August 31, 2003
Hooper picture on Yahoo
The Yahoo news section has a slide show on Burning Man this morning. One of the pictures is of a hooper!
Google thinks we're relevant
If you do a Google search for "hooping," hooping.org is first on the list of search results. Yey!
Hooping at the last Code
On Thursday the DNA Lounge in San Francisco saw its final Code event. BAH decided to show up one last time. It's almost become a tradition now. The bouncers barely even blink anymore when they see us walking in with our hoops.
Below are some pictorial excerpts.
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August 27, 2003
HOOPITUP - yet another Yahoo hoop group
I discovered today that one of my coworkers, Cecelia, is a hooper! She saw the community hoop that I had brought to work and came to my cube to talk to me about it. She asked "Did you make it with PVC pipe and a connector?" I could tell that I was dealing with a pro.
Then I found out about a Yahoo hoop group that she frequents: HOOPITUP. It's been around since 2000! Cecelia tells me that she has gotten some great advice on tricks from this group. I like this part of their introduction:
Guests will be invited by way of the hoop.
The only unfortunate part is that you can't read any of the messages unless you are a member. I just joined them, and wouldn't you know it: I saw some pictures of Anah in their group photo album. Ariel is already a member as well.
August 24, 2003
Hot hooping
While some of us are hooping at Burning Man this week, those of us left behind in the Bay Area had our own very hot hooping event. We met in Berkeley for the second time in a row, this time at People's Park. Like I said, it was HOT. Sure, it wasn't as hot as the Playa, but probably the hottest day in the Bay Area to date this year. Spoiled as we are, we didn't think we were going to get much hooping done and decided to just sit around and discuss hooping instead. But once we found a shady spot and turned up the music, we forgot all about talking and just hooped as usual.
Attendance was pretty good again. Several friends of BAH members joined us that we hadn't seen before.
As usual, some of us did sun hooping and others shadow hooping.
I think Amy was trying to get in on that conversation.
This was Rei's first time at BAH. She came with Cinthia.
I think what happened here is that I had two hoops around my waist and then attempted to pick one of them up over my head. I accidentally grabbed both and started screaming.
Hooping.org gets audblogged
Cheyenne and Min Jung audio-blogged from a party in Sacramento last night. They and several others were hooping at the time, and hooping.org was mentioned. Go listen!
August 23, 2003
Seattle Hoopers
Despite all of us Californian hoopers here on hooping.org, there are hoopers all up and down the West Coast, and across the US.
A friend of mine in Seattle started hooping with me in July, and when I was back in Seattle last weekend, he showed me a trick he's been working on. It's a neat shoulder roll. I couldn't do it for the life of me. I love being out-tricked by a new hooper! It's one of my favorite things about hooping: doesn't matter how long you've been doing it, you've always got something to teach!
Once a hooper, always a hooper
Little Min Jung hooping in the 70's.
Grown-up Min Jung hooping in 2003. Now with more style and a bigger hoop.
August 21, 2003
How To Hula Hoop
Here's an easy two-step lesson on how to hula hoop.
1. Make sure you have the right size of hula hoop!
If you're using a kid-sized hoop, forget it! Most hula hoops that you can buy at stores like Target or Toys R Us are kid-sized. Unless you're the size a child, a child-sized hoop is not going to work for you — especially not if you're a beginner! You'll save yourself a lot of heartache (and gain a lot of fun) if you make or buy a hoop that's the right size for you.
What's the right size? Try this: Stand with your hoop in front of you. The general rule of thumb is that a hoop should be between stomach and nipple height, although some compensation should be made for your waist size, too. General rule of thumb: The bigger you are, the bigger the hoop should be. Larger hoops will rotate slower, making getting started easier. Smaller than that will make the hoop rotate faster, which is more challenging, but also better for doing tricks and exercizing.
2. Put one foot in front of the other, and shift your weight
Hold the hoop against your back. You can start it a little above your waist. Then, push the hoop around your waist, and shift your weight back and forth on your feet to keep the hoop moving.
Easier said than done? Having trouble "keeping it up"? Here are some more tips:
Many people try to move their hips in a circle with the hoop. This actually makes hooping much harder. Try this: put one foot in front of the other and just shift your weight back and forth from foot to foot. It's less of a circular hip motion and more of just a rocking or pumping motion.
In terms of which direction to hoop in, try 'em both! You'll know right away which one is right for you. I've found that right handed people generally hoop counter-clockwise, while lefties go clockwise, but many people are exceptions to this rule.
Most of all: be patient! It can take a while to get the hang of it — don't give up! If you get frustrated trying to get the hoop going around your waist, try hooping with your hands!
