Thanks for this nice report Sean ! I would like to add a few things.
Firstly, about the basic principles. Here they are :
1) throws
2) loops/wraps
3) suns
4) sticks releases
5) magic knots (that is to say a loop that involves both the diabolo and at least one of the sticks)
6) grinds (sticks, hands, everything else)
7) whips ("string throws")
8 ) grabs (that is to say taking the diabolo in the hand, or between the legs or wherever you want)
As you can see Sean, Ant and I have added three principles to the five we mentionned at WJF.
Here are a few examples :
- a genocide is a mix between a throw and a stick release
- satellites simply rely on throws !
- a stop over IS a magic knot that ends in a loop
- japanese loops use whips to make a magic knot
- what we usually call "the whip" is in fact between a throw and a "string throw"
- infinite suicide = stick release + loop
To quote Ant, I would say that a good sequence has to mix as many principles as possible.
Now I'll add a few things about what we called "key positions" during the workshop. If you take all your well- known sequences in diabolo, you will notice that there are positions where you can decide to change the unfolding of your sequence... And we often don't change anything, because we're used to do this sequence in a certain way and are too lazy to take the risk to change it
But this time we won't be lazy !
Take all your well-known sequences and try to find what are the key positions in them. After this, you will have divided your sequences into small parts, like this :
KP0 / trick 1 /
KP1 / trick2 /
KP2 / ... / trick n/
KPn(KP = key position)
Let's take a simple example. This is a combo that Ant and I often do :
Left magic knot, release right string (it undoes the magic knot and do a wrap), catch the right stick, release the left one to do an infinite suicide.
For this combo we have :
KP0 = diabolo simply in front of you
trick1 = doing the magic knot
KP1 = having the magic knot
trick2 = right suicide
KP2 = diabolo in front of you with a loop
trick3 = left suicide
KP3 = infinite suicide
This is one of the ways to split up the combo. If you split up all your sequences this way, you will get several key positions and tricks/little sequences that allow to go from a position to another.
Note that these positions depend on your style of diabolo, and therefore are different for each diabolist. Nevertheless, some positions are key ones for almost everybody. Having the diabolo simply in front of you is the most basic key position. But it is a bit useless, because if you use this position only to change the unfolding of your sequences, you will have the feeling of doing several tricks one after another, which is not really improvisation. Therefore, you have to find key positions a bit more complicated.
Once you have found key positions, you can try to write them on a paper. Put each key positions in a circle. Then draw lines representing every trick or small sequence that links two positions. You will get a huge graph in which you will be able to travel easily. Normally, you should be able to see on this graph your well known sequences : they are particular paths linking a sequence of key positions. But you do not have to follow these paths only ! Remember that you can choose to change the unfolding of your sequence at each key position.
Let's get back to our example. I start the same way. I do a magic knot, and I get into KP1. Usually, I would do a simple right suicide. But I change my mind and decide to do right suicide caught behind the back. I found myself in a new position, which is a loop behind the back. If I look the paper on which I wrote all my positions, I can find several lines starting from this point. I choose one and go to another position. And so on...
So put the music on and improvise. Consider each position as an opportunity to change the unfolding of your combo. And that's it !
This is it for the theory. Of course, things aren't that easy in the real life. As Sean said, the lack of speed is a huge problem. Hence the need to know combos and tricks that give speed to the diabolo. Simple ones : infinite suicide, satellites... I have 2 or 3 combos that I use to give speed to my diabolo. It is less boring for the audience to see these tricks rather than see me giving speed in the most simple way.
So don't hesitate to do "speed combos" between to complicated sequences. And if you are really stuck, don't hesitate to take the diabolo in the hand ! It is not shocking as long as it is done in a sexy way. And moreover, there are lots of tricks to be done with the diabolo in the hand. Using this kind of trick is not only useful, it creates a nice breakdown in your sequence.
Another problem for improvisation is the lack of inspiration. You think that you have done all your combos, and really don't know what to do next. In this case, you can't face the audience doing nothing ! So use silly tricks to keep on moving while thinking of what you're going to do next. Everyone has some and don't do them that often. Examples : infinite suicide, satellites... (and these ones also give speed !) allow you to stand and think of what you're going to do, without doing nothing.
Remember that doing simple tricks in the middle of a sequence also gives time to the audience to take a breathe and creates a nice breakdown.
To finish with, here is a tip that diabolists don't use very often, and it is a pity ! Antonin well underlined this point during the workshop : move your body. Turn, jump, walk, move.
Remember that every trick can be done facing the audience or not. And there are tricks that are nice to see when you do not face the audience (body satelites for instance). So don't hesitate to turn while playing diabolo. It opens new possibilities. Take one of your well known sequences, interrupt it in the middle, do a U-turn, and see what happens. You'll probably find something new. Matt Hall did this with one of his combos during the workshop, and he created a really nice combo by adding U-turns in a combo he already knew.
Now train ! Put the music on, and train alone, I mean not in front of an audience, because if you fear dropping, you won't dare improvising. Begin a combo, split it up, make U-turn... And enjoy
