Department: Features
Hooping Names Directory
Hooping.org Magazine's Hooping Names Directory is our community service reference point for those seeking to become hoop performers and/or open hooping businesses. The goal is to prevent two hoopers, hoop businesses, or hoop troupes from winding up with the same name. Such a list is based on a precedent already set by the burlesque and roller derby communities which, like hooping, have also blown up in recent years.
While listing yourself in the Hooping Names Directory can't offer legal protection, it's a community-based way for hoop performers to say, "Hi! I'm here" and for new hoop lovers to see what's come before them. It's our hope that you will honor our community by not choosing a name that is the same, or even confusingly similar, to something that already exists.
Please add your hooping name along with a web site link by leaving your information in the comment area below. The comment section to do so is located at the bottom of this page. If you do not have a hooping related web site, a tribe.net profile or myspace page or such will suffice. This info is needed so we can check to see if names are still in use in the future and so someone can contact you should there ever be a conflict. For more information on why this is needed, please see: Protecting Names, Identities and Trademarks.
If you are here for the first time and you see that a name you are using is already on the list contact that person directly and let them know so the two of you can figure it out. Thank you for taking part in helping to create a community where we can all grow and prosper.
PLEASE READ THIS CAREFULLY: The comments system is working fine. When you post a comment with your Hoop Name Directory information you'll be taken to a page that looks a little jumbled. You might think that we have not received your information, but trust us - we have. We assure you that it's working fine. There is no need to leave numerous postings of the same information. Once is enough. Please do not email your info to us, we'll only lose it. Please do not leave comments on our MySpace page either. If you want your information added to the directory, post the information in the comment area below and it will be added the next because it hasn't appeared yet. Your posting will be included the next time this list is updated which happens approximately twice per month.
Allie Hoops
Angular Momentum
AstroHoops
AuraHoops
Bay Area Hoopers
Betty Hoops
Bling Hoops
BloomHoops
Body Hoops
Boise Hoopla
Boston Hoop Troop
Bunny Hoop Star
Canyon Hoops
Center your Body + Mind
Christa Hoops
Cosmic Hoops
Dreads n Hoops
Energy Hoops
FireFairyHooper
Firefly Hoops
Fire Groove
Flame Fatale
Fun With Hoops
Genesis Hoops
GoHoop
Groove Hoops
Gypsy Hoop
Gyronauts
Happy Hoops
The Happy Hooper
Harmony Hoops
Holistic Hooping
HomeSpunHoops
Hoola Hoop Company
Hoola Monsters
Hoolie Hoop
Hoop Bliss
Hoop Blast
Hoop Camp
Hoop Clothes.com
Hoop Convergence
Hoop Dazzle
Hoop-Dee-Do
Hoop Delight
Hoop Delite
Hoop du' Jour
Hoop Elements
Hoop Empire
Hoop Enchantment
Hoop-Fit
Hoop Fusion
Hoop For Health
Hoop Love Hoops
Hoop Love Hoop Troop
Hoop Mamas
Hoop Revolution
Hoop Shoop Shoops
Hoop Z Daisy
Hoopadelic
Hoopaholic
Hoopaliscious
Hoopalotta
HoopCharmer
HoopCozy
Hooping For Hope
HoopNouveau
HooppaiN
HoopPath
Hooper
Hooperella
HooperPower
HoopFlow
HoopFlower
HoopGirl
HoopGuy
HoopKat
Hooplur
Hoopnotica
Hoopologist
Hooprama
HoopSass
HoopSexy
HoopShine
HoopSolidarity
HoopStar
Hooptastic
HoopsWhirled
Hoopzilla
Hoopsie Daisy
Hooping Harmony
Hooping Powers
HotSass
Hula Hoopla
Hula Kat
Hullaba Loola
Hyper Hooper
The Joy of Hooping
Jen Web
Kaivalya Hoop Dancers
Mandala Hoops
Miss Joule
Moon Hoops
Moon Hoopers
MoveHoops
Philthy Hoops
Psychedelicious
Pyrate Gyrl
Renegade
Revolva
Revolver Hoops
Sass
Sharna Rose
Slyk Style Hoops
Spinsterz
Spiral
Super Hooper
Tailspin Hoops
This is Hooping
Tribal In The City
Twista
Vivacious Miss Audacious
Whirlygirlz
Xta
Protecting Names, Identities and Trademarks
As the Editor of Hooping.org Magazine I cover the world wide web of hooping so you don't have to. Consequently, I'm often the first to run into a new hooper who has taken on a performance or business name or identity I know someone else has previously laid claim to. Yesterday I was reading a hooping article on FitSugar.com that included a video with the name "Hoopalicious." Watching the video, I didn't see her, who came to mind of course, seeing as she's one of the biggest names in hooping. I found myself watching a film of Vikki Scovell's hoop class instead. In this case the confusion was minor, but if you've worked hard to build a name for yourself, as a performer and/or a business person, identity is everything. About a year ago HoopGirl was faced with taking legal action against someone about the same time Revolva of Revolver Hoops (pictured) was met with a similar challenge. Recently, it happened to her again when a second new hooper decided to use the name Revolver, prompting the original to open discussion and start looking for a solution.
Having taken the legal steps, she contacted Revolver #2 to let her know her names are trademarked, asking if she could choose a unique identity. "She was a total sweetheart about it, but the fact that this happened twice in one year makes me believe that it will keep happening, not just to me," she explained, "which sucks for both the person who has to say, 'Hey, you're using my identity' and the person who didn't check hard enough and suddenly has to change all of her stuff."
Are there other communities that may have previously dealt with a similar issue that have come up with a system to help address it? Actually, there are. In the beautiful bastion of burlesque, as well as in the rough and raucous world of roller derby, both keep a database of in-use names. While the database doesn't provide legal protection, it certainly is a good resource, giving a newcome one place to go to look to see if the name they'd like to use is already taken.
As Revolva told Hooping.org, "It's hard to just google a name because it's like trying to see if there's already a particular type of minnow in the ocean. What if you're one letter off in your spelling? You know - trying to look for "The Whirly Girls" for example, not realizing there's already The WhirlyGirlz." It's a definite problem and it's one that is happening more frequently as our community continues to grow too. I know that I have gotten Hooping Powers and Hooper Power mixed up on more than one occasion and I actively stay on top of these things.
The burlesque yahoo group list proved to be a good place to start, so Revolva started up a yahoo list for Hooping Names as well. She also asked if we could start a Hoop Names Directory here at Hooping.org as a public service.
The Hooping Names Directory is now open to help eliminate such problems in the future. The format is similiar to our Hoop Group Directory. Simply leave your information in the comment section and the list will be periodically organized and alphabetized for easy viewing. We hope this will help everyone avoid similar situations in the future and we thank you all for your participation in helping to build a community where everyone can grow and prosper.
