I am involved with starting up a performance hoop troupe- 4 of us total. We are incorporating l.e.d.'s in our show- we are getting ready to order hoops from PSI. The question is; do you folks think it is important for all of us to have the same led hoops? Will it impact our visual performance negatively if we are using different color/style led hoops? Some of us are interested in PSI's dragonfly's, others are interested in the elven style hoop... is it a big deal?
Personally, I prefer that the hoops match but I don't think it's required. I think it looks more polished though.
I also greatly prefer the elfin lights. I got the dragonflys and I never liked them. They were too bright and annoyingly staccato. And I wasn't the only person who thought so. Sometimes people would even say, "Wow, those are bright! I can't look at those." or "They make me blind" or "They give me a headache". They also make unusual patterns in photographs. My first hoop, though not a psi hoop, was like an elfin hoop and I liked it so much better. My next will either be all elfin or perhaps half dragonfly with elfin interspersed. I definitely recommend checking them out in real life. Don't rely on the videos on the psi hoop page. They do not really represent how these hoops really look.
Hope this helps!
Although with most things I do prefer matching more than non matching, I think that with psi hoops, there is so much color and motion that it doesn't matter.
All of the girls in the All Stars had different psi hoops. We each decided on whatever diameter, tubing, and light combination we wanted and I think it looked fine that they were each different. You can see four of us with our hoops in this video and I don't think it's very noticeable that our hoops don't have the same lights:
www.youtube.com/watch
Honestly, as a member of a group, if I have to pay $250-$350 for a hoop, I want to be able to get one that I will like. Hope that helps!
Both the previous post have great points!
However, I think I agree most with the 2nd post because there are so many lights and it is sooo bright that I dunno if an untrained hooper audience would know the difference. And I think as long as no one wants to get a RICA hoop that you are doing just fine. I think you all should get the hoop you want since you are spending so much.
Although, I do agree with Caroleena on checking out the hoops in person instead of buying blind, if you will, try and find someone who has that hoop so that you know you really are getting what you want. And don't forget you can mix and match the lights so it doesn't have to be solid one or the other, they are just options :)
Good luck!
If you want to keep cost down, we have come up with a professional quality 32 LED hoop for only $99. This could allow everyone to get matching hoop without a lot of cash outlay.
www.trickconcepts.com/-Glow-h...C80.aspx
I second Caroleeena and Laura's suggestion to see the kind of hoop you want in action before buying! Photos are not adequate because I have seen pictures of my hoop taken with different people's cameras using different settings and they all look different. Videos are the only way to really see what the hoops look like.
I am going to suggest the opposite of what Laura said. Rather than finding someone who has the hoop you want, watch as many psi hoop videos as you can on youtube, and when you see a hoop that you like, ask them what kind of lights they have.
I will admit that I never log into youtube anymore (now that they're having all those ridiculous issues with music, I upload all my videos to vimeo), so you may have a hard time getting a hold of some people. If you find a hoop you like that Patrick made you can always ask him what kind of lights were used in that particular hoop.
Going back to photographs, what your hoop looks like in pictures is also something to take into consideration because if you perform, I guarantee that people will be taking pictures. Photos of elfin hoops tend to look like smeary lasers lines. Rainbow riders look like a row of dots of the same color, and dragonfly lights look a continuous line of rainbow colors.
Also consider when and where you will be using your hoops. My (admittedly biased) opinion is that the faster color changing lights (dragonflies or rainbow riders) look better with less lighting. The spazziness fits in really well when I perform at nightclubs because it's so dark. If you're going to use your hoops under more low light (meaning you are fully visible, as opposed to almost in the pitch dark), then the dragonflies can be a bit much.
