Department: Fresh
Hooping In American Fitness Magazine
Rayna McInturf of Hoopnotica shared the joy of hooping in American Fitness Magazine recently. She writes, "The accessibility of Hoopdance is unlike any other workout. Anyone can do it, and there is comparatively little investment in equipment. It's also a great way to get children and teens to exercise regularly, without feeling like they are exercising. It's just edgy enough to keep teenagers engaged - from appearances in music videos to sightings on America's Next Top Model, Hoopdance is emerging as a new trend in pop culture. ... It's the enjoyable alternative to hundreds of crunches! While no one smiles on the treadmill, there's a lot of laughter in a Hoopdance class. Read The Article
Trisha Says Thank You
Over at Talkin' Trash With Trisha she writes, "I wish I could give credit (or blame) to whomever turned me on to my newest addiction. Sometime in the last couple of weeks I read one of your blogs about hooping and since I didn’t understand the reference I Googled the term and “VOILA” my new passion ! Hoop dancing! Unfortunately I got so wrapped up in all the YouTube videos I forgot to make note of whom to thank! So whoever you are, I want you to know I am so excited and pleased to be hooping up a storm! THANK YOU!" Read Her Full Post
Hoop Dance: Boulder's Workout of the Week
In Boulder, Colorado, hoop dance is the official "workout of the week" at the Daily Camera and Anne Dellinger, pictured, teaches classes at the Boulder Circus Center. The two-hour class starts off with hoop warmups, then you get into some tricks and techniques. Ryan Van Duzer says, "Beware of flying hoops. The main focus is the core. Your stomach with feel it afterwards." How did he feel after the class? Answer: Uncoordinated. Read the article here. Watch the video below:
Britain's Got Talent Hoops It Up
On Britain's Got Talent, it's been a veritable hoopfest with two hooping acts so far this season. The Daily Mail reports that Jessie, one third of a student trio of hoopers named Hoop La La, stunned judge Simon Cowell when she hooped on her ankles with her legs apart. Jessie and her colleagues Craig and Tina performed to The Village People's 'Macho Man' dressed in pink and blue. Check out the video footage from the show below:
Meanwhile, the Leigh Journal reports that nine-year-old Melissa Lucas' played a harmonica while hooping, only Cowell buzzed her off after five seconds and advised her to concentrate on one or the other because her hooping was making her harmonica out of tune. Here is the video footage from the television show.
Countdown to World Hoop Day 888
The World Hoop Day 2008 countdown is on. Last year, hoopers of all ages synchronized their swivel-hips on six continents to celebrate the birth of the first global hooping event. This year, World Hoop Day will grow to encompass more countries, donate more hoops, and bring more people joy around the world. And yes, there is a contest this time around with Groovehoops donating a PsiHoop for the person or team that raises the most money and gives away the most hoops on August 8, 2008. 3 Aircraft Aluminum Circus Hoops from Cirque Du Soleil are being donated for second place as well. It's all about the giving anyway and events are starting to come together all over the planet. If you haven't already done so, start your WHD planning now. Get into the mix on the WHD MySpace. Add your events to the WHD Calendar. Become a sponsor. Let's rock the hooping planet!
Amy Ameis is a Hip-Hooper
Jeneé Osterheldt writes for the Kansas City Star, "She stood out in the crowd. How often do you see a girl with a Hula-Hoop at a hip-hop show or any bar? The Barbaric Merits, a Kansas City DJ duo, were playing an eclectic, entrancing mix of hip-hop beats and verses the other night at the RecordBar, and here was this young woman off to the side of the room dancing in a world of her own. But not just dancing. She twisted and twirled within the swirling circumference of her orange and black hoop. ... In the midst of these Nike-wearing, head-nodding hip-hoppers, this girl staked her claim as a hip-hooper. ... As soon as she took a break, I met Amy Ameis (pictured), a 26-year-old UMKC geology major and hip-hop fan." Read the full story: Kansas City Star
Massachusetts Health Department Gets Kids Hooping
Attendees at a conference aimed at food policy and obesity prevention among children sponsored by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health participated in mass hula-hooping. Panelist AJ Juarez, community organizer for the Massachusetts Public Health Association, said rising obesity rates among children have shortened their average life spans and increased rates of diseases traditionally associated with adults, including high cholesterol and certain types of cancer. Aside from the panelists other activities included hooping lessons for adults and children. What was the clear winner of the day though? According to The Republican it was tofu. "Most people tried it for the first time, and said: 'It's not that bad!'" The Republican
Fake Stripping and Hoops Can Improve Fitness