Published on February 07, 2008 | LINK | Comments (3)Hoopies: The 2008 Award Winners
After three weeks of nominations, deliberations and voting, the time has come to announce the winners in the 2008 Hoopies, Hooping.org Magazine's first annual awards celebrating greatness in our community. Preliminary nominations opened on January 1st, 2008, and closed on January 11th at 9pm Pacific Standard Time. More than 400 nominations were submitted. These results were tabulated and your top five nominated finalists in each category were presented to you for voting. Where there were ties, and there were several, more than the customary five finalists were included on the ballot. Voting opened on Monday, January 14th, closed on Friday, January 18th at 9PM PST and more than 1000 valid ballots were submitted. Who are the winners of the 2008 Hoopies? It's time to find out.
2007 was an amazing year in the world of hooping and we're proud to present these awards. If you're a hooper, you're already a winner and there are certainly no losers here at Hooping.org. We applaud all of our nominees and each and everyone of you for participating in this years awards. There were many close races, but inevitably the tide did turn, particularly for those residing in The City of Angels, Los Angeles, California. Here are this year's winners:
1. Event That Promoted Hooping To A Larger Audience:
Also nominated:
Burning Man
HeartFM's UK Ad Campaign with Hoopgirl
Hoops For Haiti
Hoopnotica on Good Morning America
2. Oustanding Newbie Hooper (Started in 2007):
Also nominated:
Coehlo: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Deanne: Tokyo, Japan
Theory: Bloomington, Indiana
Victoria: Birmingham, Alabama
3. Oustanding Hoop Instructor:
Also nominated:
Christabel "Hoopgirl" Zamor: San Francisco, California
Keaton Talmadge: Hoopnotica: Los Angeles, California
Natasha "Silverstar" Young: Hoopsie Daisy: Berkeley, California
Rayna McInturf: Hoopnotica: Los Angeles, California
4. Outstanding Hooping Tribe Member:
Hooping.org Magazine's Hooping Tribe is a great place for hooping discussion and community. Moderated by Xta Giles in Vancouver, British Columbia, we recognize one member of the tribe as being outstandingly tribal.
Also nominated:
Ann Humphreys: Carrboro, North Carolina
Beth Lavinder/Williams: Smithfield, North Carolina
Geoffrey / Vicious Von Loop: Calgary, Alberta
Natasha: Dayton, Ohio
5. Online Hooping Video of the Year:
Also nominated:
Her Birthday Hoop Vlog by Hooper
Im Rachem Des Jaguars by Sharna Rose
Insatiable Zombie Love by Grace Face
Isolation Solution by Nicolas Longuechaud
Mix and Yoshi by Mix and Yoshi
Pink Light by Tyler Jensenand the Nordeast MPLS Hoop Troop
Omas Hooping in Berlin by Laura Scarborough
Spiral: Hoop Dancer by Vivian "Spiral" Hancock
6. Best Hooping Song of 2007:
If you have iTunes, clicking the song links below will take you directly to each listening page. If you don't have iTunes you can download iTunes here. For best results open iTunes prior to clicking the links below.
The top five nominated songs:
Make Me Sweat by Basement Jaxx
Verbing The Noun by Bassnectar
Hoola Hoop by Macka Diamond
Just Fine by Mary J. Blige
Boyz by M.I.A.
7. Hoop Group of the Year:
Also nominated:
Bay Area Hoopers: San Francisco, California
Groovehoops: New York, New York
Hoopaholics: Sydney, Australia
The Hoop Path: Carrboro, North Carolina
whirlyGirlz: Portland, Oregon
8. Fire Hooper of the Year:
Also nominated:
Barry Clement: Atlanta, Georgia
Brandon Huston: Portland, Oregon
Julia Hartsell: Carrboro, North Carolina
KC Van de Merkt: Chicago, Illinois
Vivian "Spiral" Hancock: Richmond, Virginia
9. Male Hooper of the Year:
Also nominated:
Adam Grieve: Madison, Wisconsin
Barry Clement: Atlanta, Georgia
Jon Baxter: Carrboro, North Carolina
Stefan Pildes: New York, New York
10. Female Hooper of the Year:
Also nominated:
Ann Humphreys: Carrboro, North Carolina
Christabel "Hoopgirl" Zamor: San Francisco, California
Lynn Knickrehm: Boise, Idaho
Sharna Rose: Maidstone, England
Vivian "Spiral" Hancock: Richmond, Virginia
Sticking To Our New Years Revolutions
by Philo Hagen
What are your New Year’s revolutions, I mean resolutions? Some of the most popular answers include healthier eating, more exercise and losing weight, but most people don't have a strategy for achieving their new found goals. If you don't have an actual plan, now is the perfect opportunity to take some time out to develop yours. Even if you've already dropped the hoop, as it were, that doesn't mean you have to throw it all away. New behaviors take time to grow into.
While research over the years has concluded that about 80 percent of all New Year’s resolutions are broken by January 31, and if that resolution has something to do with health and fitness that 90 percent don't last past January 15th, the resolutions most likely to succeed are achieved when you are doing something you enjoy. Let's break it down a bit more, shall we?
Hooping is one of the best things that we can do with our time, yet life seems to always have other ideas for us. There is work to be done, bills to pay, the needs of others to address in our lives, yet taking time out for ourselves makes all of the above that much more worthwhile. We all know hooping is great exercise, but we don't always take into consideration is that when we feel better physically that this can only impact our lives in a positive way. How much time have I wasted running circles in my head about things, when spending even a few minutes spinning circles inside the hoop somehow centers my mind and brings greater focus. We need to give ourselves permission to spend the the extra time on ourselves and with ourselves. Everyone in our lives will benefit from it.
Another obstacle to achieving our New Years revolutions, I mean resolutions, is setting unrealistic goals. If we haven't been taking time out to exercise or eat right, or hoop for that matter, setting small milestones for ourselves that are easily within reach and take us a step further not only delivers us progress, it also does wonders for patting oneself on the back. When you set a goal and you achieve it, it's great for inspiring yourself for setting another goal, another step on your road to success.
Consider setting practice goals for 2008, a month at a time. For January, Caroleeena is going to be concentrating on kicking one leg out of the hoop. She explains, "I have a long way to go with this trick so every time I hoop, I plan to practice it at least once." Meanwhile, Nixi is going to "work on dancing to different styles of music. I have a tendency to have problems with hooping to some music, but I know I need to be able to hoop to anything." A New Years revolution, I mean resolution, doesn't have to be that you'll hoop every day for an hour. It can be that you'll challenge yourself to learn something new each month, or each week.
Another great tool for achieving our New Years resolutions is to also take a look at what we qualify as success. I grew up in a family chock full of black and white thinking and I inherited a very judgmental self critic somewhere along the way. Why try something new when I won't be any good at it overnight was a standard thought process for me. But who really is good at something new overnight? Maybe somebody, but for most of us it takes practice. If I set a goal to hoop everybody even if it's just for one minute, that for me would be a great success. It would represent that I thought of myself, my health, my happiness, the big picture and I did something, however small, in being true to myself. What greater success is there in life than that?
All of those incremental steps certainly add up along the way as well. Ask any seasoned hooper with a bag of tricks how long it took them to learn them. If anything, those who are new to hooping or returning to their hoops have the advantage of being able to utilize all the experience surrounding them in their communities and online to take progressive steps much faster than those of us who started out years ago ever could.
