Articles
The Origin Of The Sponsor A Staff Project
In the wide world of flow artists there are many folks with dreams, but few have the selfless courage to chase them quite like the contemporary stick aficionado, Enrico Vinholi. Perhaps known better by his stage persona “SolRiso”, Enrico has dedicated his flow and his time over the last five years to bringing the joy and excitement that comes with flow arts to communities that need it most. Where a lot of people today would settle to stretch for that dream from the comfort of their own backyard, that wasn’t enough for him. Not by a longshot.
In this exclusive interview, we caught up with SolRiso to learn more about his origin story, his experience of finding his own flow and he even took a little time to tell us about the Sponsor a Staff Project. A groundbreaking springboard created to launch his art and the community that it generates into the areas of the world where it’s needed most.
Sponsor a Staff Project
After garnering a name for himself as a flowmie favorite in fire circles around the country, Enrico set out on a long road in the pursuit of his dream to share his craft on a bigger scale. Soon Enrico and formally trained friend, Yamil “Yamxtli” Maldonado hatched a plan to travel the world helping youth in impoverished countries to unlock the mysteries of flow. And thus, the Sponsor a Staff project was born.
“I love performing and always will, but I’ve realized I can have a greater impact on the world through teaching.” Says Enrico. “I have always loved to travel and wanted to devise a plan to help enable myself and like-minded others to travel and perform, but for a cause. When I learned about Performers Without Borders I decided I wanted to try and use my influence in the community to develop a similar project around what I love, Traveling and Staff Spinning.
When I met Yamil this summer I was incredibly inspired by our mutual love for sticks, and our ability to use the common language we spoke, movement, to influence those around us. We both had seen first hand how something as silly as spinning a stick around could change someone's life for the better and his influence helped motivate me to create and implement this program. Although he won’t be able to join on the 2018 PWB Kenya tour, his initial influence and support of this idea was a huge factor in aiding the project's development.
The purpose of the project is to help organize 'Social Circus' outreach trips to developing countries. Social Circus is an intervention methodology that targets ‘at-risk’ youth and uses Movement Art as a medium to increase personal awareness, encourage expression, strengthen discipline, and foster community. The life skills gained from successful Social Circus programs leave youth with heightened autonomy, self-esteem, physical coordination, communication and adaptability skills, and a greater potential to succeed, no matter the obstacle. Through community driven fundraisers, donations, sponsored workshops, merchandise sales, auctions, and performances, we help improve the lives of hundreds of children around the globe. Now, the project is lucky enough to have 2 phenomenal staff ambassadors, Tyler Spades and Arianna Madappa, aiding the Sponsor a Staff Project and Performers Without Borders on it’s first collaborative tour.”
The Next Generation
Where a lot of performers would flow for fun, as spiritual therapy or to make some extra money, none of that became a motivation for Enrico. Instead, he put the hours in to transcend the level of teacher, to graduate to leader, where he could focus his efforts on driving real change in people’s lives. Like seeds sprouting into saplings, he’s watched his efforts bloom too. Reflecting on his youngest progeny, Jessie, he noted that it’s not uncommon these days for the next generation to push the envelope and go a few steps further than anyone has done before.
“Everytime we teach somebody, we have the privilege of saving them hours and hours of the mistakes we made. This process leads to an exponential development of the art form and allows the community to push the envelope of what’s possible.
In 2014 I spent 9 months traveling through Central and South America and I spent lots of that time playing with, and teaching local performers and children on the streets. One of the most profound experiences I had was in Bolivia where I taught a kid to make a staff from a broken broom and water bottles filled with sand, all of which we found recycled in the street. Later that day I came back and he had taught 2 of his friends how to do the same. They were all having fun with each other playing with sticks and that’s when it hit me.
The first iteration of the Sponsor a Staff Project came when I decided to ask my facebook feed for $2-5 donations so I could build staffs out of curtain rods and irrigation tubing to donate to a local after-school organization in Banos, Ecuador. The first day I went and performed for the kids and the second, I showed up, taught workshops and donated staffs and the third we helped them host their own performance. The response was incredible and it felt amazing to use my influence online to source the components needed to enable these children to learn what I love most.
What was important was that I taught them how to build the staffs themselves and that it wasn’t about learning tricks, but instead connecting with yourself, with others and just generally having fun. I think there is an art to ‘Play’ and our society is slowly losing grasp of it.”
This project would not be possible without our incredible community’s support. Enrico wanted to extend gratitudes to FireGroove, Flowtoys and Wizardtricks for believing in him and supporting this cause and for everyone who’s purchased some merchandise or made donations to support the Sponsor a Staff mission.