Newsnet 5 reports, "If you want to lose a few pounds while laughing, you may need to forget about taking a jog or running on the treadmill. Three unusual types of exercises can help you smile while on a journey to a thinner physique." Which three? The Striptease Workout, Jumping Rope, and Hooping Pounds Off. Darlene Dunn writes, ""Diana Lopez's company, Body Hoops, provides hoops and instructional DVDs with adults in mind. The hoops are weighted so that they can stay up on the hips, because many adults face difficulties keeping a children's hoop up. 'Hooping can burn up to 100 calories per 10 minutes,' she said. 'but it really depends on how much energy you put into it. You have to challenge yourself.' Lopez added that hooping is great to strengthen a person's core -- the abs and back." Full Story: Newsnet 5
Snarkmama Gets In Touch With Her Inner Teen
Elise Murphy is a brand new hooper who writes, "As I was nursing my bruised ribs the next morning, it occurred to me that perhaps there is a disconnect between the way I see myself and the way I am. ... My writing is from the perspective of a teenager. I am now thirty-five. This has never seemed like a problem to me because in my own mind, I’m living in a continuum where the humiliation of my teen years seems to linger on and on. But thirty-five gave me a moment of pause. Can I really remember what it is like to be in love for the first time? Terrified to tell a friend my true feelings? Desperate to appear mature enough to try something I knew my parents would say no to? Well, I pulled out my Hula Hoop and went outside to think it over. My conclusion? Yep. No problem." Her full blog post: The Snarkmamas
Hoop Path Faced With Cult Accusations
Jesse James Deconto writes, "Carrboro's hoopers may seduce with their spirited Sunday ritual. But don't call them a cult. Hoopers of all ages dance on sunny Sundays outside Weaver Street Market where live musicians play. ... This past weekend, Carrboro police say someone posted about 20 fliers around the market. The fliers feature a devil figure modeled on local hooping teacher Jon Baxter but with horns and a pointed tail. He's holding a hula hoop with a pentagram inside. "Hoop Path: A Path to the Darkside," the poster read. "It's a cult." Full story: News Observer. Interesting Tribe.net discussion
Convergence in Carrboro Hooped It Up
The Carrboro Commons reports on the recent Hoop Convergence there. Lindsay Ash writes, "Hoopers traveled to Carrboro from as far as Alaska and Canada to learn from the 20 teachers whose workshops filled the five-day schedule. 'This is the most fun, dynamic group I have ever spent time with, and I’m 50,' Ariana Shelton said. 'The best part of Hoop Convergence is that it is a once in a lifetime opportunity to learn from some of the best in the world in five days. I have grown exponentially as a hooper this week while, most importantly, having the time of my life.' The workshop attracted hoopers and experts from across the nation for learning and community. 'I could not have expected a better turn out,' organizer Julia 'Jewels' Hartsell said, 'And Carrboro was absolutely the best place to hold such a community building event.'" Carrboro Commons
Jaime Powell Hoops Up Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara City College in Santa Barbara, California, profiles hoop maker Jaime Powell in The Channels Online: "It all began five years ago at a String Cheese Incident concert in Las Vegas, when Powell picked up the awe-inspiring hoop. As her "hula hoop guru" friend further coaxed her into the growing subculture of hoopers, Powell began learning the tricks of the trade and even started making her own. ... Requiring hand-eye coordination, rhythm and agility, hula hooping may be just the thing for someone looking to improve his or her overall physical condition. According to Powell, it is most rewarding simply because 'picking up a hula hoop is fun.'" Full story: The Channels Online
Learning To Hoop in Boise
Jen in Boise, Idaho, found herself at a Boise Hoopla class. She writes, "Cardio Kickboxing was pretty challenging. ... But the Hula Hoop class was insane. ... Hooping is kind of hard for me to do. I've never been that great at it. ... Most of the class was spent hooping for a minute, giggling, and watching other people drop their hoops or accidently hurl them across the room when trying a Wild West Hand Switch, a manuever that involves twirling the hoop above your head, lasso style. I cracked myself in the head a few times trying this one." Adventures of an Idaho violist
Lauren Shaw Is One With Her Hoop
The Current of Egg Harbor Township is spreading the news about hooping. Lauren Shaw of Longport, Pennsylvania, tells them, "I have had people come up to me in Margate and they say 'Oh, you're the hoop girl.' I've never been one for attention, but I love the happiness I see on people's faces. ... I was hooping to salsa music on the boardwalk in Atlantic City and within five minutes I had a crowd of about 50 people." The paper reports that Shaw has picked up on a trend "whirling through the nation. Many people in the club scene and fitness world are dancing with the hoola hoop ... and elevating it to a new art form." Full Story Here
Bay Area Hoopers: Five Years Later
Bay Area Hoopers (BAH) gathered together on Sunday afternoon in San Francisco's Dolores Park to celebrate the hoop group's five year anniversary. What started unexpectedly on April 27, 2003 at a party at Min Jung Kim's house has, much to everyone's surprise, resulted in five years of weekly hoop jams, an email list with 428 current subscribers and a tribe with 288 hooping friends. While hoopres literally took over more park space than ever before, co-founder Vera Fleischer was on hand with a celebratory birthday cake.
