Hooping.org

[Hooping.org columnist Casandra Tanenbaum takes a closer look at hooping and the Occupy movement.]

by Casandra Tanenbaum

Whatever your political views and personal opinions on the values or strategies of the Occupy movement, it appears as though the action has made an impression on the public imagination, for better or for worse. It is 1:54 am, EST, and I am sitting at home in Florida, watching live streaming video of Occupy L.A. as the Los Angeles police department line up in the streets under the overhead chatter of helicopters. I have been watching the Occupy Movement grow from the seed of an idea sent from Adbusters magazine to my email inbox many months ago, and have been variably aghast and amazed at the tenacity of occupiers, around the world, to gather in committed action to voice their personal, political, economic and environmental concerns – and hula hoop.

Hang around long enough to snap a photo of any occupation and you’ll likely catch a hoop in motion. Occupiers have hoops and they are neither afraid nor ashamed to spin them in the streets, on the sidewalks, atop vehicles, in parks, around parks, and pretty much EVERYWHERE. As the weeks turn into months, and as fall lurches into winter, I have been wondering about the hoops and occupation connection. What is the function that hooping fulfills in this exceedingly strange ongoing global event?

First, let me slap my own head. There are hoops-a-plenty these days and in ANY arena where a large group of young people gathers, publicly or privately, amidst drumming, chanting, singing and dancing, we are bound to see a hoop or two. Or twelve. Be it a music festival, a house party or, perhaps, a large-scale public protest styled as an urban encampment. Having said that, what relationship exists between personal expression in hoop dance and the spectacle, power or experience of protest?  What passion for transformation, personal or political, is driving people to Occupy The Hoop?

I asked Ann Humphreys, a hooper who has visited Occupy Wall Street and a number of other occupations throughout the US and has been blogging about the occupy movement, for her views. Focusing in specifically on the act of hooping in a public, urban space, Ann shared, “I love the spontaneity – I love showing up somewhere with hoops and just seeing what happens… and even the cops were delighted by us. Because hoola-hooping makes everyone happy. It was special to be hooping with that group. In this event, in my experience, it’s a bigger energy than when its just my hoop and my self. What you are surrounded by changes your practice and it just felt like a really big energy.”

So, what purpose does hooping serve for the occupation? She explained, “It goes along with the fact that the Occupy movement is long on symbolism… I feel like art is a part of it – we were meeting in celebration of the right to express ourselves – there’s been so much tension about dancing in public, because its really about freedom – to dance in public is an expression of freedom. It is easier to dance with the hoop than without it, and to dance in a public space in an effort to draw attention to where we are being controlled: that’s the best place to dance, even if only to remind everybody ‘you can dance at anytime!’” Indeed. 

It is now 4:17am. I am now watching live video streaming of the Los Angeles police department arresting occupy protestors from the encampment on the south lawn of city hall, approximately an hour after the initial order was given to disperse.  I don’t need to look closely to see that, yes, even now – people are dancing. The 99% do not JUST occupy.  Sometimes, often, wherever and whenever they can, they dance. Hoops are optional.

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Casandra Tanenbaum has been spinning hoops and words for years at Hoopsofly and Florida Poetry Events. She lives in Lake Worth, Florida, and co-moderates our Southeast Hoopers forum.

Related posts:

1. Hula Hoop Occupied
2. Hula Hooping Has Undergone a Revolution
3. Daily Tar Heel’s Hoop Revolution
4. The Second Hula Hoop Revolution
5. The Legend of the Hoop That Started a Revolution