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For most people, yo-yos are a toy that they played with sporadically as children until they got too frustrated, or the string got too tangled to continue. For others, it’s a hobby, a community and, this weekend, a competition at the Crystal Ballroom.
Organizers of the 17th annual Pacific Northwest Regional Yo-Yo Championship expect over 100 contestants from across the country to compete at the March 29 event. PNWR is one of three regional tournaments put on by the National Yo-Yo League, and the winners go on to nationals in Las Vegas this June.
Portlander Aliyah Tan, 25, specializes in dual yo-yo, meaning her choreographed, timed routines are done with a toy in each hand. A panel of judges evaluates routines based on complexity, creativity and cleanliness.
“It’s not a style most people do,” she says. “With two strings, there’s a lot more knots, so it takes a lot of patience.”
Tan took up the hobby at age 12 in order to procrastinate on homework. After immersing in a world of YouTube tutorials, she started attending national competitions as a spectator in 2012. She got onstage herself in 2014, at age 14. She attends the Portland yo-yo community’s monthly meetups to bounce ideas for tricks off of other people. Tan practices yo-yo for one or two hours a day, whether it’s idly yo-yoing while she walks around or intentionally working on a routine.
Last year, she came in third at nationals with a routine set to Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club.” She is keeping this year’s song choice a secret until this weekend’s competition but reveals that she will present intricate tricks that nobody else in the world can do.
“It’s an amazing niche to be able to show people,” Tan says. “They’re like, ‘People still do that?’”
SEE IT: Pacific Northwest Regional Yo-Yo Championship at the Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside St., 503-384-2511, crystalballroompdx.com. 10 am Saturday, March 29. $5-$11.