Kara Maia Spencer: Inside The Hoop
If hooping is healing then Kara Maia Spencer is one who would know. Kara's been sharing the art of Mandala HoopDance and HoopYoga since 2003 through teaching, performance, demonstrations, and hoop crafting. Our Hooper of the Week is also a bodyworker, birth doula, and healing arts educator. She specializes in CranioSacral Therapy for infants, children, pregnancy, and adults and is the co-founder of Birth Arts International, teaching holistic birth doula, postpartum doula, childbirth education, and perinatal bodywork workshops. Find out more about Kara, hooping and healing in this week's interview.
Having grown up in New Hampshire, she went to school in Olympia, Washington, moved to Seattle to study the healing arts, lived on a farm in Vermont, spent a few more years finding herself and the hoop in Seattle, before moving to Oregon in 2005. She explains, "Eugene is lush and green all year round and we have incredible farmer’s markets. We also have a thriving hoop community which meets regularly for hoop jams at the dojo or spiraling in the park." You might find her partner Rob there as well, who has also taught classes and crafted collapsible hoops for Mandala Hoops over the years. Her son Ari, eight, might also be on the scene.
She explained, "For three years I sold hoops through my website. I retired my hoopcrafting work though as I found myself challenged by repetitive strain injuries in my wrists from taping hundreds of hoops – which has thankfully healed since stopping taping hoops every day, and I downsized my practice hoops to 100 PSI. Now, I offer HoopDance & HoopYoga classes and workshops to groups and events and co-facilitate our local hoop jams."
It all began for her five years ago. Kara informed us, "I hula-hooped as a child, but I became hooked on hooping in 2003 thanks to my friend Ariel Meadow Stallings, a Hooping.org co-founder, who was living in Los Angeles at the time, but had come to Seattle to visit. She hosted a gathering in the park with hooping to see friends while in town. I picked up a large handmade hoop and starting spinning it around my waist at the park that summer day. Ariel taught me my first trick, how to get the hoop from your neck to your waist by getting it going around the neck, then watching the empty space, and lifting one arm than the other. The hoop fell to my waist, and I had an 'A-ha!' moment, where I realized that this was really fun and I could do it."
These days Kara hoops every day. "For years now, I have kept the central space of where I live clear of furniture so I can hoop in my house. People often comment when they walk in my house how open it is. It’s because we are always dancing in the living room."
While it's obvious that hooping has changed her life, I asked her how. She responded, "I’ve met incredible people through hooping, and many of my closest friends are people in which I connected with through hoopdancing, or hoopdancing has strengthened our relationship.
It’s also a great ice-breaker! I love being able to bring hoops to almost any gathering and event and have an activity in which young and old can do, and everyone can have fun doing.
Hooping for me is very meditative, centering, and moving. I find that hooping has helped me to express my creativity to a greater degree and feel empowered in being my own unique individual among the greater hoop of community. Hooping is also transformative, and I feel that my practice of dance, yoga, play, and meditation with the hoop has allowed me to feel peace within myself, despite how crazy and wild and fast the world the world seems around me. The vortex allows me to transmute my emotions of worry, fear, or depression into calm, peace, gratitude, and love."
She continued, "I think this is one of the most important elements the hoop has to offer the world in this day and era, as there is more chaos, oppression, and war in the world than ever before. There is also more hope, more information, and more people than at any other time in our history, and if everyone was able to be at peace with themselves, no matter how fast the world around them seems to be spinning, than maybe we could find a way to heal not only ourselves, but our families, our communities, our nation, and our planet."
A challenge or personal obstacle Kara's currently working is slowing down, letting go, and focusing. She explains, "This is something that I’ve been working with in my life for a while, trying to focus my projects and work to create the most impact with the least amount of work. I see that my hooping reflects this, in my personal hoopdance I’ve been focusing less on tricks and routines, and more on sensing the hoop, being in the flow, and breathing with the hoop. I have been paying a lot of attention to the somatics of hooping, bringing awareness to how movements with the hoop can release restrictions in the spine and increase energy and vitality."
