define ~ style
any ideas? a series of nice concise sentences on interpretations of style and what it means would be great for something im thinking about writing.
peace
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define ~ style
Well when i dance in different styles I tend to concentrate most on things like:
The relationship between the music and the movment, speed, eg on the beat / half beat / double time
Whether the poi are leading my body or my body is leading the poi
Keeping hands close to body or far away from body
straight arms or really bendy arms
flowing movement or jerky movement i.e quick move to position then freeze
Reflecting what the poi are doing with my foot movement
Neat planes or no planes
ratio of technical spinning to dancing (eg simple moves really tightly executed, or super tech moves done as tight as i can)
That's as much as comes to mind straight away.
Hmm, but to define style???? I dunno mate.
Perhaps 'style' is everything about the movement that cannot be expressed in words.
m
define ~ style
It ain't what ya spin its the way that ya spin it? (was that Banamarama?)
define ~ style
bah, humbug to you
i see what you mean, your suggestions are more or less what i would classify as the elements that go towards creating style. the concept of style is a bit abstract, but some spinners you see you think to yourself, they have style. what does that mean exactly? thats what im trying to get to.... the elements are what the article is going to be all about, but i just fancied getting some inspiration off of all of yous to light the spark so to speak. kaboom.
(already got some off that earlier post about 'what is technical?')
peace
define ~ style
you cant help but spin with style.
sometimes its bad style, sometimes its good style. style is how you spin, which matt broke down in his post.
the question what is good style is another question and depends on your tastes. i get the feeling with poi there is a tendancy to think good style means clean planes (everything in wall plane) , good timing, and hard moves and nice body movements. this is probably why i spin like i spin... im just trying to conform :o to this concept of good style.
i think this concept exists because it is relativly easy to understand most poi moves done like this... and makes learning things easier.
i think of poi styles like styles of music... theres allways some weird wacky experimental stuff that flys in the face of what most people think is good. but this stuff can still be good even if there is no beat, no tune or no lyrics. its good to be different and push the boundrys of what people can accept.
:roll:
define ~ style
yea man, thats an interesting take on it. keep em coming
define ~ style
so how about this interpretation
style is the ability to express yourself through poi, rather than simply execute a series of moves with poi
see oli, i dont agree that everone who spins spins with style because up to a certain point when you are learning poi you are simply completing a series of techniques with no ability to express yourself. kind of like the martial arts philosopy of being free, then being chained to technique, and then finding your original freedom within technique. its when you can look beyond the techniqe to make the poi move with your body that you begin to develop style. at least thats what i began to feel last week as i thought b******s to the moves, lets see what motion and feeling and touch can do. and since then ive developed a radically different approach to my spinning. id liken it to someone who can play a piano and bang out the tunes and someone who has a feeling for the touch and sensitivity it takes to play with the expression you feel inside. once you are free to interpret moves in a wider context then that is the moment i would say you have style.
any thoughts?
define ~ style
This i agree with 100%
I find myself between stage 2 and 3
but only after thinking i was in stage 3 
I agree with oli that everyone spins with style, some good some bad. SOme good style seems to be generic, ie most people think a certain person has style. Some style is personal.
hmm..... i think style only really surfaces when you gain 'body inteligence' and your brain stops interupting. i dunno....
m
define ~ style
yea... i got some more thoughts. everyone has got thier own style deep inside somewhere, and this affects everything and governs all the little desscions you make that afterwards you think 'why did i do that?'
poi is the same... when you get into the zone with poi, the point your brain stops working, you make loads of desicions about when to stall a poi and will it look good if i isolate this one a bit more as comes around here etc... or this is how it works for me, and you havnt got time to think about what is gonna work well (be good style) so you just gotta know what fits, and how you make it all fit togethr is what gives everyones style its own signiture pattern.
anyway, sorry im rambling :roll: :puuf:
define ~ style
i know this isnt really a contradiction but it does come a bit close. you can only really see or 'assess' someones style once they reach a level where they can show body inteligence and so before that, while style exists, (although as oli says its hidden inside everyone), then that person has, but cant express, style. damn it feels like we are getting close to some kind of interpretation....
