If you鈥檝e been hanging out downtown this week, chances are you鈥檝e noticed it鈥檚 been hard to twirl a fidget-spinner without grazing a busker.
Be assured the antics of the 20 buskers here for the inaugural Downtown Victoria Buskers Festival are more entertaining than those trendy devices the New York Times recently termed the hula hoop for Generation Z.
The allure and athletic benefits of bona fide hula hoops, those gyrating toys from the 1950s now enjoying a comeback, is one example of what you鈥檒l find downtown during the festival.
Guests at a launch event Monday at Fort Common got a sneak preview of Bex in Motion, an astonishing display of hula-hoop prowess by Rebecca Zelewicz, 31.
The Toronto-based professional street performer dazzled the crowd gathered in the revitalized brick courtyard accessed by an alley off Blanshard Street between Starbucks and BeLove Restaurant.
Given the nature of the six-day event that ends today, the outdoor urban venue was the perfect setting for a preview of some of the street acts.
Bex, as the hula hooper, dancer and fire and glow performer is nicknamed, proved as adept at working the crowd as she did spinning multiple hula hoops on every part of her gyrating body.
鈥淏ex rhymes with hex, and other things too,鈥� the quick-witted performer declared before recruiting two spectators as part of her act 鈥� a fellow named Greg, and Victoria city councillor Jeremy Loveday.
They were good sports, suppressing laughter after being asked to do some silly moves and stand face-to-face, their arms folded as a human pedestal she would leap onto before doing more hula hoop tricks.
鈥淒id you guys pass kindergarten?鈥� she deadpanned when she sensed they weren鈥檛 getting it.
She cranked up the pressure by casually noting: 鈥淕uys, the mayor鈥檚 watching.鈥�
Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps was there with councillors Geoff Young, Pamela Madoff and Charlayne Thornton-Joe, part of a crowd that included Greater Victoria Harbour Authority CE0 Ian Robertson.
Helps was introduced by Kerry Milton, manager of the Downtown Victoria Business Assocation, which presented the festival in partnership with Tourism Victoria, GVHA and the Hotel Association of Greater Victoria.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a pretty bold move to reinvent something,鈥� Helps said. 鈥淪ometimes it takes a lot of courage and that鈥檚 what is being shown by the DVBA reinventing the buskers festival [formerly founder John Vickers鈥� Victoria International Buskers Festival] in the spirit of the community and the future of downtown where we all work together to get things done and to unleash our potential.鈥�
Zelewicz said such festivals give professional street performers a chance to showcase how much preparation and hard work it takes to craft and present playable acts on the spot.
鈥淭o get to the level of something like this festival you have to be pretty put together and put time not only into your act, but your practice and things like costuming,鈥� she said.
Although she was into juggling and did gymnastics and trampoline as a child, it wasn鈥檛 until she attended teachers鈥� college that Zelewicz got into hula hoops big-time after joining a hula-hoop club.
鈥淚 think of performing as similar to teaching,鈥� said Zelewicz, who has two university degrees, including one in kinesiology, and planned to teach sports and yoga before specializing in hula hoop dancing and circus hooping.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 feel so much like I鈥檓 going on stage. You鈥檙e working with your audience, and that鈥檚 what I love about it.鈥�
Australia鈥檚 Beat the Streets also entertained the crowd with a taste of their high-energy comedy and signature dance style, a fusion of break dancing and tap dancing.
鈥淭his is the best festival I鈥檝e ever done, and I鈥檝e been doing this for about 15 years. It鈥檚 pretty damn amazing,鈥� said Bronx-born founder and director William Sanchez.
Sanchez and his fellow dancers 鈥� Casablanca-born BBoy Bison; New Yorker Joe Bananas and Sydney, Australia鈥檚 Nathaniel Hancock 鈥� said there鈥檚 more to performing these street shows than meets the eye.
鈥淚t鈥檚 tough. It鈥檚 a skill being able to control a crowd watching you for 35 minutes,鈥� Sanchez said. 鈥淚t takes a while to get it. You can鈥檛 just go up there and do it. I can鈥檛 say I pulled it off my first year.鈥�
One of the rushes, he said, is that every show is different.
鈥淵ou never know what鈥檚 going to happen,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t took us a while to pull together and now we can confidently go out there and say, 鈥榃e鈥檙e gonna rock this!鈥欌��