Asking about a favorite hooping memory she noted that her favorite "moments with the hoop are when I become lost in the dance, and there is a feeling of timelessness and peace. This is being in the hoop flow, and it is a place I usually go to when hooping alone with my favorite music. These are the most blissful amazing hoop moments that keep me coming back to the circle for more. There have been exciting moments performing at events, such as with the Girl Circus at the Oregon Country Fair in 2006, all all-female circus with women ages 5 to adult accompanied by a live 10-piece orchestra. I choreographed a hoop performance with myself and two 10-year old girls who were regulars in my hoop classes as part of the circus show. That was a fun show to be a part of."
Currently her favorite hoops are "my set of two hoops that are wrapped in pink, red, orange, purple, and yellow gaffers tape. These hoops are awesome. Because they are all-gaffers tape they just stick to your clothing or skin. Working with these hoops has greatly advanced my leg hooping abilities." Her favorite music to hoop to includes "a wide variety of music from breaks to folk. I like electronic artists such as Eastern Sun, Bluetech, Rena Jones, Daft Punk, Randam Rab and more organic singer-songwriters such as Regina Spektor, Sean Hayes, Brett Dennon, Sia, Mirah, and more."
What quality does she most admire in a hooper? Kara said, "I admire creativity and originality in hoopers. The hoop is a circle, and there is an infinite amount of movement, dance, and play that can be created from the hoop arts. I love seeing people pick up the hoop and start moving with it in their own rhythm, flow, and self-expression. I love seeing the different movements and tricks that people come up with on their own." So what does she see as being her most marked hooping characteristic? She responds, "I’ve been told numerous times that I am a graceful hooper. I think that is because I am enamored with two details. I love spinning and spinning allows you to slow down your movements and control the hoop more smoothly. Also, I like to concentrate on keeping my hoop moving on an even plane – and changing planes smoothly. I’m really fascinated by the sacred geometry of the hoop movement arts. For me hooping is my self-care and I create intentions for myself while hooping."
Is there anything else she wanted Hooping.org readers to know? She told Hooping.org, "At my web site I have information on hoop instruction and a few hooping videos. Also check out Maia Healing Arts where there is all information on all my work including bodywork, birth arts, and workshops."
In closing, if she had one piece of advice to share with someone picking up a hoop for the very first time, we asked what would it be? "Smile and look up. Smiling relaxes the jaw, which relaxes the pelvis. It is actually harder to hoop if you are holding your jaw tight. Try it and feel the difference. Also look straight ahead, not down at the hoop. Looking ahead keeps your spine, the axis which the hoop rotates around, straight, whereas if you look down you bend your spine down, encouraging the hoop to fall down more easily. Also, practice, practice, practice, have fun, and it’s easier to learn to hoop with less clothing on!
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You can find out more about Kara Maia Spencer at:
Published on April 25, 2008 | LINK | Comments (1)Shannon Elizabeth Hoops To Get Hips Moving
On ABC's Dancing With The Stars, Derek Huff got his celebrity partner Shannon Elizabeth inside a hoop. BuddyTV reports, "Derek, 22, decided that Shannon, who is 12 years his senior, needed to work on her hip action for the rumba they were to perform in week 6, so he brought her a hula hoop to practice swinging her hips. You know, you can hula hoop anywhere, but the pair decided to take their rehearsal to a very romantic beach in Malibu. There, they were spotted cuddling together, and that cuddle turned into an honest-to-goodness kiss." Is the sexiness of hooping to blame? Is there romance in the cards? Who knows, but Americans everywhere did watch Elizabeth giving her hoop a hoop on-the-air this week. BuddyTV
Fighting Fibroids? Try Hooping
She tried to describe to her boyfriend about blood stasis and how she had to get her blood moving in her pelvis and how belly dancing and qi gong would help with that. He said, "Well, if you need to get your hips going, how about a hula hoop?" She looked into, discovered the hooping resurgence, got herself a hoop and has been having fun with it ever since. Her hoop makers (a naturopath and an acupuncturist) claim the hoop is good for the reproductive organs too. She writes, "This many rotations of the hips have just got to be good for increasing pelvic blood flow. My boyfriend's intuition seems to have been right on the mark! A fibroid-fighting activity that is truly fun! Shrinking Fibroids Naturally
How Those Hula Hoops Got Rolling