Let's make 2008 truly great by setting our New Years revolutions, I mean resolutions, to be something that nurtures us and supports us, not something that we use as a measuring stick we can never quite live up to. Set a schedule that allows the necessary time that we need and defend that time as invaluable. Set small achievable goals along the way. Get the positive support that you need for change, whether that is online or by heading out to your local hoop group - or if you don't have one, starting one of your own in your area. Practice love and tolerance of ourselves, changing our definitions of success to something that makes us feel like we truly are one, because we truly are. Hooping.org wishes everyone the very best in 2008 and may all your New Years revolutions, I mean resolutions, be ones you look back on with a sense of accomplishment and a grin on your beautiful face.
Published on January 10, 2008 | LINK | Comments (2)Hooping DVDs: Which Is Right For You?
When five hoopers with different views and hooping backgrounds and experience came together to watch five noteworthy hooping DVD releases, which would rank as their favorite? Hooping.org has long been asked which disc is the best and we finally have an answer for you. Is it Hoop Dance Fusion from bodyhoops? Could it be Hoopdance For Beginners or Hulaerobics - both from HoopGirl? Might it be Hoopnotic Hoopdance Beginning Level 1 and Beginning Level 2 from Hoopnotica? Let's find out!
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 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.
Published on August 07, 2007 | LINK | Comments (4)World Hoop Day Plans Span The Globe
While we've been very excited about World Hoop Day for some time, with the big event just around the corner now on July 7, 2007, not to mention the launching of the official World Hoop Day website, it's very exciting to see the celebration catch fire and literally span the globe. Hooping.org talks with the obviously excited Annie, one of the instigators, to find out more.
She told hooping.org, "I am so happy that the World Hoop Day project is picking up steam around the world! We have ambassadors in every country now in Europe, North America and Australia. We have given hoops away in Asia, Central and South America, The Pacific Islands and Africa. I hope everybody everywhere gets involved and participates!"
I asked her, so how did WHD come about anyway? Annie explained, "WHD came about when I was kicking back with the Stefan and Brent and Wheylan and Malcolm from Groove Hoops. One night in 2005 I thought, we need to have action figures, a cartoon movie and yeah - A Public Holiday! I thought if we could all hoop for peace, the world would be a better place, and the hooping for peace idea evolved into giving hoops away to kids to promote healthy, active lifestyles. Did you know 2 out of 3 Americans are overweight? Globally, where the poorest of families live, there is hunger as well as obesity. Hooping can replace a gym, take up very limited space and will keep a body moving, which will lead to the kind of active healthy lifestyle that humans need to survive and thrive."
I wondered aloud how the promotion of World Hoop Day has unfolded for her. She said, "I traveled around Europe in the Summer of 2005 from Russia to Poland, Austria to Germany, France to the Netherlands, Denmark through Ireland and N. Ireland. Stefan started taking hoops with him on his travels and giving them to locals in Costa Rica. As I put the word out, we found out others were doing the same thing bringing hoops to Haiti and Sri Lanka. I knew that I had the right idea."
The World Hoop Day core team right now includes Annie and Stefan, as well as Julah in North Carolina, Anna in New York - who is relocating back to London, Moebius in Madison, as well as Christabel in San Francisco. Stefan and Annie have really been keeping themselves busy though. Stefan not only has gotten the WHD website going, he's been handling WHD sponsorship acquisitions. Meanwhile, Over 200 hoopers have already joined the World Hoop Day Tribe and Annie has not only been promoting the big day, she's personally contacted every single one of them.
So what will people actually be doing for World Hoop Day? Annie explains, "On World Hoop Day, in every city, people will gather in their local parks and beaches or Children's museum lawns to have a grand event. In New York City we are planning a launch that includes a band, DJs, a hoop-a-thon, free hooping lessons, and even give aways. Also, if someone buys a custom made hoop at the event, they will sponsor one child in another country to have a hoop of their own delivered to them. In New York we'll have lovely games, performances and other whimsical surprises, but every city is different and organizers everywhere are coming up with all sorts of ideas. The basic idea of World Hoop Day is that everyone will hoop at 7am and 7pm on 7/7/07 and every city in the world will have a uniform hoop moment."
I asked her about other cities and she told me there are several groups forming to do really great events in Washington DC, San France, North Carolina, New York City, Finland, London, Chicago, Paris, Sydney, Madison and more. These are the groups that have already started to organize and promote and have mini-events to get ready that I can remember off the top of my head. I'm sure there are others as well."
I'd heard about an interview Annie did in Vienna, Austria, that had resulted in a whole hoop movement there so I asked her about it. She told me, "Well, when World Hoop Day started, it was a vision for peace. I was interviewed by an MTV style show in Vienna about it in 2005. And yes, now, there are thousands of hoopers and fire spinners and kids talking about it. Some think they can just go and hoop on that day and I say fantastic. Others are more committed to giving back to the community and the world. That is the message I would like to teach."
So what can people do to help promote World Hoop Day? Annie tells me, "Tell everyone! There will be posters to print out from the website where you can add location details and info to call your local WHD ambassador. Also, become a coordinator or volunteer for your local event. At the simplest level, all you have to do is pick up a hoop and hoola. At the most intense level, travel around the world with hoops and give them away! Raise money, collect sponsorships and ask for grants to support the cause. Teach lessons, smile, laugh and laugh some more!"
If you want one of the super hot World Hoop Day stickers, just send a self-addressed stamped envelope to WHD Stickers, 1823 Astoria Blvd, Astoria, NY, 11102. Annie adds, "The more stamps you put on your return envelope the more I can send too."
So what is Annie's hope for WHD and the impact it will make on the world? This woman of vision tells me, "My hope is that by 2012 the whole world will be hooping on December 12, 2012. I hope that children will be smiling and laughing and have the time to play. I hope that the world will be a healthier thinner place. I hope that the world will be peaceful. I hope that whoever can make it to Chichen Itza on Dec 20, 2012 will be able to come and witness the most spectacular event to date. The last day of the Mayan Calendar will be the time the earth is in the equator of the universe and World Hoop Day Hoopers will be there with their circles to complete the journey. Mark Your Calendars!"
Schoolhouse Hoops
by Allison Olly
Recently I was given the opportunity to teach children how to hoop at an after school program in San Francisco. The kids were not only a lot of fun to hoop with, they were enthusiastic and spent additional time teaching each other moves outside of class on the playground and elsewhere.
With teaching I found it best to have a balance between teaching my young students new moves and letting them spend time doing the hoop tricks they've already learned and love to do. This balance focused their attention, allowing their interest in hooping to further develop over the span of the eight-week course curriculum I'd developed.
The first few classes focused on specific parts of the body. In the first class, we turned our attention on using the torso to hoop. The next week was spent specifically on hands and arms, and the third week was spent on legs, arms and hands. Each class we started with a warm up exercise of sorts, such as doing any move they want while standing on one leg, or while running around. After showing a specific move, such as vertical hand hooping, then introduced variations on it (switching directions, passing to the other hand, passing to the other hand behind the back). We'd then explore any other possibilities of a particular move, like horizontal hand hooping as well. I'd then challenge them to try the new move while kneeling, sitting, even laying down.
