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Instructor Profile

2023 Instructor lineup
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Sparkles

Sparkles loves to laugh and play. They are a stone carver by trade and make their living through architectural restoration and sculpture. They have always loved performance art and when they discovered fire dancing they fell in love. They specialize in Contact Staff and Dragon Staff but they spin all the props.
Sparkles has taught at playthink for the past three years. They say, returning to playthink each year feels like returning home to see family. The children inspire me and remind me what life is really about. Sparkles met their Fiancee at playthink, Terrapin Hill is a very special place.

Contact Staff for Kids
In this class I will be giving away a handful of practice contact staffs made to Kids dimensions. I will teach the children how to roll the staff down their legs and arms. We will learn about the 9 square grid and how we can use the space around us to move with a staff. We will talk about imaginative play and how the staff can be our dance partner and friend. The practice staffs I will be giving away will be contructed with wooden dowels caped with foam for safty. Getting outside to play is so important and the staff can give your children a healthy outlet for all that energy. I will have all my full size staffs with me so parents can use one to take the class with their child.
Contact Staff: Creative Combos
In this Contact Staff class we will discuss kenetic energy and how we can use motion to create some neat combos. We will cover reverse and foward fishtails. We will talk about the staff spinning direcrion and how the direction the staff is spinning changes from reverse to foward as you turn your body 180 degrees. This class will include the “fishnado” the 360 fishtail and talk about how it can be used to stop and think about the next step. We will also discuss fish wings and how they can be used to create continuous movement. I will show some neat combos that I have discovered and make sure to include tricks for all levels of flow. This class will be great for beginners and advanced spinners because it will be broken down into individual tricks. If your just getting started you can work on the prerequisites or if you are more advance you can try to complete the whole combo.
Dragon Staff
This class will cover lots of Dragon Staff fundamentals. We will learn all 4 types of Chi Rolls. After learning all 4 Chi Rolls we will learn windmills, using the Chi Rolls as a foundation. We will discuss transitions and then cover a move called the Fountain. We will break the fountain down into steps. Using the fountain as a base we can add variety to the trick, by going under the leg. We will learn how to connect windmills and fountains together. We will also discuss Dragon Staff fishtails and how they are similar to Chi Rolls. We will spend some time discussing rolling direction VS Spinning Direction. This class is based on what I learned at the Ninja Pyrate Dragonstaff Spintensive. This class is has been discused with other Dragon Staff instructors in an effot to create universal terminology. This class is open to all levels of Dragon Staff spinners.
Poetry Jam with Sparkles
In this class we will have an open format Poetry Jam were attendees can share their poetry. We will talk about life and how we can all relate though our struggles and triumphs. We will discuss the human condition and then conclude the Jam by writing a collaborative Poem. The collaborative poem will give participants the chance to work with each other to create a cohesive work that has a meaning no one could write on their own. Community means everything and by sharing our emotions with each other we create a stronger community.

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