Mechanix Illustrated published an article in December of 1958 on "How Those Hula Hoops Got Rolling" - a piece that just resurfaced online. "CREW-CUT and boyish Spud Melin, 33, went to grammar school one day last April and graduated into the ranks of America’s youngest millionaires. Rolling a bright plastic hoop into his daughter’s Sierra Madre, California, schoolyard, Spud invited a couple of fourth graders to give it a whirl. 'Like this,' Spud demonstrated, as he stepped into the hoop. He held it waist high, spun it with his hands and kept it going with hula-like gyrations of hip and body. 'Gee,' shrilled an excited moppet, 'let me try!' Spud handed him the hoop—the 36-inch diameter plaything which, less than an hour before, had been fashioned from ten feet of polyethylene tubing by Melin and his partner, 33-year-old Rich Knerr." Modern Mechanix
What Comes Around Goes Around
Kelly McBride Reddy writes for The Community Press, "Diane Meyer is putting a new spin on muscle toning. ... Meyer discovered the benefits of the Hula Hoop a year ago, as she explored fitness goals. ... 'I got a timer, set it on the car in the garage, and started working with the hula hoop,' Meyer said. 'I would do five minutes in each direction, for balance.' She began to tone up, and saw cardiovascular benefits. ... When I'm out, I sometimes get weird looks,' Meyer said. 'But it's just curious looks. Then they move on. I wanted to get other people into it, to gather other adults." Diane Meyer lives in Glendale, Ohio. Community Press
Heather Crosby: Inside The Hoop
Heather Crosby is the owner of HooperPower Hoopdance in Chicago and also a freelance Art Director and Designer. The 33-year-old who grew up on a horsefarm in Gaithersburg, Maryland, married Noah Tabakin this past September and the hoops were in the house at the wedding with a mesmerizing performance by Bella Fuegas and white and silver hoops for family and friends to use. Crosby's life is centered in the hoop and you can find out more about our Hooper of the Week in this week's interview. Just keep reading.
How did it all begin for Heather? She told Hooping.org, "Well, my first experience with hooping at all was at Burning Man. I saw a captivating fire performance and it intrigued me and kicked up an intense wonder that never went away. On a solo roadtrip about 6 months later, I was listening to a mix my brother made me and a Juno Reactor song called "Conga Fury" came on and I played it over and over, imagining myself hooping with fire. I decided right then that it was something that I had to learn how to do. When I returned to Chicago I found someone to get me started. So my first personal hooping experience was in a class with the lovely KC Ruby Hoop almost five years ago. The second I put the hoop on, it was there to stay. It's been an incredible journey ever since."
With almost five years now spent inside the hoop, she hoops about three hours on weekends, in a class setting, and she tries to find at least two-to-four hours a week for her own personal practice. She explained, "I certainly wish it was more but Chicago winters make it tough. 'Brrr' is an understatement. I'm looking forward to warm weather and hooping with the Chicago hoop community in the parks, and with my pals and husband on our roof which overlooks the city skyline. It is invigorating to hoop up on the roof surrounded by the cars zooming by on the expressway, the lights, the gorgeous buildings - energy all around! I am hopelessly in love with my city."
I asked how hooping has changed her life. She responded, "Words seem to simplify how I feel about hooping sometimes, but I have unlocked a calm that I treasure, treasure, treasure. I never really knew how powerful, and most importantly, healing, movement and flow could be for me. Realizations that I have within the hoop now transcend into my day-to-day life and they have helped me navigate health challenges and personal obstacles with confidence and compassion. Hooping has also brought people into my life that I never dreamed I'd be lucky enough to know. Hoopers are the coolest peeps around. The kind of folks that truly live life. Brave, adventurous, kind and creative people. The kind of people that I admire. Hooping is a gift. This is why I am so happy to share it with as many people as I can. I feel strongly that this kind of body, mind and community connection should be accessible to everyone."
Asking her about something that she's struggling with in her life, the answer was balance. Crosby said, "I have been re-educating myself on what it means to have balance in life, specifically with work and downtime. There is so much I want to do with HooperPower but when I reach that point of being overwhelmed and frustrated with the lack of time I have to reach my goals when I want to, I have to stop, step away from the madness and go read by the fireplace, go out for a meal with my crew, hop in the tub, go to kickboxing class, push the couch to the far wall and hoop, whatever will take me to a calmer, peaceful place. It’s a challenge for this workaholic, but I want to enjoy the development of my hoop business, not be blind the whole way. I don’t want to wake up and be at the finishing line in an exhausted haze. I wouldn’t be practicing what I preach if that were the way it unfolded. I won’t rob myself of the journey."
