Hello Hoopers!
As this is my very first blog post and a long one at that (I promise future posts will be a bit shorter!), anyway I shall begin by introducing myself and tell you a bit about me and how I got to where I am now...
I'm Charlie and I started hula hooping back in the summer of 2007, I was (and still am) a member of Flying Teapots (Sheffield University Juggling Society) and Sheffield's Poi in the Park. Through these juggling clubs/meetings I met a girl called Rachel, she had just started to learn hula hoop and had recently acquired a large heavy hoop. She let me play and immediately I was hooked!
Circus skills had been one of many hobbies I had as a child and I remember going to see circus shows with my dad when I was very young. I can't remember how old I was when I first learnt to juggle, but I do remember someone gave me a set of juggling balls as a present. Printed on the inside of the box of juggling balls, was some basic instructions on how to juggle a 3 ball cascade pattern. So from these instructions I learnt this basic juggling pattern. I also remember having a wooden diablo, not the easiest of diablos to learn with, and I don't think I was very good - I think I could keep the thing going but that's about it! My sisters and I also had some hula hoops we played with, but when I was a child I had no idea it was possible to do all the tricks I can now. I think hooping on my waist, neck and hands, plus skipping with a hoop was about the limit of what I could do! I also have a rather vague recollection of doing some circus skills workshops with the Girl Guides, but this was about the extent of my experience with circus during my childhood.
I left home when I was just 16 and moved away to Hampshire where I studied sports science at Fareham College for a year. Deciding I preferred more adventurous sports than football, netball or hockey - I searched for colleges offering courses where I could do sports such as sailing, canoeing and climbing instead. The following September I moved to Devon to study outdoor leisure management at Bicton College of Agriculture. It was around this time (about 10 years ago now), that I was first introduced to poi. I worked at an outdoor activity centre in Cornwall during the summer, teaching kids activities such as canoeing, surfing and climbing etc. I knew someone who had a set of fire poi and vaguely remember being stood on a beach trying to spin these things on fire! This was my first introduction to poi, I wasn't very good (I think I just spun them in circles either side of me), and I think I was probably a bit scared that I would set myself on fire or get burnt. Luckily this didn't happen, although it was a little while before I picked up a set of poi again!
I had some very close friends I had made in Hampshire before I went away to study in Devon so I decided to return there, and ended up living with friends in Portsmouth. My friend Brett had also been introduced to fire poi (possibly at the same time I was although my memory of this is a little hazy) and he was learning to fire breath (not something I'd recommend to anyone - fire breathing is dangerous and a bit stupid! But we were young and a bit reckless, so didn't really think too much about the consequences of this at the time!). Then some of our other friends started getting into poi, I think because poi had started spreading through the festivals and was gaining popularity. This is when I actually started getting into poi, I discovered that poi were not just set on fire and it was possible to buy or make colourful poi with tails for use during the daytime. I bought a book and started to learn. At this time I was working for Royal Mail, during my breaks I would go up on to the roof of the mail centre and practice, I think most of my colleagues at the time were probably wondering when I would run off and join the circus!
I would also go to Victoria Park, in Portsmouth during the day when the weather was nice. I was in the park spinning my poi one day when a guy from the arts centre located in the park approached me. He said he loved watching what I was doing and wanted to see more circus skills in the park, so he was wondering if I would be interested in volunteering at the arts centre and running some circus skills sessions. I agreed as this sounded like fun, I was often in the park playing with circus toys anyway, and it would give young people in Portsmouth something to do and keep them off the streets! I also started working as a support worker at a hostel for young homeless people, during my interview for this job I had to do a presentation in front of some of the residents. I demonstrated poi and some other circus skills and said I could run sessions for the young people if I was offered the job - they loved it and I got the job! This is when I actually started taking this circus stuff seriously and realised I could use circus as a tool for helping others.
