January 29, 2008
October 02, 2007
Hand Hooping 101: Raise the Roof
This collection of tips/exercises for beginning hand hooping accompanies the second class in our Hoop Dance Series. It's a great place to get started! Divided into two sections, this collection of hand hooping movements covers the basics (and a little more!) of both horizontal and vertical hand hooping. It's not easy to describe hooping in words, so we've included links to helpful videos from among the hooping community.
Be gentle and patient with yourself ... stop and rest if you begin to bruise or get sore, and above all have FUN!
Have extra tips, or more instructional videos? Please add them to our Comments section.
Hand Hooping doesn't stop here -- stay tuned for more hooping tips on Superhooper.org!
July 09, 2007
From the Mouths of Babes
From the Hoop's perspective. Hooping meets a middle school English lesson.
When Ms. Moon invited Superhooper.org to visit her 6th grade classes at Path Academy here in Atlanta GA, she asked her Language Arts students (after lots of hooping fun, of course!) to compose poems as if they were written by a hoop. What wonderful reminders of the childhood magic the hoop continues to inspire in us grown-ups!
June 25, 2007
Get the Most out of Waist Hooping
Whether you're a beginning hooper or just looking to re-infuse your hooping with some new spunk, these exercises are designed to inspire your body and your creativity. As they say, you can never know the basics too well! The exercises we've posted below are from the first class in our Atlanta Hoop Dance Series. These fantastic ideas are a conglomerate taken from our own hooping, discussions on hooping.tribe.net and from all of you. Have fun, add to our list using the comments button, and Happy Hooping!
January 25, 2007
Prose For My Hoop
I respect and admire your symbolism. Your link to yourself, to me, is a sign of unity, continuation, revolution, and isolation at the same time. I recognize that within each of us is a place where peace dwells, and when we are in that place, we are One. Through you I learn to respect myself and the space that continuosly revolves around me. Through you I learn dedication, commitment, finesse, strengh, and most importantly freedom of motion. I will pick you up if you fall. I will learn from your flow, and I will share your strengh with anyone open enough to reach out for you. The light within me sees and honors the light within you.
Namaste
January 07, 2007
My Turn to Lose
"Revolution" Resolutions
So I haven't been hooping. Much.
I've got about forty pounds left to lose after the August birth of my own little hooper. I've been out of the game . . . and way off mine. And since my body's been on mind, hooping has too.
Renewing my confidence has meant a good bit of soul-searching. Why do I hoop, again? I mean, I thought I knew. I hoop because it's fun, because it makes me feel good, right? So what's up?
Hooping's not the only sport where I've lost some pizazz. I'm a runner. I've run 5 half marathons in 2 countries. But post-baby, I'm only up to 4 miles so far. Every sport draws on a different point of personal inspiration. When I'm running, I tap into a certain ambition, a battle between two sides of me -- the part that wants to quit when it gets hard and the part that knows I can keep going. Every run is a small symbolic victory for my internal optimist and a mini life lesson.
(Kickboxing, on the other hand, feeds off my anger. I haven't kickboxed in years, so I'm going to assume that my inner angst-ridden teenager is finally subdued.)
But what fuels my hoop? I was recently reminded that my hooping is integrally linked to my sensuality. When I hoop, I tap into a kind of self-expression that reflects how I feel about my body and how it relates to the bodies around me. Like nothing else in my life, hooping has zero to do with the chatter of my mind. Hooping is my body talking. And lately, I haven't been listening.
My hooping has been a performance for so long -- tied up with its matching costumes that no longer fit, the tricks that are about nine months out of practice, and a feeling of flow and beauty in my movements that seem to belong to another, more youthful Lara -- that I've been experiencing a bit of (ahem) performance anxiety. . .
And since picking up my hoop again means wanting to feel beautiful and mine again, then it's time! I've just wrapped two new 2007 hoops -- one for me and one for my new running partner. Tomorrow, I'm going to turn on Stevie Wonder's "For Once in My Life" and remember the joy of moving my hips. I'm on a mission to get my chops . . . and my body . . . back.
Here's to feeling beautiful. And here's to jumping back in the hoop.
Read others' new year's hooping resolutions and add yours here to the hooping tribe: http://hooping.tribe.net/thread/46ffbf1b-12ad-4b4a-9d3c-b22a20d657bc
December 06, 2006
Bustin' A New Move
I'm not the greatest dancer, but my hoop is a spectacular dance partner. I don't think I ever really understood expressive movement until I started hooping. The presentation can still elude me from time to time, but these days it seems pretty on point. I feel as if skilled expressive movement comes in plateaus. I'll have long bouts of stagnation where I feel as if I'll never learn anything new, then suddenly I'll learn sevarel new tricks or combos in a row.
A man dancing with a hula hoop was the first plateau for me. It didn't take much though; theres something about hooping that is inherently fun. I watched my then roommate Lara hoop to her favorite music and decided that it was something I would try. However in a typical male fashion I decide that if I am going to play with something as "girly" as a hoop, I'd better at least try to make it look masculine. My first attempts at hooping never actually involved me hooping around the waist. Always off the body movements incorporating lots of arm work and throws. It took me a while to get comfortable with hooping on my body.
Then I found that I couldn't just let go and hoop. I had a bit of a techy, or really trick based style. Flow was not one of the most important things to me. Learning and becoming comfortable with each "trick" was all I could focus on. I felt proficient at many tricks but could not link them well or really flow.
Realizing that I needed something diffrent I began to hoop around my body more and dance around. After a while I found my flow was improving and I was able to smoothly incorporate diffrent tricks into my dance. Recently though I have been climbing out of a period of stagnation. Inspired mostly by my new color changing hoop, I have been working on a new (to me) style of hooping incoorporating very slowly isolated hoop movements and large dramatic body movements. Its been fun trying to find new ways for my body to move and interact with the hoop.
I keep growing with the hoop and it keeps growing on me. More people need to experience the joy of hooping. I encourage you to gift at least three people this season with a little time with your hoop. Let them experience the joy of hooping. You'll be rewarded with the smiles on thier faces.
