Spinning @

A few days earlier, we spotted a street performer doing a really good contact ball routine, and I stopped to chat with him after he finished his act.  His name was Chris Phoenix, and we knew a lot of the same people in the world-wide poi spinning community.  He invited me to come to a weekly spin jam run by a group called Spinning@, which happened to be my last night in London.

After a full day with the family, and some hasty packing, I dashed back into the city and looked for the Rag Factory - as mentioned on the group's Facebook page.  Upon arriving, I saw no signs of jugglers, or even a room that would support jugglers. I went through twice and was getting discouraged, until I saw a sign on the side of the door pointing me farther down the street.  In two minutes, I alighted into a room full of hoopers, jugglers, poi spinners, and even my new friend Chris Phoenix.

London has a pretty active juggling community, and this group has their act together.  One important part of maintaining a group like this is to have a leader, and as far as I could tell this group had two: Chris Phoenix, and an awesome 40-something juggler named Kevin. 

I had a great time hanging with this circus crowd. Chris Phoenix ran an impromptu workshop, and I learned an interesting new move.  And Kevin was doing some crazy "poiggling" - juggling three balls while simultaneously spinning two poi.  He was gracious enough to allow me to capture this on video:



As this was my final European adventure, it was a great sendoff for my return to the states. Not only do I have a memory, but a new trick acquired from Europe.  Priceless.