Despite the title, Tash Kouri gets serious about hooping in this legitimately kick-ass video featuring the music of Die Antwoord. And on a personal note, if you’re looking for some new tunes, check out Die Antwoord and their sweet Zef stylings to to accompany your next level skills!

Hey all you people out there on the interwebs. I’ve got some awesome new suggestions for those looking to get professional quality fire photos, but have no idea where to start. Basically, unless you have some pretty sweet gear, the low light settings are going to be a bitch when it comes to getting the right shots. It’s either super grainy, or all you can really get are the same old trail patterns that everyone else has. Not to say they don’t look neat, but everyone in the community has seen that stuff before. So, here’s an interesting solution that we stumbled into with a bit of luck, and are now sharing with you!

I’m sure we’ve all heard the talk about not working for free, or making sure that you’re getting paid enough for your gigs. Well, throw all that stuff out the window when it comes to collaboration. And what better way to collaborate with others than through kick-ass photography?!

Tash and I were contacted by a man named Wade Simmonds, who runs the DFW Photography Meetup group. And, being a meetup group, they naturally hang out to take pictures together. So, this time around he was looking to photograph fire dancers in their natural environment. Normally, I would consider this a gig. Someone wants me to perform for them. Simple and Straightforward. But, being a meetup group, they can’t generally afford to hire professional performers just to take pictures. So, we cut a deal.

We needed new fire photos for our portfolio, website, and general awesome usage. They wanted those same awesome pictures too. It’s a win/win. So we came to an agreement whereby we would have the rights to use the pictures, and in return we would give them a huge discount. And it worked out great for us. Check out just a few of the shots:

Photo by Enigma

Photo by Ken Sheppa

Photo by Katherine Nguyen

So, how exactly does this post benefit you? Well, just in terms of keeping an open mind about how you work, and how your getting compensated is always a good idea. Tash and I often joke that we’d gladly take gigs with airline companies for no pay, instead getting Round Trip tickets to destinations of our choice. It’s what we’re already spending money on, right? But on a more related note, look for photography groups in your area, and pitch them this idea. If you’re looking for great fire photos, this is a great way to get tons of photos from a number of skilled professionals.

First of all, I wanted to say how much I love you Tash Kouri! Some of you, perhaps many of you, already know that Tash and I got married last year (9/16/2010). And, seeing as how this blog was totally M.I.A. at the time, we hadn’t posted our super sexy, awesome, hot wedding fire video. This video is basically a compilation of our “first fire dance”, along with the performances that followed by our wonderful friends down in Austin, TX. Thanks so much to everyone for performing, and Aaron Geiser for filming. We’re still working on editing down all of the footage for a more encompassing video. In the meanwhile, enjoy…

Oh and before we go, I’d like to say:

Happy Birthday Tash! I Love You!

The Gyronauts were featured in Yesterday’s edition of The Daily Texan . Woo Hoo! As some of you may or may not know, the Daily Texan is the run paper at the University of Texas. And it actually looks very professional for a student paper. So, we’re hanging on to another article to hopefully have it framed one day, to embarrass our children and impress our grandchildren. In the meanwhile, you guys in should check out the article, especially all of you lovely people in good old Austin, as it pertains to your wonderful circus community. The full article can be found here:

‘Hooping Combines Art, Excercise’

by Addie Anderson, Daily Texan Staff

The article features both Tash and I, as well as another local hooper, Georgina Toland. There’s some nice shout outs to both Tiniest Bar as well as C.U. @ Circus. And the only misquote in there is “optic manipulation” as opposed to “object manipulation”. So all in all a pretty nice article. Thanks to Addie for making it happen. -Sean

Hello again. Some exciting news: The Gyronauts will be performing at the Faery Mask Ball on May 1st at The Vortex! It’s going to be a kick-ass show which is supporting a kick-ass cause! Donations are $10-$30. It is based around The Vortex’s own performance of “Sleeping Beauty”. Hence the Faery theme. And apart from out fabulous spandex tomfoolery, there will also be live ariel performances, live digital art, DJ, and our old pals Prophet Visuals are going to be supplying us with the visual love to provide an incredible VJ experience from 12-2. We will be performing at 8:30 PM, with fire from all of our friends to follow. We will also be selling our wonderful hoops and poi at the event, so if you aren’t already on the circus bandwagon, hop on board! So come out to The Vortex and support us and this wonderful venue!

-Sean

It’s been a while. I know. SXSW would be my excuse, if I had actually been involved in the event, but alas, that would be untrue. I’ve been a lazy spinner. Bad Sean. Anyway, I’m back now, after the break, and I have a wonderful new Demo to show you guys! This is specifically for me and Tash, and it is incredible. Filmed by Elijah Parker, Andreas Leonardson, Aura Cleveland, and Aaron Geiser. Video Edited by Eli. Big thanks to him. All of this was filmed over the course of about 1 month, in various locations around Austin and Dripping Springs.

Tash and Sean of The Gyronauts from Prophetvisuals on Vimeo.

So, if you’re a non-spinner/booking agent, and liked what you saw, give us a shout!