I spent the last 3 months training and collaborating with some incredibly talented people in Ko Pha Ngan – Thailand. This was a particularly inspiring and fruitful journey and below are a few images to witness how Thailand truly is a place for artists and nature to meet.
And below is a short clip from my performance at the inaugural ‘Colours of Love’ festival on Why Nam beach. Thank you to Wild Sirenda for calling us into a higher vibration of love and cosmic connection.
Like an ever spinning wheel, life sets us a challenge when we least expect it, to test our courage and willingness to change…
‘Hoops In Motion’ is a wonderfully exciting journey, a piece of circus and visual arts, originally commissioned by John Bishop and further developed by Cirque Bijou and with support from the National Centre for Circus Arts.
Film by Thomas Johansson (thomas-johansson.com/)
Infinite gratitude to Julian Bracey, Howie Bailey and everyone at Cirque Bijou for trusting me with such a wonderful opportunity.
The hoops in these images are LED smart hoops by SpinFX. I can program them to change colours and patterns to any chosen music, which allows for endless possibilities to create bespoke acts and fit with specific requirements and special events. You can see more photos here.
I have always had a great interest in animation and mixed media, so when Cirque Bijou offered me to collaborate on a bespoke piece that mixed my hoops with Howie Bailey‘s visual graphics, I dived right into it.
The piece was commissioned as an intro to the John Bishop Show on BBC1, which made the whole project even more exciting.. and slightly nerve-racking.
We knew it was going to be hardcore and risky – we only had a few days to research and develop ideas and then put it all together into a live show for prime television.
Yet, despite the time and space constraints, we just went for it wholeheartedly, feeding off each other’s passion and inspiring each other through laughter and relatively appropriate doses of OCD.
The result was a wonderful work of circus and visual arts that I hope will lead to more opportunities for exploration and collaboration.
Massive thanks to Julian Bracey, director of Cirque Bijou, and Howie Bailey for being absolute legends. True gratitude and respect also for John Bishop and his crew and the BBC.
Just as 2015 kicked in, I had the immense pleasure to work with top gentleman juggler Mat Ricardo and perform ‘Atma’ in his End of the world cabaret at the Albany, London.
It was an ‘Apocalypse now’ sort of show, where the only thing left to do before the asteroid hit the earth, was to steep oneself in amazing acts of gravity-defying dexterity, laugh and be entertained by some of the greatest variety acts in London.
Did we get hit? Are we still alive now? One thing is for sure, I am still spinning like Saturn.
Back in my home town in Italy for a few days, I hooked up with old school friend and photographer Riccardo Lancia.
We drove around town, our main goal being catching up, after years of not seeing each other.
It was a beautiful, crisp winter morning and so we ended up dropping some layers off to play outside.
What came out was a totally impromptu and absolutely fun shoot – a proof that good friendships are hard to die, even with years of distance in between.
Despite the weather and extreme survival conditions, Glastonbury is always amazing.
This year, however, was particularly exciting as I got to perform not only ‘Atma’, but also 2 of my most recent hoop acts.
‘Black Out Days’ was specifically devised for the Circus Big Top and, although it was presented as work in progress, it received very positive feedback.
The greatest surprise of this year’s festival, however, was that I got asked to perform at the BBC Studio as part of their Friday Night Highlights, directly from the channel’s stage at the Park. This was an excellent and fun opportunity to show my ‘Great Gatsby’ inspired piece ‘Jazzy Daisy’, which went down a storm.
After all that excitement, keeping it up rehearsing and performing for almost 24 hours, after dragging your hoops all day around miles of muddy fields, what do you do when at Glasto?
I don’t know about you, but I go and dance my heart out until sunrise, at the jaws of a gigantic, fire spitting and laser shooting spider. That is why I love it so much in the field: it never stops feeding you its magic insanity.
After becoming a regular performer at The Box, London, I had the pleasure to go and spin my hoops at its Dubai partner club, The Act – the highest theatre venue in the world.
Located on the 42nd and 43rd floor of the Shangri-la Hotel, The Act is a very refreshing antidote to Dubai’s sometimes dry entertainment and nightclub scenes.
It was certainly a fantastic experience being part of one of the most exciting shows in the Middle East.
In celebration of the 15th Petronas Malaysia Formula 1 Grand Prix, a series of galas, parties, competitions and fashion shows were held in Kuala Lumpur for the Mercedes – Benz Stylo Fashion Grand Prix 2013.
The most prestigious and glamorous of these events was the Mercedes – Benz STYLO Fashion Awards night, themed “The Voodoo Ball”, where I was invited to perform, together with model – dancer Sydney Jo Jackson, pole dancer and fire performer Sasha Kavaleva and stilt walkers Michael O’Donnell and Nixie from Gravity Live.
With many of Malaysia’s society figures attending, the Mercedes-Benz STYLO Fashion Awards night celebrates the best in the local fashion scene through awards in various categories.
Jovian Mandagie was chosen as this year’s Designer of the Year. His amazing designs were inspired by the mythical creature Medusa.
Stylo also presented its first ever public showcase at the Petronas Twin Towers @live concert.
It was the 3rd time that the Twin Towers @live concert was held in Malaysia and all 3 times it was organized in conjunction with the Formula One race happening at Sepang International Circuit.
This was a massive, 2 – days, public concert, that attracted more than 30.000 people and had an international line – up of artists coming from both east and west.
I had the great pleasure to entertain the crowd with my glow hula hoops, as part of an act that was directed by choreographer Pat Ibrahim, to the soundtrack of DJ Mario Schizo.
On the same night, artists such as South Korean boy band, U-KISS, and American pop star, Demi Lovato, were among the acts that took the stage at the free public show that went on from 5pm to 2am, despite the rain started to pour down during the night.
It was such a buzz performing for thousands of people on such a gorgeous stage! And an absolute pleasure working with all the team from London and the lovely staff from Kuala Lumpur, who welcomed and made us feel at home every day. This included talented make up artists, like Lin Chong, who did a wonderful job of my white cyborg character.
Thanks to Sydney Jo Jackson and STYLO international for making this happen. I am very much looking forward to the next one!
Stay tuned and find more lovely pics on my Flickr page.
They wanted her to change back into what she always had been…
But she had wings.