While creating a curriculum for the class, I tried to remember the sequence in which I learned new moves when I first started hooping. I found it very useful to have a written agenda to refer to even if I didn’t fully follow it - the chaos of the schoolyard was guaranteed to make me lose my train of thought at times. I wrote my lesson plans on a week-by-week basis, according to what we covered the previous week and what the kids were eager to learn.
A big difference between teaching hooping to kids versus adults is attention span. While some of us will spend an afternoon trying to master a one-shoulder maneuver or other advanced new trick, children are going to want to move on to something else much more quickly. This is playtime for them as well and it should be fun! The challenge of the final weeks, after a lot of the basic moves had been covered, was to find fancier moves that could also be picked up without too much difficulty. At this point I also had them come up with their own short routines, putting together 3 or 4 moves, and then having the others try to repeat it.
It was incredibly fun to arrive at the school each week to find myself greeted by kids who were so excited to show off their tricks, eagerly wanting to know what we’d be doing that day. Spending an hour with my posse of junior hoopers romping around doing what I love turned out to be my favorite hour of the day. The amazing experience has, in fact, led me to seek out other schools to teach even more children how to hoop. If you're given the opportunity to teach kids how to hoop, don't miss out on it.
Hooping.org 3.0: A Reawakening
When hooping.org began nearly four years ago I don't think any of us had the idea that it would last this long or that it would become what it has. While we wanted to spread the joy of hooping around the planet, little did we imagine the future friendships with other hoopers that would transpire locally, nationally, in Europe, Asia, Australia... I thought of these connections the most when, left alone at the helm, I questioned my waning enthusiasm for continuing the project. Had hooping.org run its course? It was something to consider.
It was a particularly cloudy February day in San Francisco when I unloaded the sound system for Bay Area Hoopers, wondering if others would brave the weather to join me at the Civic Center across from City Hall to hoop. For the past two years my friend Suzanne had been battling cancer and losing. At the start of the year we'd moved the woman who had been an incredible adoptive mother to me since moving to the city in 1990 into hospice care. She had taken another turn for the worse. A romantic relationship was turning sour. Vera had decided to move on to new things. Ariel was enjoying success in her new endeavors since leaving hooping.org. The prospect of continuing the site alone, while already feeling overwhelmed by life, seemed somehow preposterous.
I stepped into the hoop, listening to the music, feeling it surround me, feeling the movement. The slightest misty rain fell moistening my face as a ray of sunlight broke through the clouds to highlight a flock of seagulls that had entered the civic center high above my head. The hoop circled me and centered me as I thought about my life, moving me out of my head and into my body, moving me out of fear and the future and back into the here and now, struck by all the beauty of the world, the wonders that surround me when I take time out to notice. I thought of how often the power of hooping had transformed my day, my attitudes, my relationships, my life - and I knew hooping.org had to continue. What a gift it is to be able to share something so wonderful, so transformational, so silly and fun with the world.
Sitting on a blanket later that day I was talking with someone who asked me a very important question. "Now that it is just you, what is your vision for hooping.org? What have you always wanted to do or wanted the site to be?" I considered the idea over the next few weeks while dealing with problems with our hosting company, technological failures, bringing in assistance from hooping.org's long-time friend to fix a problem that baffled me and the whole support staff of our hosting service. She did just that while I thought about color and energy and excitement and enthusiasm and music - how could a site about hooping not have music! The process continued to evolve and grow and even if it wasn't on my time table, it was definitely on one set forth by a power greater than me.
On Monday, March 19, Suzanne passed away and I remain incredibly grateful for her friendship and for the joy and sadness and wonder we were able to share over the past seventeen years, and particularly the past few months prior to her passing. One of the last things she said to me, turning her attention and her frail body and face from me towards the wall, "Look, can you see it? It all opens outward. You have to really look, but if you do you can see. It all opens outward. Do you see?" I told her I did. And now there are no more trips to hospice, laundry to do, errands to run, now she is at peace - and hooping.org has returned in its third incarnation.
There is still more to do behind the scenes. While the comments aren't at all running smoothly right now, they are actually functioning and will eventually appear if you leave one. While it remains to be seen how our server handles a site that has been streamlined for faster loading on all browsers, the new iPod sound component presents new challenges for our server. There's more to do in the archives in bringing back the past while we kickstart the future - and it is my most sincere hope that you will join me in creating this project of love and light by contributing your writing, your vision, your photos and videos, your input. You are truly the most amazing community I could ever hope to be a part of. With all that is wrong with the world, there is still so much that is right, and so much of it can be found inside the hoop. Welcome to Hooping.org 3.0, a reawakening. For me, it has become just that.
Published on March 26, 2007 | LINK | Comments (12)Weighted Hoops: The Great Weight Debate!
by Ron Klint
"Can you make me a five pound hula hoop?” “Do you have any seven pound hula hoops for sale?” “How much weight is right for me?” These common questions are asked over and over again. “I need to lose a lot of weight so I need a heavy hoop”.
In an effort to answer this question I have relied on my own experience hooping, and working with thousands of people who have purchased my hoops and the comments I have received over the years. I read articles on hooping and constantly scan Hooping.org Magazine and the web for articles or stories related to the “size” question. In addition I’ve asked health professionals their opinion of hooping in general and size and weight in particular. How many times have we heard from people who have bruises running around their mid-section from “ribs” or too heavy a hoop? I don’t think the term “No Pain, No Gain” was meant to include hooping. Hooping should be looked at as a fun, effective way to lose weight, or just groove on the great feeling that hooping provides. If you are experiencing bruising from hooping you should stop and examine your hoop and your hooping routine.
Hoop makers and sellers have done the general public a disservice by telling everyone that they should get a “weighted” hula hoop. I don’t feel qualified to speak for everyone, but when I have used the term “weighted hula hoop” it has been to simply differentiate the so called adult hoops from the plastic toy hoops found at many brand name toy stores.
It is no secret that a larger, and yes heavier hoop is easier to use than the lightweight toy hoops. This has led many people to believe that the heavier the hoop the more weight they will lose. I don’t think there is a health or physical fitness professional who could make this claim. Like any other exercise you lose weight by utilizing oxygen and burning fat. You need to get your heart rate up to at least 65-85% of it’s maximum or you are not working in the fat burning zone. It is the act of hooping, the movement and exertion involved in maintaining hoop rotation that ultimately results in weight and inches lost. The more time you spend hooping the more oxygen you've utilized and the more fat is burned and the more weight is lost.
This would lead me to believe that the ideal weight loss hoop would be one in which a person can maintain the hooping rotation for the longest period of time while burning the maximum number of calories. The individual can choose between a smaller lighter hoop which will require more energy per rotation, which would provide a better aerobic workout, or a larger heavier hoop that, while requiring less energy per rotation, would allow the individual to hoop for a longer period of time to reach their fat burning zone. I equate this choice to the difference between running and walking for exercise.