What has been one of her favorite memories on her hooping journey so far? "There’s nothing that compares to your first hoop performance. Especially when it’s in front of 2000 people and you have a history of paralyzing performance anxiety so bad you almost failed Speech Class in Middle School. It was with my old troupe, we worked hard for months on a routine and nailed it, nerve-free. Even did an encore to a roaring crowd. We squealed like giddy schoolgirls when it was over. Then there was performing at Soldier Field for the Opening Ceremony for the Gay Games on a stage in front of 60,000-plus people radiating pride and joy. The high from that one was ginormous, onstage feeling the boom of fireworks all around you and catching a glimpse of yourself on the Jumbotron! Completely surreal. But the memories that are the true foundation of HooperPower are very different. I get to share this evolving and powerful form of movement with amazing men and women every week. Those smiles of success are just as thundering as the fireworks. Those memories are most important ones. The ones I’m most proud of."
Her favorite hoop is called "Thunderdome" and it's been with her since the beginning, simple black and silver 1/2" tubing. She explained, "Whenever I'm struggling with a challenging new hoop of a different size or weight, I can put Thunderdome on like an old pair of broken in jeans, feel right at home and find my zone." What music is her favorite to hoop to? Crosby said, "I feel that different styles of music bring different emotions and movements out of you and practicing to a variety of music is a crucial part of my practice. I’d feel limited in just one genre. I could rock out to Dolly Parton, Diplo, Motley Crue, Morphine, Tommy Guerrero, Rhymefest, Cee-Lo, Sage Francis, Blackalicious and Bassnectar all in the same jam. On a special day, I could even feel the flow of the Bluegrass."
What quality does she most admire in a hooper? She responded, "Flow. And the ability to share. When you share what you know, those around you will ultimately help you further your own practice because you are raising the bar all around you." So what does Heather see as her most marked hooping characteristic? She said, "I would say that I’m playful. I am having the time of my life when I’m hooping and I think it shows. I do love spinning and spinning and spinning. My dear hooping pal mARTa will laugh at me because I will spin myself into a tornado and then have to stop and ground myself so I don’t fall over. Gotta do what my body wants to do, right?"
Is there anything in particular she wants Hooping.org's readers to know? Heather explains, "I think we’ve made it clear that HooperPower Hoopdance loves to share hooping. We are so excited to be a big part of growing the MidWestern hoop community and we want you all to know that we make professional hoops of all sizes, we offer classes, community events and workshops, and we also do performances. We also love to travel to share hooping. I'm a licensed HoopStar Workout instructor and be sure to visit us at HooperPower.com for more info, videos, pics or just to say hello and give us feedback. Our online shop, chock full of all things hooping, will be up soon so keep checking back or you can join our mailing list."
In closing, if Crosby had one piece of advice to share with someone picking up a hoop for the very first time, we asked her what would it be. She said, "Believe that you can succeed and accomplish any hooping goals that you want, because you can. And when the hoop falls down, be proud of that, because the hoop wouldn’t fall if you weren’t challenging yourself. And challenging yourself and mastering those challenges leads to amazing places. Be patient, breathe, close your eyes, move with the hoop the way your body wants to, not the way someone else’s body moves with the hoop. Find your own style. Own it!"
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You can find out more about Heather Crosby
HooperPower's Exercise Alternative
Hoop Day Hoops Find Homes in Chicago
Life Off The Playa in New York
NYC 24 takes a look at Burning Man as well as life off the playa. Stefan Pildes of Groovehoops explains, "As a result of going to Burning Man I found a passion, I found a passion for hula hooping. My friends and I started hooping together seven years ago and we all got really good at it. People suggested that I start teaching classes and producing hoops. And I kind of found that silly and funny and I thought 'Why not go for it?'" Watch the whole story here.
The Hoopies Trophies Are Good To Go
It's taken awhile to get them finished, but the trophies for the 2008 Hoopies have finally arrived and are due to be heading out to the winners soon. Hooping.org Magazine presented the first annual Hoopies, the awards recognizing greatness in our hooping community, in January. Nominations were submitted and the top nominees became finalists with Hooping.org's readers casting more than a thousand valid ballots to choose the winners. Who will be the recognized in next year's annual Hoopie Awards? It could be you.
