Jamaican Skipping Magic

“Coincidence is God’s way of remaining anonymous.” -Albert Einstein

Synchronicity and seeming coincidences have been at the heart of my skipping adventure from the very start. So much so that I’m no longer shocked and surprised when it happens, since I’ve come to expect skipping and magic to go hand in hand over the years. But this one that happened the other night definitely deserves repeating.

I was playing pool at happy hour at a local bar/restaurant. A fun song with a great beat was playing on the juke box, and a young man who was also waiting for his name to come up on the chalk board was standing next to me. I started bouncing along to the music and he and I started talking about dancing. I asked him if he was a dancer and he replied that he only knows dances from his home country of Jamaica. So I asked him to show me how they would dance the song we were listening to there.

He started leaping slowly side to side and I did my best to mimic his movements. I had to smile when he started coaching me, “Skip, skip, skip,” he encouraged. Once the song was over I told him about iskip.com and my passion for skipping, and that’s when I recognized synchronicity’s magical hand at work.

He told me that the hottest dance in Jamaica right now is called the “Skip to Ma Luu” and it suddenly all came together in my mind. Just two days before a member of The Skipping Movement’s Facebook page had posted this video on its wall:

It was the very same dance that the random Jamaican man I met by chance was teaching me just two days later. What are the odds!?

Jamaica’s Skip to Ma Luu dance was created by a 12-year old musical artist named QQ and it is sweeping the nation. I love how the song calls out to Sydney Australia, Japan, Johannesburg, London, Berlin, Israel, Paris, Toronto, Montreal, etc. to skip with them! What a glorious manifestation of the skipping movement in action.

Skip on Jamaica! Skip on! Here’s hoping the rest of the world accepts your invitation and gets their skip on too.

Madonna’s Trainer Promotes Treadmill Skipping

Madonna & Gwenyth Paltrow’s personal trainer Tracy Anderson was recently on The Early Show singing the praises of skipping on the treadmill.  Here’s the video:

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She’s right! It’s a lot of fun!  Best speed when you are first starting out is 4.0 - 4.4!  Skip on!

Skipping with Berlin

Berlin took Skipper Kim’s breath away when she was one of a handful of audience members who got to dance on stage at the Marin County Fair.  Kim’s friend Adrienne just happened to be in the front row and filmed the following video when she saw Kim skipping around the stage!  You gotta love when Berlin lead singer Terri Nunn starts skipping too!

Fiddle Skipping in Chicago

On a recent trip to Chicago, iskip.com’s Skipper Kim caught  up with Chris Marshall, an avid skipper who plays the fiddle and skips at the same time!   In this video, Chris shares his skipping philosophy with Kim before they skip around Millennium Park where some kindred spirits join the fun!

Go on Holland, Get Your Skip on!

Different video pros from all over the world have been inspired to create skipping “mockumentaries” in recent years. This is one of the best of the best. It was produced by the Groen Brothers who live in Holland and make comedy videos. You can see their other films here. Skip on!

Black Rock City, Nevada

This skipping montage video was shot at Burning Man in 2008. As those of you who have attended the Burning Man Festival know, skipping comes naturally on the playa. It happens often in a spirit of pure spontaniety and joy, as it should be!

I was a member of Burning Man’s media team when I created iskip.com in 1999 and it would never have gotten off the ground in the way it did without the support and encouragement of the creative souls I met there.

2008 was my 11th Burning Man. It has been a part of my life for even longer than skipping has!

I would be happy to answer any questions you might have about the Burning Man experience.While it is most definitely NOT for the faint of heart, it most certainly has the potential of blowing the lid to your life wide open. That’s what it did for me! SKIP ON!

Sedona Arizona - January 2009

This video was shot on New Year’s Day in 2009 at one of the most magical places I have ever skipped - Sedona, Arizona!   It literally felt like we were skipping on top of the world!

Comedian Michael McIntyre

Michael McIntyre, a wildly popular comedian in the UK, does a wonderful bit about skipping during his stand-up comedy act.

He says, “although socially unacceptable for anyone above the age of six, it’s actually a remarkable way to move. Skipping is magnficient!”

Of course, iskip.com is all about rewriting those cultural rules that say skipping isn’t acceptable. After all, who says it isn’t acceptable? And whoever they are, why on earth would we listen to them when our world is in such desperate need of positive energy and joy? Skip on!

You can watch Michael McIntyre’s skipping bit here…

Tommy Fox - Australia

There’s a skipper down under who has been taking the skipping movement by storm. His name is Tommy Fox and his website is full of fun skipping pictures and videos.

Here’s a quote from Tommy from his You Tube channel, “Skippers shall no longer be forced to inhabit the semi darkness on the edge of society. Now is the time to come out of the shadows, out of the basements and confines of your bedroom. Be ashamed no more. A mudslide of change is sweeping across globe.”

Here’s a video where he describes how we went from being a skateboarder to discovering “the way of the skip”.

Tommy attempted to skip around Australia, but didn’t ultimately complete his adventure. Here’s a video of the finish of his attempt.

Skip on, Tommy Fox…You are doing the skipping community proud!

Supermarket Skipping

Here’s an idea for some of you more extreme skippers out there. The next time you are at the Grocery Story skip down an aisle just for the fun of it!

Bonus points if you capture your skip on video!

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