We also know that “weight” in almost any exercise adds “resistance”. The added resistance should make the muscles work harder, leading to weight loss benefit and muscle strength and toning. However, we also know that the larger heavier hoops rotate more slowly thus reducing the aerobic benefits of hooping. Where is the point of diminishing returns related to resistance and aerobic benefits?
Unfortunately this still doesn’t answer the original question about size and weight for any particular person. Hooping.org, in a simple “How To Hula Hoop” instruction sheet, recommends that the hoop, when standing in front of you, reaches between the your belly button and the middle of your chest. My experience selling hoops to people at fairs and festivals tells me this is a good start for selecting the right hoop. I look at their body type and suggest a hoop for them. Almost always this is intuitive based on the size of the individual. After trying the hoop and seeing the level of hooping expertise we often come to the conclusion that a smaller or larger hoop might be a better fit. You must also ask yourself why you are buying a hoop in the first place. If the person is planning to use the hoop for exercise they almost always choose the smaller and lighter hoop because they know they will be getting a better workout.
If purchased for family or party fun I recommend a larger hoop as it is important for first timers to be successful hooping. I also never recommend adult hoops for smaller children as I am concerned with possible damage to their smaller bodies and body organs being so close to the surface. Kids have a ton of energy and seem to like the energy output required to maintain hooping with a smaller lighter weight hoop. It makes me tired just watching them.
My experience has led me to believe that a hoop of between 32 and 45 inches in diameter and weighing between one and two pounds is ideal for all types of hooping. Not too large or too heavy to cause damage, but big enough to make hooping easier for the beginner and expert alike. It is also easier to do tricks with a lighter hoop moving the hoop up and down the body.
If anyone knows of a study on the effects of hooping related to size and weight I would very much like to see it. It would be great if the many claims made about hooping could be substantiated with some empirical testing by professionals. Your comments would be appreciated. Thanks and Happy Hooping!
Ron Klint
Canyon Hoops
Anah Christine: Inside The Hoop
The new year brings with it a perfect time for a new beginning - and with many tales surrounding the second revolution of hooping all inevitably winding their way back to Anah, I figured interviewing her would be the perfect place to start, especially following her recent appearance on America's Got Talent. So step Inside The Hoop this week and get to know a hooper that continues to inspire so many of us.
What was it like to hoop on this nationwide television program? Anah explains, "It was pretty challenging, personally. The atmosphere was a complete 180 from what I am used to. The energy is really stale and manufactured, not like the aliveness that we experience in the electronic music scene! I am used to crowds that are there to have fun, not there to judge you, usually harshly. It really taught me how to source that excitement and energy from myself. You have to in that environment, because there is literally nowhere else to draw it from! Plus it was really not created for physical acts."
Elaborating further she explained, "I sat in the audience for 3 hours before they finally called my name, then I had to go in 5 minutes. That’s right, zero warm up. For me to get into my peak 'zone' I need a good 10 minutes of solid stretching and hooping. I was pretty nervous on top of that so I actually almost dropped a hoop three separate times. Thanks god I held it together. Needless to say it was not my best performance. Oddly enough, no one seemed to be able to tell I was fumbling so it actually showed me how magnified ones view is inside the hoop versus outside.. Still, I wish I could have stayed through another round so I could really rock it out and show America more of what hooping is all about. But hey, It still gave me, and hoop dance as a whole, some really great exposure, so it was all worth it!"
It was absolutely worth it, and rightfully so that it was hoopaliscious on the stage. Anah Christine (formerly Reichenbach) was born and raised in The City of Angels, and although she spent some of her later years in both Ojai and Hawaii she eventually landed back home in Los Angeles. The 31-year-old has made quite a name for herself as a Hoop Dance performer, teacher, and entrepreneur - and just in case you were wondering, hooping came to her quite naturally.
Anah explains, "I saw some hoops sitting on the side of the dance floor at the High Sierra Music Festival in 1995 and tried one out. Five hours later I was still hooping blissfully! It was the most incredible feeling I had ever experienced! That first day I got a full leaned back angle with a bit of a jump. Apparently it was pretty impressive because people kept asking me how long I had been hooping for, I guess expecting an answer of 'xyz amount of years' and were a bit taken aback when my answer was '4 hours!' It was the first and only thing that I was instantly good at."
Back in the time before Hooping.org, before hooping classes and DVDs, Anah was hooked. "The hoop didn't even come off my waist for a couple of years. Having no examples I was happy to just dance with it. Every thing I learned in those first 5 years or so was pretty much through fumbles, flow and dreams."
Today she's been hooping regularly for 11 years, in fact she hoops approximately 4 times a week. Hooping didn't just change Anah's life, it became her life, so to speak. She explains, "Hooping gave me an incredible creative focus and channel for my energy, in the beginning, and still does! It also helped me grow more confident and foster a sense of purpose in life. Hooping gives me a powerful way to contribute to people's life experience and is a spiritual sanctuary like no other! Hooping has taught me rhythm in a way that I think nothing else can. I am a much better dancer now than before I began hooping and I attribute it directly to the physical feedback of the hoop. If you are off beat the hoop will let you know instantly!"
How has being on the show made an impact on her life? She smiles, "Well, I got a ton of e-mails from new fans and 64,000 hits on my website in one night! I also had a few extra hoop gigs and a lot of people on the street have recognized me, which is odd and takes some getting used to. I also learned a great lesson on what to read and what not to read out there. It seems that even at the lowest levels of fame people like to get really mean and make all sorts of judgments about you, especially on the internet where they do not have to be accountable for their words. So, I learned not to read the blogs and tabloid-ish publications. I figure It does no good to allow others negativity to affect my sense of worth and besides, for the most part they have no idea what they are talking about anyway!"
Undenabily at the forefront of hooping, I had to ask what it's like for her being a hooping icon. She thought about the question for awhile and then thoughtfully explained, "There was this experience I had this year at Burning Man. I went to some of the hoop happenings, really excited to jump in and play with people. When I got there, I don't know if it was because the cameras were there or what but I felt alot of eyes on me in a way that had me feeling like I had something to live up to. Like people were looking at me and thinking, 'that's hoopaliscious, let's see if she is as good as they say she is.' I was not feeling like I could just play, I felt that I had to impress everyone and live up to my reputation. Plus it seemed like the energy was really intense in the circle with everyone competing for the spotlight, not much room for community play. Since then I have taken full responsibility and discovered that I was feeling insecure and not confident in my skills. It caused me to really get deep and reconnect with the simple joy of hooping, which is why I started this crazy hooping career in the first place! After realizing this I felt a bit bummed about a wasted opportunity to play with all the amazing hoopers that were there from all across the globe! I still had some great hooping highs, but not the community ones that I was most looking forward to."
When she isn't hooping she's an avid horseback rider and loves to take long hikes with her dog. She also loves to dance. Anah explains, "Music is such a huge part of my life, that if I haven't been able to dance in a while I start feeling very pent up. Right now my favorite music to hoop to is deep dirty break beats and house! Holy cow! It brings out the best hooping so far and really has a lot of space to dance in." When I asked for an example she directed me here directing me to "black out" under the mixes tab. Listen for yourself. Anah says, "The first two tracks are exactly what I have been loving the most!"
