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.
Now rock on!
More lovely photos on my Flickr.
Silvia hula hoops on ‘Blue Peter’ – BBC
July 10, 2015
I’m not sure if it was a coincidence or through word of mouth, but just before my multi-media performance on the John Bishop Show was released on the BBC, I was invited to hula hoop live on the Blue Peter show…
It was so last minute, everything literally happened within a few hours, and that included running from London to Manchester to live TV, whilst beating a tube strike, in true ninja style… BOOM, HOOP, BANG!
You bet I got a Blue Peter badge for that!
Many thanks to everyone at the BBC Bridge House Manchester, it was great fun!
Valentine’s cheekiness for the National Centre for Circus Arts
February 11, 2015
Photographed by Bertil Nilsson for the National Centre for Circus Arts.
‘Urban Xmas’ photo shoot
January 19, 2015
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.
All photographs by Riccardo Lancia. You can find more lovely shots on my Flickr.
Over the Christmas period I collaborated with the amazing Bertil Nilsson to create some images for the National Centre for Circus Arts.
The theme for the photo shoot was the ‘5 Gold Rings of Christmas’ and consequently, there was a lot of spinning involved.
Silvia vs The Great Eastern Bear
October 11, 2014
When I took two of my best friends to play up on a roof in East London. Photos by Jon Green, set and ‘behind the scene’ photos by Thomas Forsyth. 
Glastonbury Festival 2014
August 1, 2014
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.
‘Atma’, 3 years later
May 12, 2014
This time last year, I was around on the Southbank a lot, performing in Circus Maximus, as part of the Udderbelly Festival. 
It was such a fun and intense month! My dear and awesome friend Jon Green came down to film me during the first Heat of the competition. So this is my ‘Atma’, 3 years later.
The Hypnotic Honies of Hula
January 20, 2014
Together with the lovely Jessie Rose, I created a new glow hoop piece that we performed at the Bloomsbury Big Top as part of a series of Christmas shows, produced by Sorcha Ra, last December 2013.
This is a 1920’s, Great Gatsby inspired piece, set to a modern, fast paced and fun electro-swing soundtrack. Any type of audience will be dazzled by the charm and skills of these super cute ‘Flapper Girls’, dancing and spinning up to 8 fantastically bright LED hoops.
Photos taken by Jon Green and Jenny Dale. Costumes by Andie Scott.
The Jarvis Party
September 23, 2013
Jarvis Cocker LOVES hua hoops – FACT.
After jamming with him at the Village Underground in 2009, as part of his 3-day ‘Exhibition of himself’, I had the absolute pleasure to perform for the very wonderful Jarvis Cocker’s 50th birthday party.
After my show, Too many DJs kept us all dancing like crazy until the early hours.
What a great night, thank you very much Jarvis, you are a real gentleman.
