What’s your origin story with hooping/object manipulation?

One day in Auckland I’m on a date with a reasonably uninteresting person. We get ice cream and the sun is going down. I see off in the distance some small lights swinging in circles. I’m like “what is that thing?” We meander over and go and check it out. It’s fire dancers. Suddenly this date has got much more interesting and it’s not because of my date. I quickly decided I wanted to learn this thing and got right into it. Suddenly my date was gone, it’s a few hours later, and I have a group of new friends. I was hooked for life – now object manipulation is my passion in life.

Do you perform professionally?

I perform professionally, I have performed at festivals all over New Zealand: Luminate festival, Circulation Circus festival, Under the Spinfluence, Circus Aotearoa New Zealand traveling circus and many more. I am in Aussie at the moment teaching at Hoopy Happenings in Sydney then heading up to Cairns for Eclipse festival then down to Objectify in Brisbane. Any spinners hoopers from around the world want to hang out and play I’m always interested in meeting creative people that like to play.

 

I am a huge fan of Native American hoop dance. How did you get into it?

Native American hoop dance is something my friend Shaw put me onto. We were hanging out at juggling club talking geekery and she tells me about the Native Americans and how they do geometric hooping. I’m interested, “geometric hooping” what on earth is that? So she shows me a video and I thought it was pretty cool, very bizarre and totally different.

A few weeks later I decided that I want to learn to iso hoop after watching a Matt (Poki) video. There is a circus festival coming up, no one is NZ does iso hoops, sweet I’ll make a bunch of hoops and sell them when I’m there, that will work sweet pocket money. Make up all the hoops, sweet project done, phew now I have 11 hoops – cool iso hoops – for a few of my friends awsome…

But there was that thing that Shaw showed me. While I have the hoops here I may as well give it a go. Thinking to myself: so how did they do that again? YouTube knows all things these days, let’s check it out. Watch some videos get inspired. I have a gig at the end of the week may as well put a routine together, this puzzle logic is pretty cool there are some really silly things you can do with this stuff. I put Native American hoops to the side, I didn’t ever expect to perform them again. It was a cool side project until I got a job with Circus Aotearoa and was performing it full time and now it’s one of my major forms of art.

Do you think it’s acceptable for non-Native Americans to perform it?

I personally think that it is acceptable for anyone to perform it, but then again I have a bias as if I didn’t think that I would have to stop performing it and it’s heaps of fun. I think that the way that I perform hoops is a reasonably contemporary way of presenting a traditional art form. I use the same puzzle logics to make shapes but feel that I give it a different spin on it

[Bags: I agree with this and there's further discussion on whether you can own hoop tricks here.]

 

What’s the hoop scene like in New Zealand?

The hoop scene in NZ is developing more and more thanks to circus festivals and international hoop instructors coming into the country, Clair French from the UK is inspiring people from all over the country to move and dance, putting on gatherings like NZ Hoop Fest and Under the Spinfluence, giving hoopers and object manipulators a place to geek out and play. More and more the hoopers and fire dancers of NZ are gathering and creating together.

Are you going to be making more Home of Poi minis tutorials?

I don’t even know how you found my videos on Home of Poi, good research

I have recently started posting tutorials on Home of Poi as a way to help me get around the world and get my work out there. I plan to make more tutorials on mini hoops, hat juggling, contact juggling and many of the other manipulation arts that I practice. Recently I have been working on my Manipulation Logic workshop. I have been breaking down all the fundamental manipulation ideas that work across the board for 2 handed props, like poi, double staffs, fans, clubs, mini hoops and eight rings. Trying to find all the linking aspects of manipulation that can work for all props, such as isolation, in-spins, anti-spins, body tracers, etc. how these concepts breakdown and work from your body’s perspective with arm movements and torso adjustments.

Once you understand the concept base of ideas you can apply them to any new prop you are learning. So as a beginner’s introduction class it can be great to opening your mind into the possibility that this thing is like that thing and has similar but different application.

 

You seem to have engaged in a flurry of video uploading recently. Is it because of the impending end of the world and how effective will hoops be in the event of a zombie apocalypse?

Quietly from my corner of the world in cold Dunedin, New Zealand I have been sitting in a warehouse watching and listening to performers of the world through YouTube. Finding inspiration looking for good ideas and finding out what is possible.

I have trained and watched and trained and learned, and played until finally I felt confident that I wanted to start putting my work out there as an artist. Then I found a team of friends and said “hey let’s make some videos.” I wanted to win Circles of Light this year. My filmer Miguel was interested and away we went to find beautiful spaces. We did pretty well, it has just been released that I have gotten second place in COL 2012, I am very happy that I got a placing and next year i’m going to win 1st place. More Spectacular!!!
[Buy Circles of Light 2012 or watch the preview here.]

It was made. I was happy with it but also I couldn’t publish it until the comp was released so I decided to make more videos. So I found the adventure artists in Wellington – some of my friends that travel the country in a fire truck turned cafe. It has a stage on the roof and it’s a sweet ride. This crew of fire dancers knows how to make videos and have fun.

So that’s what we did. Thanks to Dre, and Mark from the adventure artists for helping me out and being awesome dudes! I have been trying to make videos for half a year and sudenly all at once they have all become ready.

I have also been studying extensive hoop magic in case of zombies my hoop armour will protect me.

What is your plan for the future?

My plan for the future is that I want to travel the world meeting artists from many disciplines, playing and geeking out with outrageous characters that will push me to learn new and exciting things. I want to be invited to perform at international festivals! and find a crew of great people to make an amazing show with.

I want to come to Europe for your next summer so if you are interested in my work please ask me to come to your event. I am currently looking for a way to get myself over and then a crew of people to hang and play with. I have been playing Object Manipulation in NZ for 6 years now and it’s time I would like to meet some master manipulators from other corners of the Earth.

Also I really want to go to Stromboli I hear they have a great fest over there in Italy every year.

Anything else you’d like to plug or advertise or anyone you’d like to say hello to?

I would like to say a big hello to the international hoop community, also to the fire dancing community in NZ: thanks for all the support.

That was a fantastic insight into your hoop journey. Thank-you very much for your time and we look forward to seeing more videos from you in the future. Click here for Jeff’s blog TeckToys.

- See more at: http://thehoophub.co.uk/interview-with-jeff-robinson-hooper-extraordinaire/#more-2700