Anah also has a really tight inner circle that I love to do things with, like go to the movies. A favorite film? "The Secret! It is all about the law of attraction and it is rocking my world! It will change the way you look at your life for the better.. mmm.. good stuff!" She also has a few exciting projects that are really inspiring her right now. What are they? "More news to come, but a lot of my 'free' time right now is spent working, but it is all for the realization of my dreams, so what better way to spend your time?"
Her favorite hoop is a 100psi 3/4 inch hoop approximately 41 inches across. She usually goes with a silver/gold/yellow tape combination because "it's bright and fairly neutral so it goes with a wide range of costumes!" So what quality does she most admire in a hooper? Anah responds, "Physically I most enjoy smooth transitions and a high level of dance fully integrated with the hoops movements. Personally, I love the hoopers zest for life (at least most I have met) and willingness to step outside the status quo and be themselves. I think in general most hoopers are lovers not fighters and into play, which makes life so much more enjoyable, doesn’t it?" Indeed it does Anah.
What does Anah believe to be her most marked hooping characteristic? "Oh goodness.. I don’t know.. I am in here, ya know? I can’t ever really see what its like from the outside! If I had to guess, I think the fact that mostly I am just dancing and the hoop happens to go where it goes. Generally I don’t pull a trick out on stage until it can occur naturally as dance without a stop in the flow to execute. So, I tend to do far less tricks then I actually know, but I believe the most impactful performance is created when it is an effortless, passionate flow, with no stops to 'think'."
If she could give a hoop to one person in the world it would be George Bush. Why? "Maybe it would create some peace in him and he will stop wanting to blow up innocent countries and steal their oil." And speaking of politics, if Anah was put in charge of fostering unity and building a worldwide hooping community, the first thing she would do would be, "Create an online hooping magazine of course! Ha! Then I would create a world hooping tour bringing hooping to all classes and races of peoples in all countries!"
Does she have anything else she'd like to say, "I would like to say how pleased I am with the ways in which our community is growing and blossoming! There are so many of us now it is truly an explosion! I remember when I knew pretty much every hooper out there, now I am really dating myself, and now I will be at a party and see some hooper rockin it and think; 'Wow, they are awesome! Where did they come from and how come I don’t know them?' I can remember when the standard response to the explanation of my mission in life was skepticism and even a bit of a scoffing kind of attitude. Like, 'How can that be cool?' Now when I say what I do, the most common response, is “Wow, that must be really amazing!” I attribute it to the collective passion being expressed through hoop dance and the sheer number of people that are now hooping, loving it and consequently, spreading it! We are all so blessed to be a part of something so unique, expressive and life transforming as the current incarnation of hoop dance. I truly would not wish to be doing anything else, anywhere or any time in the history of mankind on this planet!"
So in closing, if she had one tip for a brand new hooper, what would it be? Anah thinks for a moment and responds, "If I could only give them one, I would have to say this; Put on your favorite music and allow yourself to really let go and DANCE! Even at the very beginning levels of hooping it is possible to dance and this is where the real magic begins!"
You can find out more about Anah Christine and her work at Hoop Revolution.com
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Particle, Wave & Flow
by Khan Wong
For me, it’s all about the circle and all the paths contained in its emptiness. Each new pattern or posture or position directs the energies raised by the dance. The circle can go in any direction; to free the flow and train your body to get out of the way are the only “tricks” or “moves” that we’re learning. What we refer to as those things are different facets of the same thing – the flow.
Poi was my gateway. With it I became aware of and learned to focus my attention on the flow and all the different paths it could take – paths that encircled my physical and subtle bodies in a sphere of energy. It made me supple where I hadn’t been before and I learned how to get out of the way of the flow, which was both under my control and not - if I broke open enough. What needed to be broken-through? The ego, the self (not Self), resistance and hesitation, stiffness and knots.
The paths of the poi, the circles of the poi, are the magnified patterns of our energy, the vibrations and patterns of who we are subatomically. What we call “style” is the particular patterns we each focus on and make; as distinctive as the patterns of snowflakes. The paths of each spinner’s poi are the vast outer spirals of the fractals rooted in our smallest bits of matter etched in the air and time with light and fire.
Where the poi reflect the particle function of our atoms, the hoop reflects the wave function, our identities not particular to us in the dance, but in a state of flux - all the different possible selves we can spin into. We spin not only into the center of ourselves, but the center of the Now moment we find ourselves in, itself a singular step in the spiral dance that is time and reality.
Using two hoops as poi allows for the particle function of our paths through space to hold within it the wave function of possible selves/realities. We can dance with both, at once and interchangeably. It’s a different kind of dance than the others, but one that brings about its own awareness of flow.
Why I love the flow no matter what toy I’m playing with: when I’m in it I feel most mySelf and free. I’m more in touch with my humanity and multidimensionalness than at any other time in my life. The more I play, the more I can bring that awareness with me into my day-to-day -- the awareness that body & consciousness are as much instruments of the flow as poi and hoops.
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Khan Wong lives in San Francisco, California.
Published on December 02, 2006 | LINK | Comments (1)A Hoop Of My Own
By Yesterday afternoon I arrived at my friend’s home for her birthday party. The invitation said to wear yoga-like clothes, as little as possible. I certainly didn’t know how to interpret that, and I just didn’t ask.
The guests – a small group of six women – deposit our potluck offerings, introduce ourselves to each other, and journey through entrée small talk. Suddenly the hostess/birthday girl speaks up. “It’s time,” she says. Time. I have no idea what awaits us.
She ushers us into her welcoming California backyard with a nicely sculpted grass area ringed in tall plants. Beside the lawn sits a professional music system. Next to it, a pile of hula hoops.
“Oh, God,” I think. “Save me.”
We each grab a hoop of our liking having no idea on what to base our selection. I go about it much like I pick a car, reaching for a color combination that pleases me. Red, yellow, and orange. I’m normally the cool color type, but this one just speaks to me.
I never could hula hoop as a child. Despite exceptional athletic skills that took me from baseball field to football game, from the volleyball court to the eventual destination as a tournament tennis player, the hula hoop was my nemesis. That ring would circle me twice and hit the ground.
My inability to hula hoop, as well as my affection for sports favored by boys, made me feel like an outsider amongst girls. Every girl past the age of five seemed to have the natural ability to shake her hips and make that thing spin. I stood there in my attempts and felt I belonged to the wrong gender.
Now, decades later, I stand in a circle of women, focusing on the fact that the homemade variety of hula hoop – as in the ones our instructor has brought – is rumored to be easier to swing, that in fact it’s nearly guaranteed. I’m hopeful. I give it a go, and it almost works. I keep at it and I can actually do it, and I’m kind of excited. Phew. Mission accomplished. Can we eat now?
“Now we’ll move onto tricks,” our kind, acrobatic instructor tells us.
“Tricks?”
She gets her whole body into the action – arms, calves, neck. I reflexively gag when the hoop hits her windpipe. She lifts the hoop over her head, whips it around, does some impressive jumping maneuver – the whole time the hoop spinning flawlessly. Somehow Cirque du Soleil comes to mind.
