How did the hooping begin for him? Stuart explained, "I was at an art party in DUMBO Brooklyn, dancing and enjoying the huge inflatable sculpture filled space, when I found a group of about five people who appeared to be there with the purpose of hooping and sharing their hoops with others. Like most people I had only done it a few times in my life and that was as a kid, but I remembered having a natural enjoyment for the activity so I picked up one of their hoops and started to dance with it swingin around my waist. I was still a natural at it and was finding a nice flow right away. The hoopers took notice of this and we exchanged info and the next weekend I was hooping with them in the park. A month or so later we were calling ourselves Groove Hoops and beginning the process of becoming a dance group."

Having been hooping for six years, our hooper who is originally from Santa Rosa, California, finds today that how often he is hooping these days changes dramatically depending on his life demands at the time. "And whether or not I have shows coming up," he added, noting, "I hoop at least once a week for a few hours. Other times its all the time."

So how has hooping changed his life? "Dancing is a big part of my life but I was never formally trained except for isolated sprinklings of various types of dance classes or informal learning opportunities. The hoop has provided for me a structure within which my natural dance abilities can take a shape that I communicate and perform at a level that is more developed and structured than if I was simply dancing. I have been teaching and performing with the hoop since the beginning and I think it is safe to say that without the hoop my passion for dance I would have stayed at a more recreational level. Just as important are the wonderful people who have become a part of my life thanks to the hoop connection. The love of my life, for example, persuaded me four years ago in part because I was a hooper. She came to a show of mine and the romance of a lifetime began."

A challenge or personal obstacle he's currently working on is that since last August he has been the artistic director and choreographer of the hoop based dance/performance group Color Wheel. He told Hooping.org, "My educational background is in fine art and this group is essentially a never ending, always evolving multi-membered art project. Making art is very different when it involves the participation and commitments of others. I always have to be two steps ahead of my own ideas in order to keep every one busy. The role of a leader can always fall under scrutiny, so this keeps me on my toes."

What's his idea of earthly happiness? He said, "Being a member of this planet in human form is an immense opportunity. Earthly happiness is achieved to the extent that this opportunity is realized." We also asked him about a favorite hooping memory or two. His response? "Every time I prove wrong a person who has committed themself to the belief that they can't hoop. When it is a child that this happens to I can sometimes glimpse their self image shift on the spot into a person who 'can' instead of a person who 'can't'."

His favorite hoop right now is a 100 psi, 3/4 inch hoop that is light on tape, 3 feet in diameter and monochromatic. Music that he loves to hoop to? He explains, "If I could have a mash up of a Haitian ritual, Bootsy's Rubber Band, Sun Rah, and Animal Collective, I would be a kitten on catnip."

We asked him what quality he most admires in a hooper and his response was simply "flow." What does he see as being his most marked hooping characteristic? He responds, "Punctuated flow." Was there anything else he wanted Hooping.org's readers to know? "Check out malcolmstuart.com. It's like a menu of the things I do. Color Wheel is on the menu or just go to www.colorwheel.ws. If you do follow the links, I should mention that I am an airbrush artist and all of the textile designs you see are hand painted with the airbrush."

In closing, if Malcolm had one piece of advice to share with someone picking up a hoop for the very first time, it would be, "For me the energy that makes the hoop activate very clearly comes from the ground up. First, without the hoop, bounce up and down with the kind of sharpness that makes whatever you got jiggle. Then, still without the hoop, take that same bouncy energy and send it side to side instead. You should feel your weight shift evenly, and bouncily, from one foot to the other. Then apply this movement to the momentum of the hoop around your waist. Use the momentum of the hoop as a guide to let you know where to put your bounce. You are engaged in a dance of contact with a plastic circle. Pay attention to the point of contact because it is there that all of the energy is translated into movement. This principal applies wherever the hoop is on your body. The best advice though is to keep picking it up and trying again. If you got the basics easily then do something else that makes you have to try again."

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You can find out more about Malcolm Stuart at:

Malcolm Stuart

Color Wheel

Superalot

ColorWheel at the Assume Vivid Astro Focus Opening at Deitch Studios

At the Donkey Gallery in Albuquerque, New Mexico

Malcolm Stuart and Brooklyn Sugar