Lynn Gets Hoopercized
Lynn over at Knitknacks went to dance camp and came home a hooper. She writes, "I spent this past weekend at my favorite dance camp, and I came home with a new pastime to help me whittle away at the waistline. ... I tried the hoops at Curves a while back, and it was depressing that I couldn’t do it at all anymore. But this weekend I participated in a workshop called Hoopercize, and Karen, the instructor, said just the right words, and I was hooping right along. It helps too that the hoops Karen manufactures are soft and lightweight. Perfect for me. Of course, an hour spent in vigorous abdominal exercise, after a winter spent in vigorous couch time, resulted in several days of deeply buried muscles protesting that kind of playtime. But today I put on some music and hooped my way through a few songs. Exercise that’s fun….I need this." Knitknacks
What Is The Big Appeal of Hoopdancing?
Archer Fit Press, a fitness blog, has discovered the wonderful world of hoop dance. Pam writes, "What is the big appeal of Hoopdancing? It’s like being a kid again. I get to play with a favorite childhood toy, and the movement is helping my heart, abs, hips, and it is a bit sexy, too. There are even special outfits you can wear while hooping. They remind me of belly dance clothes. On second thought, I don’t really need those, my belly dances all by itself." She learns that she's a "left hooper" thanks to one of Hoopnotica's DVDs. Archer Fit Press
Race Relations in America Talks To Hooper Jocelyn Gordon
40-years after Martin Luther King Junior's assassination, what's the status of race in America? Lila Ibrahim from the Associated Press took a look and found a little hooping along the way. In her interview with Jocelyn Gordon and her family in Virginia, there was inevitably footage of the hoop instructor and her husband hoop dancing in front of their home. Watch the Race Relations in America video. As for hoop dancing, Gordon says, "When you dance, you start off being self-conscious and self-inhibited. As you move, you explore, express, and expand. With time (as rhythm), you begin to know yourself as pulsation, vibration, creation. You then begin to heal yourself by bringing awareness to ignorance, invigoration to areas of depletion, and harmony to spaces of disorder." Love Movement Healing Arts
The Sexual Component of the Hula Hoop
Brian Josepher writes, "The thought of Hula Hoops made my mind spin. Hula Hooping is all about moving your hips. Was there, in the conception of the Hula Hoop, a sexual component? I decided to investigate." ... Coming across an interesting doctoral thesis, "Ways to Free your Sexual Energy" by Amelia Hirsch, Josepher contacts Hirsch, a psychosexual therapist practicing in Atlanta and Hirsch explains, "You have to go back to the 12th century. You have to go to Persia. Perhaps you've heard of the whirling dervishes? This was a Muslim group trying to attain ecstasy through austerity, dancing, and yes, sexual practice. They used a form of the Hula Hoop to free their hips. All of our sexual energy, the dervishes believed, comes from the hips." Full story: Sheknows.com
Lara Eastburn: Inside The Hoop
Lara Eastburn is a hoop maker with Superhooper.org and philosophical mentor living in Atlanta, Georgia, with a PhD in French Literature, Philosophy and Theory. The 31-year-old originally from Gulfport, Mississippi, who happily lives and loves with her husband Drew and her 19-month-old daughter Navi, has found the hoop to be life changing. In our Hooper of the Week interview she told us, "Hooping turned me into a dancer, hands down. A very patient partner, it taught me about my body’s relationship to the space around it. The hoop gave me the freedom, and somehow the permission, to move. And that changed an awful lot. Getting my hips going seemed to get all parts of my life moving again at a time when things had slowed down and stalled for me." Find out more by reading on.
So how did it all begin? She explained, "August 17, 2002. What a day! The day I first hooped was also the day I met the love of my life. My Atlanta blues band was playing an outdoor music festival in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I was so enjoying the music, the weather, and the people and I wanted to dance so badly. But, as usual, I was too embarrassed. I thought of myself as an incurable klutz and couldn’t bear to subject other people to the wild, erratic flailing of my limbs that was my best attempt at enjoying music. So like I had always done, I held myself back, smiling and tapping my foot while I swayed back and forth with unremarkable grace - and then I saw this giant black hula hoop laying off to the side in the grass. 'That’s how I’m going to get to move to this music without making a fool out of myself,' I thought. I picked up that monstrous beat-to-hell hoop and didn’t put it down for twelve straight hours. Dear God, I was dancing!"
She told us, "After that day in Louisiana, it took two years for me to find Jason Unbound and Hooping.org to figure out how to make a hoop." Once she made a hoop of her own she really started hooping. She explained, "I'd hoop for up to 4 hours a day to my vinyl records. I woke up every morning, put on some soul/funk, and asked myself, 'What else can I do with this thing?' Today, my relationship to hooping has changed a lot. The passion I experienced early on fueled lots of performing and the creation of the LED hoop-making business that I built together with my roommate and longtime hooping partner, Barry Clement. Building our hoops and teaching and performing with Superhooper.org seemed a natural step in sharing with others what hooping had brought to my life. But it also put more emphasis on hooping as a job."
