James
"Hunter" Riedy, Instructor of Staff
Hunter is a Bay Area flow artist who has been spinning staff
since Fall of 2004, working primarily with a long staff. He says
it was something inate in him that lead him to pick up staff,
and now it is something inate in him that comes out when he spins.
His journey studying staff has evolved to a form of self-expression.
He doesn't practice learning tricks, but instead strives to achieve
greater freedom of mobility, intigrating how he moves with the
natural movements of the staff as a dance. He is at place where
sometimes his body is leading the dance, and other times the staff
is showing him new ways to move.
Traces of Hunter's background in tai-chi and urban dance can be
seen in his spinning style. He says he believes that when it comes
to spinning, everyone has their own unique style; that after aquiring
the basic skills, spinning staff becomes an expression of the
individual as well as a vehicle for sefl discovery.
Hunter's inspiration for spinning contniues to introduce him to
new experiences: most recently as an emerging Bay Area fire-performer,
and now as a new instructor for the Temple of Poi.
|