But first, allow me to introduce our distinguished panel of judges. Joining me for a luxuriously lazy Saturday afternoon in front of the television were Vera Fleischer, Marjorie Schwartz-Scott, Allison Olly and Christopher Mondini. Vera Fleischer is one of the founders of Hooping.org Magazine, co-founder of San Francisco's Bay Area Hoopers and a hoopster model for Ilanio Wear. Marjorie Scott was invited to sit on our panel as our fitness expert. Having begun teaching aerobics in 1980 - or "dancergenics" if you will, as it was originally called - Marjorie's been cerfied with the American Council on Exercise (ACE) since its inception in 1986. Allison Olly is a hoop dance performer, teaches hooping classes for children and recently came in as first runner-up in the Miss Hoop New York 2007 contest. And last, but certainly not least, Christopher Mondini joined us as our total newbie hooper. Having picked up a hoop for the first time on World Hoop Day, he could provide us with that true beginner's perspective.

Now it's important to point out that hooping and watching television are not necessarily two activities that fundamentally work well together, unless you have a really large living room. We know some of you are that fortunate, but for the rest of us it might be a little frustrating trying to learn a new move in front of the screen, only to forget exactly how to execute it by the time you're outside with your hoop in the backyard or a nearby park. Nevertheless, DVDs offer a great opportunity for instruction, learning at your leisure and at your own pace and ultimately they're less expensive then taking real time classes from most instructors. With that in mind, let's see how our five hooping DVDs measured up.

We started with Hoop Dance Fusion from bodyhoops which begins by taking you right into a hoop class. You warm up with instructor Diane Lopez and soon you're learning the essentials to get you going. The somewhat diverse group of men and women of different sizes attending the class with you will likely give you the feeling that you belong in this class as well, no matter who you are. And after the class is over you can enjoy a series of hoop dance demonstrations that include inspiring moves beyond what you just learned, starting out in a rather tribal animal print setting, before moving to a hoop gathering in the park on a sunny day. An exotic bellydance-like hoop performance by Lopez herself is followed by more diverse hoopers by the swimming pool, closing with a fire hooping display at night at the beach. In the third and final chapter, Credits and Outtakes, we're reminded that while all the shots may have been flawlessly executed in class and elsewhere, that this just isn't the reality of learning hoop dance. "Yay! The sound of hoops dropping on the ground! I liked the speeding up and slowing down of movement throughout the video too," Vera said. We all thought the film speed style techniques utilized worked really well for learning. Christopher noted, "The leg positions for knee hooping could have been explained better, and she could have been a little more thoughtful about how it will take practice to learn these moves." He liked the DVD pretty well though. Marjorie believed that from a fitness perspective Hoop Dance Fusion was well presented, although she found Lopez's claim that you can burn up to 100 calories in 10 minutes of hooping to be rather sensational. While some of us enjoyed the music soundtrack, others found that it got a little old and repetitious. Overall though our judges panel agreed that Hoop Dance Fusion is a good DVD for beginners, particularly those with an eye on hooping as fitness. At $19.95 it's the bargain in our DVD bin as well. "It does have its limitations though," Allison noted, adding, "if you want to learn a lot of moves you're going to outgrow it."

Hoopdance For Beginners from HoopGirl is an entirely different experience. If you find the classroom setting on the dull side, then you're likely to enjoy watching Christabel Zamor hooping beside Hawaiian waterfalls and on pristine sandy beaches. While Zamor begins by informing us that we're going to learn the moves from her beginners intensive class, the classroom concept is quickly discarded. There is no warm up. Instead Zamor begins by instructing the viewer on what amounts to a veritable cornucopia of hoop dance moves. One nice touch is that each move is it's own DVD chapter, making it easy to focus in on something specific you want to learn. In each segment Zamor demonstrates the move in a studio, before cutting to several exotic demonstrations of it, this time in incredibly lavish and at times over-the-top costumes in a tropical setting. One thing Hoopdance For Beginners may have forgotten though, is that this is for beginners. "It's more like an Encyclopedia of Hoop Moves than a beginners DVD," Christopher said, "it's overwhelming to me and the three hoop girls are all intimidatingly skinny and muscular." There aren't any men, just in case you were wondering. The product, dynamic as it is and chock full of eye candy, could also benefit from clearer and more thoughtful directions and more closeups. It also doesn't progress from the most simple moves to the more difficult as well as it could. While the musical soundtrack is excellent, Zamor has a habit of overusing metaphors as an instruction technique. "I don't want to imagine I'm a grasshopper extending my leg gracefully," Allison laughed. Vera added, "I didn't like a lot of the names [for moves] such as Pump, Snake, Spunk, Zest, etc. I like that the DVD covers a lot of stuff though. I like that her moves are shown first in a studio more mechanically and then in a dance more fluidly too." One of the problems with the names of her hoop dance moves is that when Zamor says "Start with Swish," you have to remember exactly what Swish was. While some names like "Wild West" make sense, others are counterintuitive. "It's more advanced," said Marjorie, "concentrating on the dance element more than exercise. It's a great DVD for those that want to improve their performance level." In fact Allison, our performer, having not seen it before decided she needed a copy for herself. The DVD also has a performance section which appears to string together all of the tropical hoop move performance segments. As Zamor explains in introduction "consider these moves spices in your hoop dance feast." If that's the case there's plenty here to sink your teeth into and she cooks up a smorgasbord in this one DVD for $24.95. While we can't recommend it as the best option for beginners, it's the best option currently available for anyone who really wants to expand their hoop dance repertoire.