Around this time I was invited to a Torture Garden event in a London nightclub with some friends. There were performers on stage throughout the evening and I was particularly struck when I saw Empress Stah performing an aerial hoop act in the middle of a nightclub. It dawned on me that circus doesn't just mean living in a caravan and travelling round with a big top! I was inspired and I really wanted to learn aerial skills such as trapeze and silks. Unfortunately this was just not possible in Portsmouth; I ran circus skills sessions in the park every week and Portsmouth University had a juggling society - but that was the extent of circus skills training which Portsmouth had to offer at the time. I did lots of research on the internet, but the closest place I could find was Circus Space in London which was going to cost me a lot of money. I read something about pole dancing having similarities with the sort of strength and flexibility was required for aerial, so I figured it was a good place to start.
Back then pole dancing was not something people did for fitness like they do now, so I actually enquired about how to learn this at a strip club! But I discovered one of the girls who worked at the club ran classes in a local school dance studio, so I signed up and started attending. I really enjoyed pole dancing and saw massive improvements in my fitness and strength. I had suffered from problems with my back due to lifting things while working at the post office. But I had been doing lots of pilates and exercises given to me by my physiotherapist which had really helped to strengthen my core, so when I began pole dancing this was really building on the core strength I had already gained. I realised if I could keep my core strong and do work which didn't involve sitting in an office all day, then I could prevent the pain in my back from returning. I was stuck working at the post office and I knew lifting heavy things wasn't good for my back, but I didn't really know what direction I should go in next.
What I did next was I guess a little crazy, but hey I did plenty of crazy stuff when I was younger so what the hell... I was a member of a social networking type website aimed at the alternative/goth/rock/punk scene. I had made friends all over the country and decided to visit one of them in Sheffield during the summer of 2006. I read lots about the city on the internet, the city was great for sports with excellent facilities around the city, the alternative music scene was really quite big and I found a circus school (Greentop Circus) where I could learn trapeze! The online friend who I had decided to visit had a spare room going, so a few weeks later I packed up all my stuff and left the south coast for Steel City! I missed the sea (I still do), but I fell in love with Sheffield and now consider this place my home.
When I arrived in Sheffield I didn't really know anyone, but within a matter of days I had a job handing out flyers and working on the bar at Corporation Nightclub (one of the best rock and alternative venues in the UK), and I was also invited to join the Corporation Cheerleaders (we did routines with pom poms and pole danced on stage - so all those classes I went to came in very useful). Everything just seemed to fall into place like I was supposed to be in Sheffield. Shortly after this I started working for Rocky Horrors an alternative clothing shop, and I was responsible for managing the website and processing all the online orders.
My now very good friend Si who was at the time on the committee for Flying Teapots had found my profile on MySpace (I think I had written something about being into poi/juggling on my profile), so he contacted me and I think we actually met for the first time while I was behind the bar at corporation. He invited me to join Flying Teapots and Poi in the Park which I decided to do because it was closer and cheaper than the sessions at Greentop which I had found on the internet. The downside to this was they don't have facilities to do aerial but if I had gone to Greentop instead I might never have got into hula hoop! While I was at one of the Flying Teapots sessions I was introduced to Tim who was promoting a circus skills course being run for free by Swamp Circus Trust. I had not been hula hooping very long by this point, but was looking for ways to take this circus stuff further, and the course was free, I didn't have much money so I couldn't afford to do any other courses so I enrolled.
I was now working for BT, this was probably a mistake, I needed more money so I took the job and left Rocky Horrors. I was doing the course with swamp one evening a week and continued to attend Flying Teapots and Poi in the Park. While I was at work during the day I would spend ages browsing the internet for ways I could escape and run away with the circus. I would look up information about circus schools/courses and how I could possibly get funding to do this as I had absolutely no money! Anyway the job made me miserable and I quit. I started working as a volunteer with Swamp Circus and thinking about how I could make this circus thing a reality. I was already making hoops because when I wanted to start hula hooping I could not find a suitable hoop to buy anywhere. I got lots of advice from SENTA (Sheffield Enterprise Agency) and BusinessLink who helped me write a business plan, so in 2008 I launched Seduced By Circus.
