Twisted Orbit | Dynamic Troupe formed by Bags and Valentina.

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Two Artists, One Circle

Twisted Orbit Circus Entertainment is a San Diego-based husband-and-wife production company founded by Valentina and Steve "Bags" — a world-class, internationally recognized duo specializing in hula hooping, circus, physical theater, and comedy. They describe themselves as a boutique company that fuses circus with dance. What they are, in practice, is two of the most technically accomplished and genuinely joyful performers working in the flow arts today.

They met through their shared love of hooping and circus. They married in 2015. They built a company together, traveled the world together, and welcomed a child. The hoop, for Twisted Orbit, is not just an art form — it is the connective tissue of an entire life built together.

2013 Year Twisted
Orbit Founded

25 Hoops in Their
Duo Act

2015 Year They
Married

World Performed &
Taught Globally

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Meet Valentina & Bags

Co-Founder · Performer · Teacher Valentina Los Angeles → San Diego · Second-Generation Belly Dancer

Valentina grew up belly dancing with her mother Leela from the age of 12, under the instruction of their teacher Mesmera. Dance was never a hobby — it was the family language. She studied additional dance forms through high school and college, performed with dance teams, and worked in museum and arts education after graduating.

In 2007, her first Burning Man changed everything. She saw hoopers and fire dancers and made a vow. A few months later, at a San Diego Burning Man Decompression, she tried an LED hoop on a dance floor — and barely put it down again. Within a year she was teaching, performing, and selling handmade hoops under her company Unity Hoops.

People's Choice Belly Dancer of the Universe — recognized for her distinctive fusion of belly dance with hooping, fire, and juggling

HBO · National TV

HBO's "Live Nude Comedy" Valentina's hoop burlesque act landed her national television exposure within one year of starting to hoop.

Co-Founder · Performer · Teacher Bags United Kingdom · Circomedia Trained

Steve "Bags" is a circus artist from the UK who trained at Circomedia — Europe's leading centre for physical theatre and circus — giving him a classical circus foundation that is rare in the flow arts world. He specializes in juggling, hooping, and object balancing at the extreme end of the skill spectrum.

He is the only person in San Diego known to balance a flaming bicycle on his face — an act that is as structurally wild as it sounds, and executed with precision. His quirky, thrilling, internationally-performed acts have made him one of the most distinctive circus personalities in the American flow community.

Hooping.org — Male Hooper of the Year 2013 — recognized by the world's leading hoop dance publication

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Signature Acts

Twisted Orbit's performance catalogue ranges from intimate solo acts to large-scale productions — all rooted in the same core conviction: that circus and dance are not separate things, and that the hoop is capable of far more than anyone expects.

Hoop Juggling Duo Their signature act — up to 25 hoops in the duo. Solo acts end in a 20-hoop slinky. Defying expectations and circumventing convention with mind-boggling synchronized hoop juggling.

Valentina's Jellyfish Act A signature spinning act Valentina describes as "emotional and intense" — a unique prop performance that is unlike anything else in the company's repertoire.

Flaming Bike Face Balance Bags' jaw-dropping sideshow act — balancing a full flaming bicycle on his face. No one else in San Diego does this. A guaranteed showstopper.

Fire Shows Safe, mesmerizing fire performance for weddings, galas, outdoor festivals — fire hoop, fire juggling, fire eating, fire dancing. All performers insured.

LED Glow Shows LED hoops, poi, juggling clubs — solo, duo, group, and a three-person LED suit glow show. Perfect for evening events and nightclub environments.

Large-Scale Productions Full event production: aerial silks, belly dance, LED duo, multi-hoop solo, acrobatic duo — Twisted Orbit coordinates entire Cirque-style event experiences.

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How Hooping Changed Everything

Valentina's story is one of the most honest accounts of what building a flow arts career actually looks like. After deciding to leave museum and arts education and go full-time with hooping, she was completely broke for a year. She borrowed money to pay rent. She cried constantly and considered giving up many times.

"I thought: if it's not working out, why am I doing it? I think I am most proud of our hoop juggling act. I am also proud of some of our props that are unique and unusual. My husband balances a flaming bicycle on his face. I know no one else in San Diego who does these things."

She kept going. Unity Hoops — her original solo hoop school, shop, and performance company — became the foundation on which Twisted Orbit was eventually built. Bags, already recognized as Hooping.org's Male Hooper of the Year, arrived from the UK with Circomedia training and the same obsession. They met through hooping. The circle made the family.

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Stages & Festivals

Valentina and Bags have performed and taught across the full spectrum of the global flow arts and circus world — from intimate hoop retreats to major festivals on multiple continents. A selection of stages they've shared:

Burning Man · Nevada Australian Hoop Convention · Melbourne Byron Bay Hoop Festival · Australia Hoop Convergence · North Carolina Hoop Camp · Santa Cruz European Juggling Convention · Almere 2016 Burlesque Hall of Fame · Las Vegas BurlyCon · Seattle Hollywood Burlesque Festival Fantasia Belly Dance Festival · London Belly Fusions Festival · Paris Heart & Hoop Dance · Holland Fire Drums · Northern California Flow Storm · Texas Fern St. Circus · San Diego Bustout Burlesque · New Orleans Colorado Burlesque Festival · Denver Cairo Caravan · Long Beach

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Highlights

Hoopologie's first-ever ambassadors
Valentina — LA born, San Diego based
Bags — UK born, Circomedia trained
Met through hooping · married 2015
Parents — the hoop made the family
Twisted Orbit Circus Entertainment est. 2013
Based in North Park, San Diego
Duo act: up to 25 hoops simultaneously
Solo slinky act: 20 hoops
Bags: flaming bike face balance
Valentina: jellyfish act · Hoop Burlesque
Valentina: HBO "Live Nude Comedy"
Valentina: People's Choice Belly Dancer of the Universe
Bags: Hooping.org Male Hooper of the Year 2013
Valentina belly dancing since age 12
Unity Hoops — Valentina's solo hoop school & shop
Performed in Australia, Europe, across the USA
Fully insured · corporate, wedding, festival ready
Costume collaboration with Firetail Designs
Large-scale Cirque-style event production