocean, rock and moving tectonic plates. 

We hooped on the hexagon shaped rocks and I vowed to remember the moment with fondness forever. There really never should be a reason to feel disappointed with life after you've hooped with epic legends in such a beautiful, naturally dramatic place. Check out the video HERE! And HERE are all of the pictures from my whole 6 week trip.

Even the people working there were keen on the whole thing! We walked up with our hoops and they were instantly interested, asking us if we would perform on the Visitor Center stage for a tour group. For a modest fee of a free entrance into see the Causeway (only £8.50!) we rocked out for the tourists and the staff. They loved it. That kind of thing would never happen at home! America is too afraid of law suits.

My Hoop Burlesque Workshop at SWHoop!

Before venturing to Ireland, I was fortunate enough to teach and perform at SWHoop in Bristol. That event and it's organizer, Kenna Hoops of Hooping Mad, is one of the main reasons I came out to tour the UK! SWHoop was pivotal for me on many different levels. I learned SO much! Friday's highlights include nailing an epic new double foot hooping move thanks to Karin de Wit who was featured on "Holland's Got Talent." I also taught a Hoop Burlesque workshop and some of the ladies (including Tiana Zoumer!) from the class joined me on stage later that night for the informal open stage show. It was the first time some of them had ever performed! Saturday night was the teacher showcase and might have been the best Hoop-based show I have ever been in. The variety and level of talent was mind blowing! HERE is the video of my Belly Hoop Fusion piece. After the show, the Bristol Samba Band brought dozens of drummers and intense, amazing beats for LED hoopers and dancers to get down to! It was the best after-show party I have ever experienced. There was so much energy realized from the show and sometimes it can be hard to channel that after-show energy. The samba band harnessed it wonderfully and everyone at SWHoop danced and hooped like crazy! I danced my ass off!

This is not my first group wedding! 

That night it became clear that I need to create my own Southern California Hoop Gathering. It's something I've wanted to do for a while now. It's on my "Long Term Goals List" and I think it's now going to shift onto the "Short Term Goals List". I'm going to make it happen with the next year or so! The community that Emma created is inspiring and the way she leads it is selfless and admirable. I can't wait to bring that project into fruition. There are surely important challenges and satisfaction the experience will bring.

Sunday morning at SWHoop, I taught a Belly Dance workshop and then landed myself in a 6 way all-woman marriage including Gail, Revolva, Zoe, Beth, Catherine and myself :) Emma married us and Bags gave us away. If that doesn't scream dysfunctional family, I don't know what does! Something I really cherish about the UK Hoopers is their lack of seriousness. They are not afraid to try new things or be absolutely silly. Sometimes it seems like they have less holding them back than we do at home... 

I am not sure I have ever laughed so hard! So much laughter-medicine on this trip :) 

4 Hoop Split after Revolva's workshop in Dublin

I have also had some truly amazing hooping breakthroughs on this trip. I have unlocked moves that I have wanted to get for years and some I didn't even know were possible! For weeks, every time I picked up a hoop I nailed something new and absolutely epic...hooping headstand, the 4 hoop split, the fountain, juggling...the list goes on! 

I owe it all to the change of scenery, the amazingly inspiring and talented company I have been keeping and the ability to spend time honing my craft. At home it is easy to focus on other aspects of my career - the business end. Organizing, promoting, producing events, teaching, making hoops. It has been awhile since I have given myself time to just practice. Practice for the sake of practicing. I am going to give myself time to continue training at home. I want to re-focus and allow myself to really level up :) If you ever find a plateau in your hooping practice, I suggest traveling. Just putting yourself in a completely new environment is enough to open new passageways in your brain and your body. 

There is so much more to share about this trip that another blog post is on the way!

The Teachings of Thailand

The BLISS of Tonsai on my face 

I am processing a whirlwind of adventure. An opening of the heart and the mind. A reintroduction to myself and the world. A reintroduction to life. A new outlook and fresh mindset. A renewed sense of faith in myself, humanity and mother nature.

