The Journey

I imagine the hoop as a window or a door used to jump, roll, skip, and duck into new worlds of motion and grace. Like a cosmic juggler, I whirl reality across my body, tumbling in and out of the sacred circle. Inside the hoop mind, gesture, and possibility are swirled together until they’re impossible to separate. I launch my intentions into the air, and then catch them with a spin as the hoop zooms back down to earth. I watch my friends through the hoop’s window, making a neighborhood near the place I stand.

Through the hoop I’ve discovered new worlds, valleys of fabric behind my left knee…a piece of sky perfectly framed…kingdoms of ants building towers in the dust. This galaxy is full of sound and motion as words, like light, hop from lips to spinning surfaces. I have befriended a tribe of dancing astronauts, but like any form of intergalactic travel, hooping is risky. I am challenged to anticipate the hoop’s current or frustrated by my inability to flow. Some days, prepared to step into bliss, I trip over my own feet. Like a window looking out into night, my hoop goes dark. The door becomes a mirror and my reflection blots out the sky. Some days my hoop clatters into walls, shattering my aspirations of greatness and grace. Those humbling moments put the whirling universe into perspective. I realize my own smallness in comparison to the vastness of the circle. Instead of being discouraged by the realization, I find myself oddly comforted. I am a dust mote spiraling outward. I am only beginning. Gazing out into the vastness beyond me, I glimpse a reflection of the dancer, mother, and teacher I become on my very best of days. I pick up my hoop and the journey begins again.

You Know Your A Hooper When...

What defines a hooper? Skill, enthusiasm, or hours spent geeking out to hoop videos on-line? Watch for these warning signs that the hoop has spiraled into your soul.

Morning routine, "What's on hooping.org?"

Your cat sleeps in the hoop stack.

You understand why "left is the new right"

There's no furniture or light fixtures in your dining/livingroom.

You spend five minutes packing clothes and personal items for a weekend trip and 45 minutes deciding which hoops to take.

You own more than five hoops.

The back seat of your car is filled with hoops instead of people.

Half of your ipod is filled with hooping tutorials instead of music.

Whenever you see a large open area you think "Wow, great hooping space"

You choose your new car based on whether your hoops will fit or not.

You're proud of your bruises.

Invisible hoop dancing is unconsciously performed when no hoop is available.

You send a lot of time on hooping sites and communities!

You choose your outfits based on hoopability.

You have so much hoop tape that your room looks like a rainbow threw up in it.

Created by T.O.O.C with help from Amanda, Fresh Baked Cupcake, Kristen, L to the inz, Tangled Macrame, and Alicia. You can check out the original discussion and the resulting silliness at http://www.hoopcity.ca/forum/topics/you-know-you-are-a-hooper-when .

June Afternoon Hooping & Contemplation

June Hoop Dance Practice from Heather Hughes on Vimeo.

I posted my June hoop dance video today and watching it, in comparison to my video from May I realized a couple of things. First, I prefer the June dance because it’s all one shot. It feels more honest and was a lot less stressful to create. Furthermore I noticed I didn’t do nearly as many tricks in the June video. Mostly I just spun the hoop around my body and over my head. The toss I tried, I dropped, the duck in/roll I tried, I dropped. So why do I like this second video so much more?

I think I see a lot more of me in the second video. The camera is a lot closer to my hooping space, so I see more of my smiles and goofy faces. My poses are kind of silly, but they’re mine, the beginning of my unique hooping style. Knowing that my hoop practice has deepened and developed a personality is like a cool, soothing breeze after many long, hot hours of practicing new tricks and techniques.

I think I’ll reward myself with a cold soda... glass of water... piece of chocolate!

Mountain Doom

Last week (maybe it’s been 2 weeks now) I returned from camping with a queasy tummy. I wrote it off as the result of too many days sustained on beer and granola. Then I spent a day in bed, followed by a week of periodical bouts of sickness and dizziness. I updated my diagnosis to a tummy bug agitated by too many days sustained by beer and granola. By the second week I was at a loss, because I hadn’t been drinking at all: no beer, no juice, not even much water, because I felt so icky and was so busy. So I made it a point to rehydrate, but still felt terrible. Part of me knew part of the problem was the soda. I drank it anyway. Then I decided to test my hypothesis. I felt great all day at work, and then during the mid-day doldrums I downed a Mountain Dew. Not 5 minutes later my stomach was burbling and heaving. Definitely the soda. So now I keep one cold soda in the fridge, but I try not to drink it. I like knowing I have one there if I start fiend-ing for the bubbly goodness. Yesterday I didn’t drink any, so I’m pretty proud, proud enough to blog about it.

That was probably a mistake, because I really, really want a Dew right now!

Celebrating the Crone

Grandmother spider, weave my soul,
unravel the tangle, make me whole,
grandmother spider, dreaming in her web,
she is the weaver, we are the thread.

Goddess Gathering at Ozark Avalon in just a couple weeks, yippee! I hope to hear back about hosting a hoop dance workshop that weekend. Either way I'm taking hoops, beads, and a song or three. Blessed be!



Breeze, a KC hoop dancer, weaves the story of Spider Woman

Competition

After reading Ashton Gannon’s “Hooping Is NOT Serious Business…is it?” I spent some time contemplating competition and it place in a community. Here on Hoop City (and in the hooping community as a whole) I perceive an ideal of inclusiveness, the belief that regardless of skill we are each unique contributors to our art and our tribe.

However I can’t ignore the fact that I judge others in relation to myself. I figure most people do. The issue therefore is more complex than saying “hooping isn’t a competition,” because competition, both personal and economic, shapes and hones our community. Among professionals and craftspeople, hooping is a competition to sell hoops and earn gigs. Not only does competition divide the successful entrepreneur from the dabbler, but it drives each contributor to craft a better product and create a more dazzling act.

Stepping aside from the eat-or-be-eaten perspective of competition, I also want to explore how competition helps divide and distribute the work of a community. Our skills extend far beyond those initial judgments of who is the most skilled or sexiest hooper. I find myself thinking about our meet-up last weekend, because in the days before I was so preoccupied with how I would measure up to the folks I met. However once I got there I realized being non-competitive is easier in practice than in my head. Watching hoopers drift in and out of camp I really glimpsed our diversity. Some gals are always hooping, others pick up the hoop for short bursts. Some know lots of tricks, others make waist hooping a fascinating dance. Outside the circle I met folks who organize, folks who share their booze, folks who teach, and folks who can identify the rocks we find along the creek bed.

All those unique skills strengthen and enrich our community. Competition gives us each the space and opportunity to use our energy where it is needed most, doing work we do best. As a community we must continue to be mindful that competition doesn’t create a mire or envy or elitism and I believe acknowledging competition, rather than denying it, is an important first step.