A Match Made in Montreal

While I was living in Montreal last year I teamed up with another Australian performing artist, the beautiful singer/songwriter/ guitarist Madeline Leman. Maddy describes herself as "a spicy mixed bean wrap of folk/acoustic/pop with a fresh side of country". She seamlessly combines poetic lyricism with soulful melodies to create a mesmerising stage presence. And her lusciously long auburn locks (and I mean LONG) never fail to captivate a crowd.

Maddy and I performed at local organic markets, including Marché Fermier and the McGill Farmers' Market, until it was too cold for Maddy to finger pick and my hoop turned to ice. We were accompanied on occasion by the talented Derek Harrison. 

Check out Madeline's Facebook page HERE and her Sound Cloud HERE.

Winter is Coming

When it comes to hooping the golden rule is the less clothes the better! The more skin you show, the more the hoop will grip and gracefully move up and down your body. This is part of the reason why it's so hard to keep motivated throughout the Winter.

I experienced this to the extreme while living in the brutally chilling yet beautiful Montreal. In Melbourne I can occasionally brave the cold and venture outside to practice, but in Montreal I was strictly confined to inside hooping...unless I wanted to lose some fingers and toes.

My advice to combat the Winter time...practice inside, strip down and turn up the heating! On the bright side, hooping inside with space restrictions sharpened my skills and meant I learned a lot more isolation and shoulder moves (see video below).

Check out my other videos on my YouTube channel HERE.