A very large number of us in the Flow Arts world interact and communicate with each other in visual form, specifically through videos. I think quite a lot of us dream of a really professional setup with a top of the line camcorder or DSLR, a well-lit studio, and extensive production facilities.

For the past three months we’ve explored the Flow Arts in a myriad of different ways, from its history to the culture surrounding it and the different ways people participate in it. I hope you’ve learned something in this series--it’s been a lot of fun to write and produce. There’s a lot of open and unanswered questions, but the biggest one I’m interested in is this: if we know where we’re at and where we’ve come from, where are we ultimately going?

The Flow Arts are a fun pastime that allow people be creative while connecting to other people with the same passion, but do they have any additional benefits to the people who practice them?

Today, we’re going to talk about the health effects of the Flow Arts, good and bad, and what that means for the people who practice them.

I get asked on a not infrequent basis to create videos teaching prop spinners how to add more dance into their work. It’s really flattering, not the least of which because from where I’m sitting I’m a pretty mediocre dancer, but it’s also a really massive challenge. Learning how to dance is without a doubt the single hardest thing I’ve learned in my adult life and part of what makes it so hard is that it really can’t be taught as a step-by-step process unlike many other things I’ve learned in my life.

Last week we talked a bit about the concept of “flow” as it pertains to the Flow Arts. This week we’re going to talk about a concept that is sometimes considered to be the flip side of that coin: tech spinning. This is the place where the geeks and obsessives hang out, so if you’re into math, science, or even just deep rabbit holes, this is the place for you!

Normally I review props and the like, but there’s a new company that’s started up with a really unique niche. It’s the brainchild of Kassandra Morrison, who’s a super talented hooper and juggler and she’s started a company producing travel bags for props.

Flow. It represents both a cornerstone of our art as well as one of its most controversial topics. Though many of us in the Flow Arts hold it as a core value, we frequently disagree on what exactly it means and how relevant it is to what we do. We’re going to talk a little bit about the concept of flow and what it means to us as prop spinning artists.

This year's FLAME Festival featured an awesome performance stage brought by Incendia and EVOL KID Media featuring an awesome video setup that included a drone! Here's the performance I delivered on that stage Saturday night at FLAME! 

Fire festival season is officially in swing so I thought I’d share with you what I’ve learned about something that pops up a lot as we’re going from place to place--and that’s how best to fly with your fire props. I've written on this topic before when it comes to poi, but I've learned a lot in the years since that post and can now apply many of those lessons more generally to other tools.

The Flow Arts are a hobby that most people find to be utterly intoxicating and love to immerse themselves in. One of the ways we explore this art is through weekend-long retreats that happen all over the world, called flow or fire festivals and they represent an important opportunity to connect with a wider community, learn new skills or tools, and contribute to the wider flow arts world.