We move to twirling the hoop with our outstretched hands. Mine keeps going AWOL and nearly decapitating the woman beside me. Luckily, she’s my one old friend amongst the guests, so she smiles kindly and encourages me on. I feel as if it’s first grade all over again.
I’m lagging behind the group. In my overly developed need to excel, I tunnel inward and focus. My neighbors move on to mimic our leader, pulling the spinning hoop up off their waists and raising it above their heads, spinning it behind their backs, and jumping through it. Okay, no one but our leader actuality achieves all these moves, but the combination seems within reach of several of my fellow partygoers. And they’re discussing the technique really seriously as I desperately restrain the jokes trying to leap from my mouth.
I decide to return to trying to spin the hoop over my hand without killing the friend beside me. And I get it! And I feel extraordinarily successful. Two skills mastered in one night – spinning around my waist and twirling in my hand. Not bad for a 1960s’ playground failure.
The most amazing discovery is how much work this all is. I feel my breath accelerating, my shoulder muscles growing sore, and my waist trimming with every spin. “This is good exercise,” I think to myself. And it’s oddly meditative. I close my eyes and picture myself on my beachside roof deck gyrating in the ocean breeze.
By the time we’re eating dinner, I’m asking the instructor where to get a hula hoop. “I make my own,” she answers. She explains she uses PVC pipe and colorful tape for decoration, though admits finding the pipe is challenging. I ask her how much she charges for the hoops, and she says, “It depends on the decoration. The sparkly ones cost more. It also depends how many colors I use. But typically, I sell a hoop for $40.”
Forty dollars? This is no impulse purchase.
I decide to investigate making one on my own. I go home and Google ‘Making your own hula hoop,’ and discover that there is a hooping.org magazine. I’m fascinated. I had no idea the trend was so big, but then again, if you base your judgment on the existence of an online magazine, I imagine that’s deceiving. Tomorrow I could launch ExpatsOfBeverlyHills.org – which would welcome those who endured endless questions in their childhood about The Beverly Hillbillies and Beverly Hills 90210 – and an innocent Googler would envision a movement.
I work my way through the hooping website and discover lots of information on making your own hoop with the concurring opinion that finding the pvc piping is a challenge. You may luck out and be able to buy 100 ft. of it at Home Depot. While that’s useful information, I hardly want such a quantity (enough for eight hula hoops, the informative site tells me.) I’m not really interested in turning this into a cottage industry out of my Venice condo, though if any location would be suited to such a business, I suspect Venice Beach is a likely success story.
I’m planning to call my friend to ask for the hula hoop instructor’s number and making what just days ago would have sounded to me like a ridiculous purchase. But after an afternoon of communal hooping, I’ve felled one of my childhood demons, albeit not the most threatening one. If I can do that for forty dollars and dive into some meditative exercise that may prime me for a future gig in a talent show, that sounds mighty inviting.
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Deborah Zeitman lives in Venice, California.
Hooping Britannia
The British press recently took notice of "America’s latest fitness obsession, with cardio hoop classes, workshops, videos and Hoopster clothing lines springing up across the country." Everything appears to be lining up for the United Kingdom to follow suit. There is hooping happening today in Brighton and Bristol, in Leeds and London.
Tom Parker works for one of the biggest local radio stations in the UK - Heart FM (West Midlands)Heart 106 (East Midlands). They're hoping to embark on a huge station led promotion that is actually going to be centered on hooping. In fact they're looking for hoopers in the West and East Midlands who might be interested in helping them spread the word. Check out their ad campaign featuring Christabel Zamor. Meanwhile, a couple of British television shows have contacted us regarding hoop classes and hoop groups in London for them to visit for filming, and while our referrals proved fruitless in organizing something for the occasion, it's clear that hooping in the UK is spreading.
Sharna Rose is one person set on making it happen. Moderator of the Hoop Dance UK Tribe, Sharna explains, "I have passed on the information to many people about the specifics of hoop making in the UK, at least the way I do it, so there must be many out there making them." She's also making and selling hoops on eBay UK, teaching hoop dance and more. Others like Angie Humphries, who you might remember from the Fat Boy Slim video, are blazing hoop trails of their own as well.
There are workshops happening through Gymbeat and other fitness workshops taking place through Ladies Workout Express. Marion, a personal trainer who is really interested in bringing hooping into our fitness regimen, is the force behind a Hoop Conference in the UK. Marion explains, "I teach very basic hoop classes and have got some fantastic results both for myself and my class members with ab toning. It works so amazingly well and I can tell you when you've had twins, you need it. The best thing I love about hooping is the fantastic feeling you get while you're doing it: freedom, relaxed, chilled, fun - especially with the groovy beats going on in the charts at the moment. I just want to get better at this and have been so inspired by some of things I've seen in the U.S. that I've been working really hard to get Diana Lopez and BettyHoops who teaches yoga hoop dance to come over here to do a conference for us."
According to Diana, the conference is indeed a reality. Diana says, "The dates have been set and we are now in the planning stages for our first UK hoop conference. BodyHoops will be teaming up with Ladies Workout Express to provide this exciting week long of hoopdance instruction and play. The conference is scheduled to happen March 19-23, 2007. This will be a hooping intensive combined with an opportunity to get BodyHoops Certified to teach a program that will soon be accreditated in the U.S."
Is everyone excited? Sharna explains, ""I have mixed feelings about hooping certification and ownership of anything hoopy, but its happened and it is going to happen again. When I first heard about this through a link on hooping.org, I was a bit angry - especially as it is being done in conjunction with a multinational company." So is she going to take the class? Actually, she is. Sharna explains, "I will probably go along. Hooping has literally changed my life so I want to be as actively involved in the hooping movement in this country as I can. UK standards will be a long trek and I'm probably more advanced compared to what will be being taught, but I'm trusting my instincts on this whole hoop thing - and they say go. Ultimately I want to teach mediative, spiritual and dance orientated sessions with adults. I want to pass on to others the dramatic effects that hooping has had on me."
San Francisco Lovefest 2006: Photos and Video
Published on September 25, 2006 | LINK | Comments (2)Burning Man 2006 Photos
While there were many hoop happenings throughout the week at Burning Man, two were particularly noteworthy and Hooping.org was on hand to capture them. Even though the biggest dust storm of the week had just rolled through Black Rock City prior to the Wednesday evening Hoop Hoedown, wiping out structures and blowing away and disorienting hoopers in its path, countless hoopers still managed to make their way to the 3:00 Plaza to meet one another and hoop it up. With sounds provided by the Bubble Bar, we still managed to get our groove on at sunset, turning to fire hooping when the night arrived.
On Thursday evening with the weather entirely on our side, everybody dove into the Deep End at sunset to celebrate Christabel and Kramer's wedding vows that morning, spending an hour together hooping it up, The event proved to be a showcase for a veritable cavalcade of talent from around the world.