Frequent Asked Questions:
How can I make a hoop?
How can I start a hoop group?
Ow, What about these bruises?
What's this about collapsible hoops?
Can I take a hoop on an airplane with me?
August 18, 2003
A Hoop Group Grows
(click on thumbnails above for full size pics) When Bay Area Hoopers formed several months ago, I don't know that we even thought that much about creating a hooping community. We just wanted to hoop and we didn't want to hoop alone. As the weeks rolled on there were times Vera and I were the only ones showing up, but we kept hooping for the sheer joy of it. With last weekend came the merging. Our crew met up with Missy and Cinthia and Tree and their hooping friends at Golden Gate Park. Jason showed up as the new arrival in town. Everybody who hoops occasionally all came on the same day. Everybody was hooping. People just walking through the park were even inspired to grab an extra hoop and join us, some for hours. This weekend we met at Live Oak Park in Berkeley and it was pretty great to see our hoop group community spirit carry over to the East Bay. We took over most of the park. It was nice to see Heather, Derek and Min Jung out with us for the first time, especially since the idea for BAH came about at a party at Min Jung's house.
One of the most exciting things in recent weeks is that new and isolated hoopers are finding us through hooping.org. Antonia showed up last week for the first time and even taught a few us a new trick. This week Nora arrived with her super-fresh homemade hoop she'd just finished making. There were many new faces, as well as people I've met recently who are already becoming favorite faces in hooping life. Bay Are Hoopers has truly sparked and we're catching and spreading like wildfire.
August 17, 2003
Hooping helps the DJ
I was told recently that some DJ's really like to spin records to people hooping because it makes their job easier. Apparently, the rotation of the hoops and the rotation of the records are an intuitive combination. Who knew?
Making Hoops
Seth and I each made our very first hoops this weekend, and I was surprised how simple it was to do. We basically followed Jason's instructions, only instead of using a blow dryer or hot water we heated ours up over a gas flame on the stove. Took no time at all and the slightly melted ends seemed to merge together even more beautifully. We won't talk about my first attempt when I melted mine right out of shape. Heh.
Finding the right supplies was the hardest part, and I must also admit it took us a few hours to get them taped up just the way we wanted. I made mine for Burning Man. I call it my UFO hoop and it has glow in the dark outer "lights" with that black-light-friendly neon green within. I won't get to see the full effects probably til next week, but I'm going to take it with me to Berkeley today for the Bay Area Hoopers gathering at Live Oak Park. It's time for the mothership to launch!
August 16, 2003
Hawaiian hooping party
When I think of the tropics, one of the first places I always think of is the library in Grand Island, Nebraska. Could there be a more tropical paradise? After the Grand Island TROPICALibrary Bash, an end of summer party to celebrate reading and having fun, I'm not sure this town will ever be the same.
Clad in Hawaiian-print outfits, rainbow lei and temporary tattoos, young adults enjoyed free food and drinks as well as an array of games and activities. There were hula hoop and limbo competitions, two live bands, karaoke, movies and more. Youth in attendance were also given the opportunity to make hula skirts out of trash bags. The Independent
August 13, 2003
Skater hooping
We have just had a fantastic addition to our gallery: Gerard hooping while skateboarding down the street! How inspiring. Here is a toy combination I would like to try: Hooping while bouncing on a trampoline.
Hooper Street, San Francisco
Hooper Street. Off of 7th Street between Berry and Irwin. Map
August 12, 2003
Hula-Hoop World Records
While the majority of the Guiness world records for hooping are pretty much based on the small Wham-O Hula Hoop standard, the Hula Hoop World Records are still very impressive. Tonya Lyn Mistal hooped for a record breaking 88 hours without a break and without it going above her shoulders or below her knees. That's a little over three and a half days. Check out the rest including the most hoops at once, the largest hoop (yeah!), running 100 meters while spinning a hoop and more.
UPDATE: To learn more about hula hoop records, CLICK HERE!
August 11, 2003
(and from a August 8, 2003
Seattle Represent!
The Seattle Times recently mentioned The Divine Miss H's Variety Show, in an article that features a write-up of the event and a photo of The Divine Miss H herself, Holly Deye, the tremendously skilled Seattle hooper who hosts the event.
For those of you in the Seattle area, I highly recommend checking the Variety Show. I hear it's a hit.
From the article:
Another winner in the excellent motto contest is Miss H's Variety Show, which proclaims "No Act Too Weird." Musicians, contortionists, jugglers, dancers and more are welcome to perform in this very open-mike event. Hula-hooping strongly encouraged throughout the evening. (9 p.m. Tuesdays, Conor Byrne Pub, 5140 Ballard Ave. N.W., Ballard; 206-784-3640.)