sorry to be throwing quotes back at people but....
oli, if what you say is true, then style can also be what you project to fit with other peoples ideas and images of what style would be, and therefore you are not expressing yourself. basically you supress your style to give the people what they want? having watched a few of your vids i wouldnt say thats true of all of them. possible the ones with fire far more so.....
i totally agree with you about the fact that there comes a point the brain stops working and you are in a zone, but it would be quite depressing to think that zone was preconditioned by the image you think people want to see rather than your own mode of expression. maybe im twisting your words.... its just how it came across.
i think your music analogy is very interesting. do people shy away from pushing the boundries of what people think is acceptable in poi? is it all about doing something asthetically pleasing and entertaining rather than really having the ability to express yourself? because if people learn to spin in an environment where they are always thinking of what the audience sees rather than how they feel it would raise some interesting points in the whole debate about the development of poi spinning and the tricks we learn and the way we spin..... the whole focus of poi seems to have shifted to the technical aspects and maybe thats not healthy as more and more people learning poi try and mirror that particular style they see on a video, for instance yours oli, and then assume this is good style when in the first place that style was dictated by other peoples percetions of what style is
define ~ style
i think most of the time peoples style is supressed... and exen when style is expressed the style is just based on some fairly comman principles, wall plane, 'good timing', poi going in circles. - this is what 'preconditions' your style when you are in the zone... you know people think doing these things is 'good spinning'... why else would we all try so hard to perfect these things?
style is relative aswell, two different people may see one spinner and two different styles depending on what they are used to also i dont think style is ever a constant thing... i know everytime i pick up poi i spin them differently.
i think there is definetly alot more very experimental poi out there... ive seen some people doing crazy stuff tthats not based around the usual rules, and i think this is great, but sometimes people, especially non geek minded spinners, are not so appreciative of it...
as for seeing a style of spinning on video... thats easy to tell weather it is good or not.. did you enjoy it/find it interesting or did it make you want to fall asleep... ultimatly its a personal choice, some people like the taste of fish..some dont. not sure if that helps you... the more i think about this though the more confused i get.
define ~ style
Just had a look at dictionary.com to see what they had to say, quite a lot but here were the most relevant definitions:
style (n.)
1. The way in which something is said, done, expressed, or performed: a style of speech and writing.
2. The combination of distinctive features of literary or artistic expression, execution, or performance characterizing a particular person, group, school, or era.
No. 1 implies speech and writing but could equally be applied to poi. I don't think you can say a person has good or bad style as it's not quantifiable, you can merely say I like/dislike a particular style. If you think about it in other artistic forms then different examples of style are things such as film noir and spaghetti westerns in film or d'n'b and rock within music or flamenco and ballroom dancing within dance, the list goes on and on...
As any fan of any art (so hopefully everyone then) will know, to say that one style is better than another just creates a perpetual argument and so rather than saying someone has a good/bad style there should be a use of more adjectives in a discussion of style. Also due to the great importance of music upon poi most people will use different styles depending on what they're listening to and even then you can change styles halfway through a song as the song itself might change styles and a good spinner should change to reflect that.
Beginners to poi often don't have a style because they're too busy trying not to twat themselves in the head or crotch but as soon as they've got even a simple repertoire down maybe just: 2bt weave, butterfly, a turn and a rotational reverse they can start developing styles but because they'll generally learn more moves (or get quite bored quite quickly) as they develop their styles, the spinners with the larger repertoires tend to have more noticable styles. I don't know if anyone else would agree or had similar experience but I'd say when I was first starting poi I spent a large proportion of my time spinning in clubs (I was rubbish, people laughed, I didn't care!) I developed lots of different styles quite quickly with quite a small repertoire which was constantly expanding.
To say I have a good style would be bragging and having not filmed myself or used a mirror (I used to use my shadow on the floor to check I was getting the poi opposite when practising) I couldn't comment anyway but the best way to express YOURSELF whilst spinning is to not care who's watching or what you look like and spin for YOURSELF and the style will unfold.