With the passage of time, young flow artists seeking a teacher with a comparable technical precision and organic grace have appeared to Enrico searching for some way of furthering mastery in their craft. These days his students are taking on students of their own, adding ripples to the impact he brings to flow. With his efforts shining so far and now coming full circle, it seems only fitting that his onstage moniker is “SolRiso”, the one who is fueled by the energy of the sun.
To learn more about the Sponsor a Staff Project check out their website here.
Connect with SolRiso
Connect with Sponsor a Staff
Connect with Performers without Borders
Buy a Fire Groove Gear product and give 15% back to the project using this link: firegroovegear.com?tracking=
Flow For The Holidays And Get Up To 20% Off With Fire Groove Gear
Seasons Greetings Firegroovers and Flowmies~
It’s the perfect time of year to celebrate and give thanks for all the mysteries and magic we find together in the family of flow. That’s why for a special limited time engagement through the holidays Fire Groove Gear is excited to extend gratitude and applause alongside several very special offers that could land you up to 20% off your purchase of our fire dance equipment... Can’t come see us in Los Angeles? No worries! Our shipping is lightning fast and our representatives are standing by to answer any questions! We’ll have online holiday sales through the end of this year to look forward to on poi, staff, torches, darts, fire fans and other assorted fire dancing props. Keep your eyes peeled for coupons and deals around Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and an amazing Christmas special that is sure to save time and money! With deals like these, there has never been a better time to take on that elusive second prop or to give the gift of fire to a loved one.
If you live in Los Angeles, our home turf, then we’ve got a little something extra for you too. We’re hosting our first Flow 4 A Cause Spin Jam and Holiday Sale. In which friends and fire spinners will gather to share tricks and rub shoulders with some of the top flow instructors and performers from the Los Angeles area as well as out of town visitors. You will have an opportunity to view discounted clothing such as yoga pants, booty shorts, burner gear, performance costumes, and more from Movement Creations and fire dancing gear such as our new Technora Fire Poi, Collapsible Dragon Staffs, Carbon Fiber Fire Staffs, Fire Eating Torches, and so much more at 15% off their cost plus an additional 10% that will go back to the cause of helping bring smiles to Kenyan children in Africa with the ‘Sponsor a Staff’ Project.
Owner of Fire Groove Gear Lester Mooney pondering what truly matters in life
So please join us on November 19th from NOON to 5PM at our home in Eagle Rock. Let's gather to share a love of pancakes and flow, while we talk about the road we’re on together heading into 2018.
If you’d prefer to schedule an appointment, contact us here and don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter for more updates and spin jams near you.
In Love,
Lester and Samantha Mooney
Fire Groove Gear
2017: A Banner Year For Fire Groove Gear
The Fire Groove Gear booth and fire circle team at LIB 2017
This year our fire dancing gear was shipped to more countries in the world than any other year in our history. We’ve hosted bigger shows and conducted more hands-on training at festivals than ever before. At most events, we held down a booth to showcase our wares and teach people about flow and fire, while also doing a variety of demonstrational performances throughout the venue. Fire Groove Gear was represented well by world-class performers in mesmerizing performances at Lucidity in Santa Barbara, Envision in Costa Rica and Indonesia’s Bali Spirit Festival as our homegrown duet show, Love in the Fire and the flow wizard troupe, West Coast Eclectic.
Fire Groove Gear is present and teaching at dozens of locations every year and festivals are some of our favorite places to flow. Here are just a handful of our favorite festival experiences for 2017.
IgNight Festival
You may have spotted our fresh new flow arts pop-up shop at Ignight Festival in Joshua Tree. It's always one of our favorites because it incorporates fun arts like clowning, yoga and shibari. It's also held right here in on our own backyard in sunny Southern California, near Los Angelos. This year we managed the teacher showcase on Friday Night which included performances by recognizable staff dynamos like Encrico Solriso, Yam Xtli, and so many more!
Klinton Kompton performing as teacher and host in the first open Fire Circle ever established at Lightning in a Bottle Festival. Photo by Jacob Avanzato
Lightning in a Bottle (LIB)
The pop-up shop made another landing at Lightning in a Bottle over Memorial Day Weekend. Fire Groove Gear served up firey flow knowledge, teaching the patrons during the afternoon, then running the fire circle through the early hours of the next day. Our Fire Circle was all inclusive for the second year in a row proving that strong safety practices and expert staff can make a show that is both fantastic and participatory. To reinforce our culture in the fire arts, this year we added opening ceremonies from world-renowned performances and performance troupes.
