Check out this beautiful video from our recent poi retreat in Bali, produced by the lovely Karen :)

Richee from Czech Republic sent me this video of Mel, a young poi spinner from Russia (where poi has been booming for years). This is definitely the next level of technical spinning! :)

I often mention the Whirling Dervishes as one of my great inspirations. The dervishes are a branch of Sufism, the mystic religion of Persia. They whirl as a form of meditation. Last fall my friend Michael showed me this video of a stylized whirling dervish performance in a popular German talent show. Warning: There are some cheesy commercials at the beginning. The performance is worth the wait though :)

DSDS Videos: alle Castings, Recalls und Mottoshows bei Clipfish.de

I write from a plane to Toronto, exhausted, inspired, and happy.

Alien Jon (contender for world's greatest poi artist), Dan and Teafaerie from flowtemple.org, and Baz just visited me in Costa Rica for 2 weeks. It was great. They were helper elves for the last Costa Rica poi retreat, and then we spent a week shooting photos and videos, playing poi everywhere, and sharing our visions of the future of poi and the flow arts.

I haven't felt this inspired for ages, or so much part of a team. We think the flow arts are currently too scattered between websites, communities, countries, etc. We want to offer tools that allow the community to better share ideas and inspiration, and to better organize events of all kinds. We have some great ideas of how to do this, but I don't want to say much more until we have something to show you.

2 weeks wasn't enough. We will gather again in Europe, at the EJC, to make more inspirational and instructional videos, to get more people involved, and to further plot the resources we want to develop. We'll also make a lot more fun videos of course, and we have some great ideas for leading workshops and events together. Few things would make me happier than having other people to do all this with :)

I encourage everyone to hook up with Alien Jon's workshops and Flowtemple.org if conceivably possible. I can't come to the USA for another 1.5 years, but trust me, these guys have as much to offer as I do, and if you go to their events and classes, that helps them come visit me so we can do cool things for you!

Check out this inspiring video of a chinese dance performance from the opening ceremonies at the Beijing Olympics. It would be mind-blowing even if you didn't know that all the women are deaf (!). Wouldn't it be great to do something on this caliber, except with poi and fire?

Have you heard of TED? It's an annual convention on Technology, Education, and Design, with a focus on making the world healthier and happier. Amazing speakers from many fields are given 18 minutes to make the speech of a lifetime, and they put the videos online.

Elizabeth Gilbert is author of Eat Pray Love, a book about a woman exactly my current age on a spiritual pilgrimage to Italy, India, and Bali. A copy was left in my cabin in Costa Rica, so I finally read it. Last week I watched her talk on TED, and I was touched. Much of my life has been directed by the whims of the creative muse she speaks of, and I found inspiration and refuge in her words.

So, here it is: All ye artists take note!

Jaguary Mary was my video accomplice for a whole year. She is back in the USA, working on an inspiring project surrounding the new presidency and the era of change she believes it will catalyze.

I found this video on ministryofmanipulation.com and had to share it. If a mouse can make it through such hurdles, maybe we can make it through all our hurdles too? Somehow inspiring!

This isn't poi, but I think you'll like it. Put on good speakers or headphones if you've got them. It's a beautiful song, and quite the inspiration if you're looking for courage at the moment.

Firstly: If you go to the poi videos page you will find Under The Legs, 5-beat-weaves, and of course superduperuberlooping.

I write from Halifax, my home town. This is my first visit in two years and I'm awash with memories. I'm also awash with loot! My parents decided to be patrons of the arts and I have a new external hard drive and a better suitcase. That leaves a new laptop and a video camera as the remaining pieces of gear on my wish list :)

So very much has happened since I last wrote. Jocelyn and I flew to Play Festival in England at the end of July. We then spent a week visiting Cole and Lisa in London, during which time we filmed a couple of tutorial videos. Then we went to Poland for a fire festival, then to Austria to visit Andy and to film more tutorials, then to Switzerland to visit my friends Adrian and Naomi, and then to Cortona to an amazing science/spirituality convention, and then I flew home to Halifax and Jocelyn went back to Switzerland to work on the videos.

It's all been very... different than what I thought it would be. I imagined it would be easier to find time and locations to film the tutorials... but time is a funny thing and there were a lot of logistics to deal with. We definitely got some great material though, and we'll be rolling out new videos for the next few weeks.

On Sunday I go back to Germany. I'll be in Europe for about six-eight weeks and then I'll return to Bali for about six months. I am once again spreading word to see who wants to join for a winter of poi investigations. A few of my favorite spinners have once again decided to join me so here we go!

Regarding videos, we've finally begun to put up new tutorials! Go to the videos section and you'll already see three new videos from this summer, and many more will follow over the coming weeks. If you like what you see please do remember to spread the word :)

Peace and poi,

Nick

Some of my favorites from our recent Fire Photo Shoot in Bali.
Performers: Jean-Manuel Nadeau, Mia Watson, Jocelyn Taylor, and me.
Photos: Jean-Manuel Nadeau
If you like what you see, check out the complete set on flickr, and be sure to tag your favorites.

Maddi (Magie Alvarez Calleja), who lived and played with us for several months in Thailand this past winter, passed on last week in a suicide bombing in Yemen.

Maddi was very special to many people, and it was hard to accept that she died, especially in these circumstances. Few people who spill forth with life the way Maddi did. It was like her soul was always trying to fly from her body. She will be missed very much.

Life is fragile and unpredictable. We come and we go. It's all a little incomprehensible sometimes, and it's good that we have each other for the ride.

Jocelyn and I flew to Singapore for several days to get new Visas, to visit our friend Johari, and to make use of high-speed internet and telephones that work. Singapore is fun if you have a friend to show you around.

Synopsis: I have flown the lovely and talented Jocelyn to Bali to help me produce new poi DVDs and a whole lot of videos for the website. We'll be here until mid-August, brainstorming, writing, plotting, researching, filming, etc. Did you know that I wish to slowly become a cult-celebrity filmmaker? Well now you do. I tend to learn by doing, so here we go...

Yes... this is the video of me stripping for money (Watch as .mov | Watch on youtube). I was waiting to have a few more poiticipation goodies ready (poi hipsacks, posters, etc), but it was a very special friend's birthday yesterday so I'm releasing it now.

The stripping makes a good metaphor. I'm stepping out of all my fears lately (and I'm not the only one). We bring our dreams to life by choosing to. Thus I'm swinging the credit cards around fast an furious, and we'll be offering a lot of yummy new content starting early June. Please stay tuned.

I'm hoping you'll take the time to pay attention to the poiticipation ideas, and to have faith in me that I'm offering a two-way relationship. I don't think artists have to live in poverty to maintain their integrity. It's time to blaze a new artist/community relationship, and part of that happens here, and I would love you to be part of it.

If things go well there will be more nudity, I promise.

Nick