BunnyHoopStar
Stefan with hoopaliscious behind him
Annie of World Hoop Day
Amy of Hoop: A Revolution of Sorts with Karis
Randy and Revolva
The bride Christabel and KC
Xta and Myself
While there were many photographs taken, not all are being included here. I did not want to leave anybody out, but unfortunately many shots were out of focus, pocked with dust, too dark or simply not at all flattering. I also met so many wonderful people, but my notes vanished and if you want to add your name and/or link to a photo above please write to me. If you have hooping photos of your own to share from Burning Man 2006 please include your photo links below. It was a total pleasure hooping with everyone at the burn this year. We truly have an amazing community.
Published on September 10, 2006 | LINK | Comments (3)Brattleboro Teens Hooping Naked Creates Media Circus
Recently we told you about a little incident in Brattleboro, Vermont, involving a few teenagers hooping naked in a parking lot. There were no arrests. Since then this small event has been turned into a national media circus.
"We just thought it'd be a little fun," said Charles Corry, 19, who was one of the teens hooping it up in the buff for about 45 minutes with five friends as shoppers, diners and walkers made their way through the lot. "I don't see it as a serious statement." The public nudity celebrations apparently began in earnest this year when one young woman decided she wanted to bare her chest in public, just like her male friends. Little did they know they'd wind up on Dr. Phil.
Theresa Toney, a local conservative reactionary who kicked off the anti-nudity effort when she complained to the Selectboard, was interviewed by a Dr. Phil film crew at Emerson's Furniture in Brattleboro recently. Toney told the press that she didn't want to go on the show, but the crew persisted, so she gave them a five-minute commentary. The show is set to air this Friday, September 8th. "The parking lot is not a strip club," Toney said. "What about children seeing this?"
While the Brattleboro town attorney, Robert Fisher, has been busy presenting options to stop young people from taking their clothes off, including proposing an anti-nudity ordinance, town Chairman Steve Steidle said, "I just wish people would use common sense. Going naked in public is not a good idea."
Apparently the state of Vermont doesn't necessarily agree. State law does not now prohibit nudity in public areas and Brattleboro isn't exactly a stranger to baring it all. It's not unusual to see a few naked swimmers at local swimming holes. The early 1990s brought "Breast Fest" when a group of women walked topless down Main Street. Four years ago, a charity calendar called "Men of Brattleboro" was released, a product that featured prominent male residents, including the local superintendent of schools, in the buff. While a few residents are outraged about the nudity and have managed to get the attention of the press in the process, others think investigating such an ordinance is a waste of the town's time.
It's telling of the times in which we live that a few Vermont teensagers hooping naked downtown is indeed creating such controversy, but it is just the sort of story the conservative media is quick to jump on. The Washington Post was one of the first to get on the bandwagon, even managing to link the handful of teens hooping naked to Vermont being the first state to legalize same-sex civil unions, as if gays and lesbians being allowed to make formal commitments to one another was somehow the cause.
"It's just an act of freedom," said 19-year-old Adhi Palar. "We're just doing so because we can." Palar and the others "do not consider nakedness to be innately sexual or rude and it shouldn't be confined to that," he said. "I don't see why it's such a big deal," said Alec McPherson, a recent high school graduate as he sat at a coffee shop table, browsing a thick volume of artwork from the Metropolitan Museum of Art "Everyone's naked in this book." Ian Bigelow, 23, also explained, "We have a nuclear power plant a few miles away and a ridiculous war in the Middle East, countries getting bombed. So why's it such a big problem if we chose to get nude?" Nevertheless, the story has even become world news.
Published on September 05, 2006 | LINK | Comments (0)Revolution On Campus
With many of us going back to school, it's a good time to start thinking about hooping on campus. Melody Joy Kramer, a recent graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, took time out of her busy schedule to tell us just how the "Hoop-ins" came about last semester.
Mel explains, "It started during the worst midterm week of spring semester with the Penn Band hooping their way throughout campus, and turned into a quasi-regular thing. I helped start the Hoop-ins because my friends and I were extremely stressed out. We hooped in front of the academic buildings for about 30 minutes, during which we tried to get other people to hoop with us. It was actually infectious! We hooped on campus twice a week for the rest of the school year." With the close of the year the Penn hoopers donated their hoops to a local West Philadelphia elementary school. While we applaud their altruism, we're not entirely sure how they were able to part with them.
When asked about the value of hooping on campus, Melody said, "I think hoop-ins across college campuses alleviate stress and are a great form of self-expression. They're also really cool looking." If you're interested in starting a hoop group on your college campus, here are a few things that we have learned.
Will the Hoop-ins continue this year at Penn? "There are many willing hoopers on campus. I hope it continues without me." Melody is nevertheless still hooping up a storm. "I hoop every morning as part of my 2nd-grade (jump rope, Skip It, hula-hoop) workout. I do nothing else, and feel and look great. It's a wonderful work out."
Hooping at Burning Man 2006
It's that time of year again when hoopers from all over the map come together for another week of savage heat, eating dust and hooping up a storm at Burning Man. If it's your first visit to Black Rock City you may be wondering just what you're in for, and whether you're new or a veteran you're sure to want to know what, where and when there will be hoop happenings.
Hooping.org Magazine and our tribe moderator Xta are hosting the first major hoop down of the Burn this year. Come join us at sunset on Wednesday evening at ePlaya Bar Camp, 3:00 and Anxious for a chance to get together, meet one another, and hoop. Once the sun goes down we've been cleared for fire hooping to follow. The theme is a Technicolor Explosion of Joy! Wear your brightest most festive colors and join us.
Not sure how many hoops to bring with you? Diana explains, "You could never be too excessive with bringing hoops to Burning Man. Bring'em all or as many as you can fit into your car or RV with all of your other stuff and peoples. That being said, I'm probably bringing about 25 hoops: 1 white, 1 LED, 2 fire and 15 for the newbie hoopy playshop." Anah has a similar philosophy. She notes, "I bring a couple for myself to use, maybe five including a glow hoop and a fire hoop.. and yes, I always bring some extra that I don't mind getting thrashed! When others see me hooping with my bright and shiny hoop, I can never say no to letting them use it so having a loaner to hand them is great!"
There's a Newbie Hoopy Playshop happening on Tuesday morning at 8 AM at the Ojai Bureau of Pleasure at 8:30 and Esplanade. At the playshop you'll learn the basics of hoopdance so bring your own hoop or if you're one of the first 15 newbies you'll receive a sparkling hope-infused hoop of your own. Not a newbie and still want to get your groove on with the gang? "A Short Sudden Burst of Hoopla" hoop jam follows from 8:45-9:30 AM with music by DJ Sidewinder and Chaplin MXR.
On Thursday night at Sunset, the hooping continues with Christabel's invitation for everyone to converge at Deep End Camp at sunset, located at 9:00 and Eager, in celebration of her wedding day. Wear white in keeping with the theme, and, as she notes, "It's a wonderfully luminous color for twilight hooping too." The actual wedding is taking place on the playa at sunrise that very morning.
Also, at more or less the same time (from 6pm until 7 actually) the Hoopnotic Hoopers are also inviting you to get your groove on as their beloved Pocket DJ's rock their camp with funky beats.
Whether you're star