Photo by Lester Mooney
Fire Drums
For those in the know in San Francisco, Oakland and Sacramento, Fire Drums is a NorCal staple in flow. Beyond the Bay Area, it's the quintessential flow arts event for Burners. Our pop-up shop offered chill space, so flowmies could hang out. Some decide to use the space to learn. Others teach. That’s the thing we love most about Fire Drums -- its authenticity. It’s the original fire dance festival, where everyone has experience to share and new knowledge to discover. To us, it’s the true roots of the fire dance community.
Tammy Firefly of the International Fire Dancers Troupe, lights up the night at the Oregon Eclipse Fire Circle.
Oregon Eclipse
Quickly accessible to Portland and Eugene, just outside of Bend, Oregon, Fire Groove Gear managed a crew of 17 outstanding flow artists out at Big Summit Prairie making sure that the Oregon Eclipse Fire Circle was safe for a steady stream of fire dancers each night for six consecutive nights at the event. Set in a serene clearing in the middle of a forest, designed and erected by the fine folks at BamboDNA. It was one of the most magnificent fire circles we have ever seen assembled. Expert professional fire performers showed up. Whole troupes showcased magnificently choreographed routines. We even lit up some first-timers. All told, over 500 fire dancers were served by our team at Oregon Eclipse. A celestial event indeed.
We look forward to seeing you next year at some of these amazing events
The Fire Groove Gear Team
Seekers Of The Flame: Fire Circle Returns To Lightning In A Bottle And We're Bringing The Heat!
As the dawn of Lightning in a Bottle is upon us and the dance floor beckons to our bones, we are excited to announce the advent of the 2nd Annual Open Fire Circle, hosted by the curators of Love in the Fire & Fire Groove Gear, Lester Mooney and his fiance Samantha Taylor! Gather your flowmies, grab your props, and bring your safety blankets because one of the hottest returns of the 2017 festival season is just days away and you are invited!
Fire benders, spirited enthusiasts and curious spectators alike we would like to welcome you to experience spine-tingling moments of igneous enchantment as the fire circle opens up to the community of fire dancers once again for all skill levels and talent to participate. Make sure you bring a proper safety as we will require a 1 to 1 fire dancer to fire safety ratio. We have a team of dedicated and sharp-eyed professionals, or as we like to call them "Guardians of The Flame", who provide a safe and comfortable atmosphere for all of the returning torchbearers and flow artists who are just beginning their initiations into the flame. LIB's Fire Circle awaits you all!
Steven Holme from West Coast Eclectic Arts and The Love in the Fire Collective performing in the fire circle at LIB 2016
photo by: Jacob Avanzato
Heart sparks will fly as some of the best fire dancers take the floor and delight us with their presentations of dedication, discipline and humility to the elements of fire and flow. We will begin by warming up the space with opening ceremonies every night. Do not miss the ongoing acts and performances throughout the weekend, including but not limited to: Love in the Fire Collective on Friday, Flamboozle featuring Anthony Greenz on Saturday, and West Coast Eclectic Arts taking the floor on Sunday all at 10 pm.
Clinton Compton is in the flow at the Fire Flow Zone hosted by Fire Groove Gear at Lightning in a Bottle 2016
Photo By: Jacob Avansato
The fire circle is located in between Thunder and Lightning Stage, right on the peninsula of the pagoda bar. Just keep an eye out for the beacon of fire right on the lake's edge when you're headed that way and surely you will not miss it.
Fire Groove Gear will also have a booth set up in Vendor's Row across from the Lightning Stage where we will have poi, hoops, staffs, fans, dragon staffs, rope darts, and much more available for inquiry and purchase. Stop by there for further details about performances, questions or props or come hang out with other fire dancers. Did I mention that we have test props available so you can stay and play or try before you buy! With a safety to have your back and support from your flowmies and friends, the FireGroove Gear team invites you to heat up the circle with us this year at LIB, between 10 pm and 4 am every night of the festival. We hope to see you there.
Although we will not be selling fuel we will have every fire dancing prop to play with and purchase in our booth at the lightning stage vending row so please stop by to say hello.
Let's just say... It's gonna be lit!
- The Fire Groove Gear team
Check out the equipment that Fire Groove Gear is bringing out:
https://www.firegroovegear.com/Shop
The Do Labs article from Last years fire circle:
http://thedolab.com/inspire/the-first-fire-circle-at-lightning-in-a-bottle/
Get you tickets to LIB here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lightning-in-a-bottle-arts-music-festival-2017
Coming Soon!
We are working on tons of footage of lessons, interviews, and maintenance tutorials. We will continually release it as it is ready. Thanks for stopping by