Hulaerobics from HoopGirl is something different yet again, in this case your workout companion for hooping in front of your television. If you've got the space and you want to get in shape then this may be the DVD for you. Our fitness expert Marjorie says, "This is to use to workout with. Hoop while you watch, although it's choppy. It would have been better if it didn't break between sections and delivered a full non-stop fitness class." The DVD, which was produced in the UK by Heart FM and includes appearances by UK radio personality Harriet Scott as Zamor's new hooping student, helps explain the British slant here as the American Zamor helps you work on your "tum and your bum." Truthfully, it's a little dull to just sit and watch, no matter how appealing Zamor is here. Sadly, the producers left her all alone except for a couple appearances by Scott, left in a studio that changes colors between sections. It can't help but get a little old after awhile, unless you're hooping with her. That's why this is being recommended as the workout participation experience for those who want to "look good, feel good, have fun and shape up!" It retails for $24.95.

Hoopnotic Hoopdance Beginning Level 1 from Hoopnotica is solid at every level. Rayna McInturf and Keaton Talmadge do a terrific job of turning the teaching of hoop dance into the beginnings of a truly excellent DVD series. They explain what you're going to learn in each DVD at the beginning and then teach in the best possible way, one you're certain to learn from. Several of us had moments of saying, "I never thought of it like that. That makes so much sense." Kicking off with a warm-up, each teaching section that follows concludes with a troubleshooting section by Talmadge. She highlights the typical mistakes we all make and shows us how to fix them. Vera said, "I love the troubleshooting sections. The moves are very well explained and shown several times. Rayna is great in front of the camera." Hoopnotica's thoughtful explanations are clear and simple, without a lot of unnecessary fluff. Waist-hooping is called, well, waist-hooping. Marjorie says, "It's a good DVD with a good warm-up using a class format and using the hoop as a prop. The lessons break down each move to their simplest components with clear visual examples making the concepts easy to understand." Allison commented, "I like how she gives different instructions for people who hoop in different directions too throughout. It's the best warm up of all the DVDs and the most fun." What did our beginner think? Christopher told us, "Keaton's troubleshooting sections are very helpful and consistently entertaining. There's a variety of hoopers here too including men and the outfits and settings are really accessible, not intimidating. The Passing and Floating section showed me easy ways to make beautiful moves. I really want this DVD." So what's the downside if any? You'll outgrow Level 1 and at $24.95 per DVD you're looking at a bigger financial investment, albeit a good one to make. When you add Beginning Level 2 at $24.95 as well - and trust us, you will want to - it's going dig deeper in your pocket. If you're a beginner who really wants to learn and continue to grow over time though, do consider making the investment in the Hoopnotic Hoopdance series.

Hoopnotic Hoopdance Beginning Level 2 picks right up where Level 1 leaves off, expanding on the warmup then taking what we learned and building right from there. The overall style is the same, the instructions continue to be very clear and very well orchestrated, and Talmadge's troubleshooting segments continue to educate and entertain. It's in watching Beginner Level 2 that it becomes very clear that the Hoopnotica team are taking the time to truly create what will ultimately be the quintessential Hoopdance DVD series. With top notch prismatic packaging, quality production, quality instruction and a teaser at the end for their soon to be released Intermediate series, what can we say. We're already eagerly anticipating it's release.

So what is the best hooping DVD? It's really about which is the best for you and your needs. Keep in mind that hooping can be addictive and once you learn a little you may very well wind up wanting to learn a whole lot more. If you're a beginner and you know you're only going to buy one DVD and you're really not interested in getting fancy, Hoop Dance Fusion is perfect for you. It'll give you more than Hoopnotica's Beginner Level 1, yet quite a bit less than Hoopgirl's Hoopdance For Beginners. The DVD we recommend for those who have been hooping awhile and want to pick up some new moves and expand your hoop dance repertoire is Hoopdance For Beginners. There's definitely something here to challenge just about anyone. If you're more interested in fitness and are really all about working out in front of your television and have the room to hoop it up, pick up a copy of Hulaerobics. It's your hooping workout partner DVD experience. And as for the Hoopnotic Hoopdance series Beginner Level 1 and 2, if you're a beginner who really wants to learn, these highly polished quality instructional DVDs really can't be recommended enough. We're really not sure how it could get any better than this. Happy Hooping and we hope you enjoy your hooping DVD purchases.