August 7, 2003
Passive vs. Participatory Hoopertainment
I'm here to share a fairly unpopular opinion: I feel strangely about hoop performances.
I say "strangely" because I can't quite put my finger on where the discomfort lies. I'm not opposed to hoop performances, but for me, the joy of the hoop is the joy of SHARING the hoop. It's the joy of seeing those who think they can't hoop, figure out that they can. It's the joy of hearing people laugh and laugh as they figure out how much fun it is. It's the joy of watching people who've never hooped before get caught up in the movement and excitement and thrill of the hoop. It's the joy of reminding people how they can actively participate in their own happiness.
Whenever I take my hoop out with me, I have a rule: if you watch, you must also hoop. I'm more than happy to show off some tricks, but I'm leery of asking others to watch without asking them to play.
Participatory entertainment is terribly lacking in the contemporary American landscape. We've become so accustomed to watching other people have fun (on a stage, on a screen, on the TV) that it seems that many of us forget our own capacities for joy. One friend, the parent of a 3-year-old, witnessed her own son being caught up into this pattern: He asked her to get out his train set, and then insisted that he sit on the couch and watch her play with his trains, instead of actually playing with them himself.
Inspired by situations like the passive 3-year-old, as well as my own years of experiences at raves and tribal gatherings, I've taken it on as a personal mission to remind those around me how much more satisfying it is to grab their entertainment and enjoyment by the balls (I wrote an article about this titled "The Evolution of the Electronic Stage and the Rave Audience" in 1997). As a former musical theater performer, my pendulum swings, and now I don't want audiences in a darkened theater to watch me, I want them standing up, in the spotlight, hooping with me, learning to play with it, to laugh with it, move with it, learn from it.
Sometimes I feel like hoop performances slip back into the dominant paradigm of passive entertainment. I say "sometimes" because I'm keenly aware that, for experienced hoopers, watching a performance is a great way to get inspired, learn new tricks, and appreciate one another's work.
But for hoop novices, I wish that every performance came with an insistence that they try, so that they could see how easy it was to get started. So many hoopy newbies get intimidated when they watch experienced hoopers do their thang, and newbies so often say, "oh no, I can't do it like that, I can't do it."
It's immensely satisfying for them to see that they CAN do it, and I always make a point to tell people about folks like Vera and Philo...two hoopers who, just a few months ago, were just getting their hips wet. I was there, in April, when Vera hooped for the first time! And I remember when Philo first gave it a shot last fall. Now they're organizing meetings, hooping at clubs, and bringing in new converts of their own. I always remind people picking up the hoop for the first time about how fast you can learn, just how high the capacity for joy is — and that, as snazzy as it looks, it's not that hard.
Don't get me wrong: this isn't some vendetta against the amazing members of our community who perform. I've learned much from these women and men. Let this essay act, instead, as encouragement that all of us in this community find ways of breaking out of the "I do, you watch" passive entertainment paradigm that dominates popular culture.
August 1, 2003
Flexible tubing
I recently played with a hoop that was different. Unlike other hoops I have seen, it was NOT made out of polyethylene tubing. It was made out of polypropylene, a softer, more flexible material. Hooping with it felt like slow motion; its rotations were lagged and on a more oval trajectory because of its greater elasticity. I was able to do all of the same tricks I do with the more rigid hoops; it just felt a little different, almost as if I was hooping under water.
Many hoop makers insist that polyethylene is the only material fit to make hoops out of. I agree that it works great. You need something that is somewhat bendable so that you can bend it into a circle, but you don't want it to be too flexible so that the hoop will retain its circular structure and not fall in on itself. Polyethylene fits that requirement perfectly. Polypropylene is much more flexible than polyethylene; you can warp the hoop into an oval without applying much pressure. But it will always bounce back when you release the pressure. The problem with a more rigid hoop is that once it gets bent out of shape, you sometimes have to squeeze and bend and huff and puff in order to have the perfect circle again. The polypropylene hoop, on the other hand, you can flatten together in order to stow it into a small trunk, and it will come out looking round and beautiful, not warped and mutated. That's what I call flexible.
I would like to challenge the belief that the rigid polyethylene is the only way to go. To sum up, there are two benefits to using a softer material:
1. It feels different, more fluid. We all like to experiment with different sizes and feels of hoops, don't we? Try the jello hoop!
2. You can temporarily squeeze it into a small space, and it will bounce right back as if it had never happened when you retrieve it. Can you do that, Polyethylene? I didn't think so.