Sounds like Burning Man, right? Well, this year my Burning Man was Thailand. All of Thailand was unforgettable but Tonsai (a unique place in the South where dramatic limestone cliffs meet the calm, flat, light blue ocean water) especially struck a cord in my heart and will forever leave an imprint on my soul. I will always be a burner. The playa goes with me everywhere I go. I mean, I'm a hula hooper for a living! If that doesn't scream Burning Man I don't know what does! I am glad, however, that I have opened myself up to other types of adventures. I have made San Diego my home, the playa is definitely my home and now so is Tonsai. I plan to actually make it my home at some point. I am already devising plans to live there :)

Sunset in Pai

I learned a lot in Thailand. Some lessons I learned were not new. But they obviously deserved rediscovery. About a week into the trip I fell while driving a motorbike in the rain. The roads were wet, the bike was in poor condition and I was having too much fun, clearly! A very nice Thai man drove me to the hospital where I was cleaned up and bandaged, given antibiotics and pain meds for about $11. Wow! That was part impressive. The rest was traumatic, painful and scary. I'm almost healed now! Just more battle-wounds for this temporary vessel we call our bodies. It occurred to me how everything can change in an instant. One second you're riding through life having a blast and the next you're a bloody, crying mess. Then you have to slow down. Slow way down. That's what I did. I was forced into a vacation from my vacation. I rested a lot. I slept. Read. Made friends. Hung out in hammocks and enjoyed staring at the Pai landscape.

Coconuts everyday!

I am humbled. 

I had an interesting epiphany about my life in San Diego. Traveling so far from home gave me a different perspective and new appreciation for my daily life. In San Diego, I am surrounded by support, love and admiration. It was hard at times (especially while I was healing from my motorbike accident) to be constantly meeting new people. I really missed my tribe! Luckily I had Leeloo with me :) When you're traveling (just like at Burning Man), no one knows who you are at home. You can be anyone you want to be! You can make up a new name for yourself, a whole new identity even! This anonymity made me appreciate everything that I have in San Diego in a whole new way. All of the friends, family, love, supportive community and inspiration that I have in my everyday life. Wow! I am truly blessed! It's funny how leaving home makes you realize what you love about home so much.  

I also realized that it is possible for me to have more than one home on this beautiful planet. It's ok to feel like you belong or you came from more than one place on Earth. Oh Tonsai!  Tonsai gave me some of the most potent natural highs I have ever felt. They came from the intense natural beauty, the rock climbing endorphines and the people. All of it made me write my version of poetry...

Hello Paradise!

I am a mermaid
I am a lion
I am One
I am one with the universe
Every one of my cells is connected to every cell in the entire universe
Every plant, animal, water, rock, grain of sand, insect
Intoxicated with Love
High on Nature
Blissfully Happy

The first day I discovered Pra Nang beach (next to Tonsai) I had what felt like a psychedelic experience while I was completely sober. I was high on nature! I kayaked to the beach with some new traveler friends. We climbed to the top of an epic cave that looked back onto the almost deserted beach. It was low tide so I was able to walk around a rock that jutted into the ocean and find a tiny little private patch of sand. Completely untouched and hidden. The little beach was at a perfect natural slant for reclining. I laid down in the sand and looked up at the limestone stalactites hanging down over my head. I rolled around in the sand as the waves lapped over my body. I couldn't stop saying, "I am One. I am One with the Universe" over and over in my head. I swam out into the extremely salty, warm, clear blue turquoise water and floated on my back looking up. The large, colorful stalactites hung over me as I lay in the ocean and let the water drops falling from the stalactites land on my face. This was one of the most beautiful moments of my life. I will never forget it!

Stalactites over the ocean

Not only did Tonsai show me a whole new understanding of the concept Unity (universal connectedness), a concept that I obviously feel strongly about, it also showed me how many other amazing skills there are to master in this life! I love to challenge myself. Especially physically. I have attempted pretty much every circus and dance skill that is somewhat accessible to me. Never have I tried rock climbing and I had no idea I was going to love it so much. Man, is it a rush! A huge challenge too. On so many levels...physically and mentally. I was lucky enough to meet some pretty fabulous people in Tonsai who introduced me to this new hobby. All I want to do it get better at it! Part of me is overwhelmed by all of the "things" I have already set out to master but part of me is telling myself there is time. There is time for everything that I make important. So this is a new important obsession. Yay! The other one is slack lining. The locals in Tonsai are some of the most epic slack liners and rock climbers I have ever witnessed. These people grew up walking on tightropes and rocks, like it ain't no thang. It's so cool. They spin fire poi, staff and juggle fire on the slack line! I was beyond impressed! I didn't see anyone fire hoop on the slack line so that's another new challenge I have set for myself. Create a slack line-burlesque routine as well as master slack line-fire hooping! Woot! I can do it! I can do anything I set my sights on! And so you can YOU!

