DrexFactor Poi Blog

Awesome Poi Compilation Video

The Playpoi website tipped me off on this--a ten minute compilation of some of the greatest and most influential performers and videos in the history of our art. Give it a look-see for a smattering of the best our art has to offer :)

(for added fun, click on the Closed Caption link in the bottom bar to get the name of each video and the artist in it as it pops up)

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Drex's Tech Poi Blog #283: Toroid hybrids

A few weeks ago, Alex Powell uploaded a great video of some interesting hybrids utilizing toroids in an atomic configuration. I started working on these same hybrids in other timing and direction combinations as well as some pendulum-based toroid hybrids after taking a pendulums class from Ronan in Tahoe. Here are the results.

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Basic Poi Dancing Tutorial: Behind the Back part 1

Behind the back tricks are one of those bellwethers that can take you from basic to intermediate spinning, but it can be a huge kinesthetic challenge to get to a point where these types of tricks can feel stable and in control. This week we'll start off with some basic exercises to teach control of behind the back movements before playing with behind the back weaves next week and meltdowns the week after.

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Drex's Tech Poi Blog #282: Lovelacing

At long last--I know how to lovelace! Lovelacing is an trick related to inversions that Ky Lee from Atlanta specializes in. Several times I've tried to learn it from him, but what finally made it click was a video Kory San posted on the topic. Here is an explanation of how it works and how to go about getting into it.

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Drex's Tech Poi Blog #281: Exotic inversions and crossovers

Based upon a debate currently going on on the Tech Poi Group on Facebook, here are some ruminations on weaves and inversions. If we think of weaves as being specific shapes that can be divorced from the movements of the body, there are a lot of expressions of a three-beat weave. Here I demonstrate one that shares some characteristics with inversions.

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Drex's Tech Poi Blog #280: Hand switching in 1.5 no-beat throws

The first bit of Burning Man wrap up! This is a nifty no-beat throw Ted Petrosky was playing with one day in Vulcantown that sets up a hand switch.

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My poi are not a tool

My poi are not a tool. They are not a prop. They are not an artificial entity upon which I imbue meaning and metaphor. My poi are not another person or a cell phone. My poi are not a belt or a cup of coffee. My poi are an extension of me. My poi are a part of me. They are a living, breathing extension of my hopes, dreams, and ambitions. They feel my sadness and joy, my aches and pains. They are as much a part of me as my hands, fingers, and eyes. They are an extension of my expression. They emote with my pursed lips. They leap for joy with my springy legs. My poi are not an other thing.

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Drex's Tech Poi Blog #279: Cateye stall chases

The last day of Wildfire, Richard Cranium showed me a move he was working on, integrating cateyes into a stall chaser. Upon viewing the move, I thought the cateyes were looking more like inspin petals and tried to come up with a different approach to integrating cateyes into stall chasers. The result was less a chase move and a little more like a quarter time chase, but I do like the overall effect.

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Drex's Tech Poi Blog #278: Right angle point isolation stacking

Last light I was playing with right-angle stalls and found a nifty way to switch which was the active side of the pattern with a point isolation held at 90 degrees. As Natan pointed out after recording, this also possesses some stacking properties.

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Basic Poi Dancing Tutorial: C-CAPs

CAPs are a great transitional move that can be used to spice up hybrids or even just on their own. They used to be considered pretty technical, but I've seen a lot of people nail them within their first year of spinning. This is the method I've seen most often succeed for teaching beginner or intermediate spinners how to do them and it's inspired by a method for teaching triquetras I saw in an old Alien Jon video.

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