Watch: Taiwan's spinning acrobatic artist

Video. Watch: Taiwan's spinning acrobatic artist

The street artist Isaac Hou has become famous in Taipei for using a giant spinning hoop during his gymnastic street shows.

The street artist Isaac Hou has become famous in Taipei for using a giant spinning hoop during his gymnastic street shows.

Hou often attracts a large crowd when street-performing in various locations throughout Taiwan's capital when he is not on stage.

Hou uses both strength and balance to whirl himself and perform acrobatics on the large metal wheel known as a Cyr.

The 37-year-old learned his skills after finishing high school, where he travelled the world. Hou learned kung fu at the Shaolin temple in China and acrobatics at a circus performance school in Denmark and Russia.

Speaking to AFP, the acrobat and dancer said: "The reason I wanted to become a street performer is because I saw it as a job without an unpleasant boss, having a great deal of freedom, a way to travel."