I continued to volunteer for Swamp Circus and completed an internship with them. This gave me experience teaching workshops and the opportunity to perform. After the internship was completed I was asked if I would be interested in doing the Circus in Performance course at Greentop Circus. I already knew about this course but could not afford the fees, so I said if I could find some funding I would do it, but if I couldn't get the money it would not be possible. After a lot of hard work, stress, a couple of months of research and writing funding applications I somehow managed to get the money to do the course (also funding towards Hazel and Duncan’s fees too). This was no easy task and I really felt like giving up at times, but I guess my perseverance eventually paid off! Even if at times, right up until days before the course was about to commence, it was looking like all the effort had been a complete waste of time and I would not be able to get any funding for the course. I was so stressed out that I really don't think I was particularly nice to be around during this time, I had just started Seduced By Circus which was enough work on its own without trying to get funding to do this course! I think I was very grumpy and would snap at the slightest thing; luckily I must have some very understanding friends!
I completed the Circus in Performance course in April 2009. I then went back to Swamp Circus for a short while to do some paid work for them, before heading off to Spain for the European Juggling Convention. The juggling convention was an amazing experience. I'd never really travelled anywhere outside of the UK and I'd only been to one British Juggling Convention so had never really seen so many talented people in one place! I'd managed to get a lift with some jugglers from Bristol, so drove all the way to Spain. To me this was amazing just watching the scenery change as we travelled. From fields full on sunflowers in France to mountain ranges as we got into Spain. On the way we spent the first night in the campervan not far from the ferry port in Calais, that night there was the most amazing lightning storm, which somehow seemed bigger than the ones in England! We continued to drive until we reached Bordeaux where we spent our second night, then arrived at the convention the next day. The convention itself was awesome, I got to watch some amazing shows and meet some amazing people. Jules who works for Swamp Circus was there too, he convinced me to perform on the Open Stage. I'm so glad I did and I really appreciate him pushing me to do this. Performing in front of so many people, who aren't just the general public (the crowd contained many very talented and highly skilled performers), was possibly the scariest thing I have ever done - so thanks Jules! He is also an amazing linguist - I watched him compere one of the shows in several languages - respect! I on the other hand can speak very little in other languages, but I did venture outside of the convention alone a few times, armed with my Spanish phrase book in an attempt to try and learn something! On the way home we stopped off again at the same place in Bordeaux, however this time we got to climb up the massive sand dunes there which we had heard about but did not have time for on the way. That was wicked; I didn't know sand dunes that big even existed!
Once back in England I had to go into hospital to have surgery on my hand. This was the most painful thing I have ever experienced in my life, and spent pretty much the rest of the summer recovering. Nearly two years on now and I still have difficulty writing by hand, and cannot really do handstands, but I am trying to be optimistic and hopeful about that. I have seen some improvement in this time, but this is very slow.
I had been teaching hula hoop classes in the fitness industry since I started Seduced By Circus, and before I had even started the Circus in Performance course at Greentop, I had been planning on completing some fitness qualifications. Just before I had gone away to the EJC, I had done a hoop workshop for Hallam University, and one of the managers at Sport Hallam had also suggested I do some REPs approved fitness qualifications. So I enrolled on Exercise to Music course at Bradford College. Some months later I did another workshop for Hallam University during Get Active Week, and as a result I was then asked to run weekly classes, which I have been doing ever since.
I have continued to study, having also completed Health Related Exercise for Children and PTTLS (teacher training) at South Nottingham College. I have also been studying for my Personal Trainer qualification at Bradford College, however my studies are temporarily on hold at the moment as I recently had pelvic/abdominal surgery (not the best kind of surgery to have when I hula hoop for a living, but at least nothing like as painful as my hand was!), but hopefully I will be fully recovered from that very soon. In September I will begin an engineering degree at Hallam University with the intention of gaining skills and knowledge which will enable me to develop new hoops and other circus toys!
My plans right now are to recover properly from this operation. I am allowed to hula hoop now, but I have to take things slow and build my fitness back up gradually. For the summer I plan to teach workshops at the UK Hoop Gathering - Get It Started Event 24th - 26th June, and at the European Hoop Convention 29th - 31st July in Regensburg, Germany. I will then be heading to Munich, Germany for the European Juggling Convention. I hope I can spend some time also exploring Germany, and improving my very bad German language skills while I am there!
So yeah that's basically the story of how I got to where I am now, I hope you enjoyed reading this. I will try to add new entries to this blog of my hula hooping and circus stories/adventures as often as I can so please check back soon.
Charlie x