Her having a hoop career interfered with her hoop joy? She responded, "Right now I’d like to rediscover the personal love affair I began with the hoop nearly six years ago. Hooping in front of an audience for so long has distanced me somewhat from the intimate fun of those long, delirious mornings hooping solo. Though I may not pick up a hoop as often as I used to, hooping is still part of my movements every day. It’s in the way I walk and the way I instinctively know to move my body whether I’m learning new tricks from belly and African dance, or silly dancing with my daughter."
One of her favorite hooping moments was on the eve of the birth of her daughter, Navi. "It's my favorite hooping moment. I had found hooping while pregnant difficult and missed it terribly. But the night before my labor began, I picked up a hoop at a social gathering and hooped for hours the way I used to. As this big circle turned around my burgeoning belly, I thought about my body’s long relationship to the hoop and imagined I was dancing for the first time with the precious being on her last night still within me."
What music does Lara love hooping to the most? She explains, "I’m largely an old school music fan. I live for vintage soul, funk, and blues on vinyl. It’s in my blood. But I’m no snob, either. If my hips start moving despite themselves, then it’s too late to get picky – I’m already hooping!" Does she have a favorite hoop? "HA! My favorite hoop has got to be the first one I made. It was ludicrous. I hadn't any idea how big a hoop should be. There was still so little information out there. But I used Jason’s earliest instructions to make a 5 foot 5 inch hoop out of one inch tubing. It was taller than I am, unbelievably heavy and slow as molasses - and I loved it! I kept it around for a long time after and would give it a spin every time I put some slow jazz on, just to remember how far we had come together."
The quality Lara admires most in a hooper is the ability to hoop as though no one is watching. So what does she see as being her most marked hooping characteristic? "I can’t hoop while standing still. Just can’t do it. If I’m hooping, I’m turning or spinning one way or another. I imagine a whirling dervish and channel myself as a ten-year-old spinning until I fell down."
We asked if there was anything else that she wanted Hooping.org's readers to know. She said, "Well, I am so proud of Superhooper.org. When Barry and I started this business, so many years ago, we just wanted to make an LED hoop for ourselves. A hoop without all the bells and whistles - just sturdy, simple, bright and affordable. It took us about a year and a half to figure out how to do it, but when we did, we figured there might be some other folks that would like them too. From those humble beginnings to Barry’s creation of the first LED/Fire combo hoop, I still wake up every day and ask myself (in a very different way!) What else can we do with this thing? I am amazed, proud, and delighted at how the hooping community has supported innovation in the hoop. I feel like an old lady when I step back in awe of what has happened in hooping in just the past 3 years! The Internet and Hooping have shared a truly fascinating and complimentary relationship. Only a few years ago, I struggled to find information and materials for building hoops. Today, people separated by languages, miles, and even oceans are learning from and sharing with one another. Bless YouTube, Bless Tribe, and Thank Hooping.org!"
In closing, if Lara had one piece of advice to share with someone picking up a hoop for the very first time, what it would it be? She said, "Nothing helped me more than thinking of my hoop as the perfect dance partner. Marvel at how it follows your every movement, flawlessly executes every turn, and inevitably teaches you about how your body moves in the world around you."
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You can find out more about Lara Eastburn at Superhooper.org and SocratiCoach.com
Published on April 09, 2008 | LINK | Comments (2)Voice of America: The Hoop Is Back
On Voice of America, the multimedia international broadcasting service funded by the U.S. government, they've discovered that "the hula hoop is making a comeback in the United States" and they're right. June Soh reports with Carol Pearson narrating as they visit one of Noelle Powers classes in a Maryland suburb and a Goddess Fitness class in Bethesda. The report also takes a look at World Hoop Day. Watch the full VOA video here.
You Can't Fake Hooping
Natalie Shaw is guest blogging on the new Hoop Path web site. She writes, "The hoop is challenging me to trust my own body to learn. It’s been a long time since I’ve had to learn anything deeply. I can’t recall when I’ve had to step off from square one. I can’t even remember learning how to make art. It came naturally. Over the years I’ve practiced to become better, but I had the basic knowledge, it seems, without the progressive struggle that comes with learning. I think hooping now is the first time I’ve had to start at the beginning. With hooping, I can’t fake knowing. Either the hoop moves well or it doesn’t." Read the full post.
Countdown to World Hoop Day 888
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