Rock climbing w/ Laura's help!

There was a crazy rainstorm for a couple days while we were in Tonsai. It reminded me of the dust storms at Burning Man because it made you run for shelter no matter where you were or who you were with. It forced you to make new friends and get drunk in the middle of the afternoon, for lack of anything else to do :) More poetry...

Everything is wet
Breathing in the beauty
Absorbing and reflecting it
Breathing in the green
Lush and drippy
Giant leaves
Jungle love

I am in love with all of the new friends I made in Thailand. Interesting, open-minded people who I hope to see again someday. I had intellectually stimulating conversations about modern gender roles with a mixed group of people from Iran, Austria, Germany and America. I got to know some of the nicest Canadians ever (of course!) and lots of Australians who were way too much fun :) Connecting, laughing, playing, learning, admiring and sharing with each other. Leela and I hooped everywhere we went! We hooped in the hostels, the bars, the beaches and even at the temples. We taught locals and travelers alike how to hoop :) There will be a Thailand Hooping Video coming your way soon! Singapore performance pictures can be found HERE and our travel pictures are HERE.

Amazing new friends!

More highlights from Thaiand include: street food (all of the food!), tropical fruit shakes, Oh wait...just the tropical fruit in general! fresh coconuts to drink everyday, Thai massages that cost $7, tuk-tuks, the Sunday market in Chiang Mai, Thai cooking school, riding motorbikes (on the left side of the road) up to the Doi Suthep in Chiang Mai, thunder and lightning storms, rainbows everyday, ocean sunsets, waterfalls, the Pai canyon, fireflies, monkeys, SpicyPai and Kit, Julie's Guesthouse, Mama's Chicken, painting each other with neon paint because it was the full moon, Chang beer, lots of spliffs, beautiful seashells, Toffee & his band, Maxi...all the Tonsai locals actually...Bao and Lai and Zero and Yoni and Dee...the Sunset Pirate Bar, the Sawadee Bar, the owners and family at Pasook, holding Leela's hand hanging in hammocks in Pai and getting closer with her than ever before, laughing with her and going through a lot together, OMB (Oh My Buddha!), Boom!, "Shake, Shake...Shake Everyday", "Why not?", Same Same but Different, kayaking, hooping with the ocean as my partner, Ben and his infectious enthusiasm :) Thai reggae, and the kitties everywhere!  

LED Hooping at the Singapore Grand Prix

We left our bungalow made out of palm trees on the beach and went to Singapore to perform at the Grand Prix. We were put up in a fancy 5 star hotel and the woman at the front desk actually asked me if I wanted someone to carry our backpacks to the room! I had to laugh. Coming from hippie-land and ending up there was quite the change. What a gig! The most amazing one I have ever done. There is no question about that! People carrying all of my props for me and my own private dressing room?! Yes please! So spoiled! The event was HUGE! Thousands of people, bands, DJs, art, other entertainers, stages and of course the races zipping through the streets of Singapore constantly. I performed 3-5 sets a day so pretty much one Fire/LED set per hour for 5 hours. It was hard work because it was super humid and extremely hot! Lots of fun though! People loved it, I loved it :) It was win-win. Jovi was our assistant/helper the whole time and we loved him! So sweet and really on it. On the last day we had a longer break and walked around the event for an hour or so. What a bizzare experience! The races were so loud we had to wear ear plugs just to walk around. Then we couldn't really communicate with each other so we just gave each other weird faces and laughed a lot. Damn it was sweaty there!

Fire Hooping at the Singapore Grand Prix

Now I am looking forward to producing a Day of the Dead themed show on Nov 3rd, teaching and performing in San Francisco Oct 19th weekend and then touring England & Ireland in Nov-Dec. More soon. Thank you. Thank you for reading this, being in my life and inspiring me to continue to do what I do. Thank you universe. Gratitude!