Tuesday, July 27, 2010

slow movement.

today i hooped blindfolded again for a very short time, and filmed some of it before it started raining. i was really feeling this song while i was in the house earlier, hooping pretty hard to it, and figured i would take it outside......i enjoyed dancing to it, but i wasnt feeling it in the open space. like i had too much room to move with the music....it made me feel off balance and i couldnt figure out where my body wanted to move. but here it is none-the-less. the music is rosyln by bon iver and st. vincent. i am surprised by effect of space on the music and the flow of the dance.....ill have to play around with this some more.....

Monday, July 26, 2010

blind hooping.

so i decided like i posted earlier to incorporate the blind fold into my hoop time today.
let me just start out by saying that my world has been officially rocked to the core! i had no idea!!!!
i cant even begin to describe where you go when you cant see the hoop, only feel it. i became someone else, somewhere else. but was totally present at the same time. the music was playing and i could feel it on my skin, direction was irrelevant. even gravity sort of shifts....you are very aware of your center of balance, that doesnt mean that i stayed balanced by any means though...hehe.
i guess from hooping for the past few months my muscles responded to moves from memory and i could spin the hoop and catch it in new ways based on what i was seeing with my imagination. moving felt 100% more fluid.
somewhere about 30 minutes into the session i felt an overwhelming surge of emotion, and started crying....seriously crying!!!! it wasnt happy or sad crying, just a welling up that had to be released. i felt free to make really weird noises when i moved into funny positions.....like it was an extension of the expression....it felt good to jump and not know when my feet were going to hit the ground but could still feel the hoop swirling around my shoulders.
i am exhausted! this was the most intense hoop experience yet. my body feels like i have been swimming in the ocean all day, you know that red eyed loose muscle feeling. yep, that's it.
so anyways....go get your blindfolds and hoop with your imagination. it is unbelievable!

paddles and stalls

i have a new hoop crush....oh yes, yet another.....this week i am stalking baxter....yes the baxter of hoop path. this guy rocks my world...."dont worry beardy man, you are still the only one for me ; )". actually i am just completely mesmerized by his flow. he hoops blindfolded, and has this technique that is sort of his calling card called paddling. it is actually a fairly easy technique to work into a hoop dance, and looks freakin' awesome!!!! here is a sample of what i am talking about.....



i havent hooped blindfolded yet, but i will probably do that in my hoop time tonight. i have hooped with my eyes closed and it is a very different experience. a very tactile yet inner vibration sort of feeling.

i want to say thanks to sara once again for telling some of the new followers about my blog. so new followers, what is inspiring you right now?????

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

todays inspiration.

i am sitting here on my lunch break winding my way through unseen hoop videos looking for inspiration for my next hoop session....i love watching other hoopers get into the flow. it expands what i think is possible with the hoop. the deeper i dive into the hoop world the more opens up like the physics of it....space, planes, points, variables in movement......really a mind blowing experience every day......
so today this video stuck out. i dont know what it is about her flow that i love, but her movements actually make me move along....like i feel what she is getting ready to do, and i literally bend my body where i am sitting to try to match her positions.
so here ya go enjoy......

Monday, July 19, 2010

getting down and dirty!!!!

that is right, that is what my hoop dance looked like tonight.....
tonight's dance may have been the most fun practice yet! i hooped for about 30 minutes and worked on some new isolations, and got a really cool spin in down pat, then i decided i would get down. literally! i did hoop headstands, and ended up on the ground rolling around like a kitten with a ball of yarn. it was glorious!!!!! i hooped with my feet, and did back bends and rolled in the grass with the hoop balanced on my feet and knees. i kicked it up, and caught it with my feet. i wiggled and wobbled like a gyroscope. i can not even explain the creativity that burst out by hitting the ground! i had some sigur ros playing and i felt like a beautiful acrobat rolling about with limbs spinning in all directions. i am definitely going to allot some time out of every session to ground work, i think it is almost more freeing than standing hoop dance.
i cant wait to get back in the hoop tomorrow!

Thursday, July 15, 2010

to really dance.

i am getting ready to write a lengthy post with lots of personal junk in it so get ready.....
i am going to be sort of honest here....i am sort of good at a mish mosh of stuff. but i have never really chased one thing for a very long time. i guess what i mean to say is i am not REALLY good at any one thing. but there are things in my life that have presented themselves more time and energy worthy than others. like music and art and......dance. i love to move. i love to feel music move though me. i have hang ups with all of these things stemming from insecurities of all sorts.
but since this is a blog about hooping, and dance in the middle of a hoop i want to talk about this particular hang up.
when i was younger i loved to dance. i think i have always understood music, and to make my body translate that with movement only made sense. i put on grand performances in my bedroom for the audiences in my head. i was a modern dancer, a ballerina, a whirling dervish. then one day while sitting in a movie theater with an older friend of mine and one of her friends, who was an actual dancer, i told her about my deep love of dance. i wish i could say the dancer friend had encouraged me to move and twist, seek out a dance class, anything. but instead all she had to say was that "i was too tall and my hair was too short, i could never find a taller partner, and dance would never be right for me"................
okay i know what most "normal" people would think...."she was just young and ignorant". but that didnt matter to me when i was 10, and it hit me hard. i have had issues with my body since. there is an awkwardness that i feel every time i bend, or try to melt into a song. hell, i feel it when i walk. i am too tall, my hair will always be too short, and i will never find a partner.

but it is time.

time to put the shit behind me. time to be tall, love my style, and love the fact that i have found a partner ( who is 1 inch shorter than me, who loves me a whole freakin' bunch).

tonight i danced hard. i hooped what i felt.i dropped the hoop. i picked it up. i was clumsy. i was tall. i was soft, and hard all at the same time. it is time to let it go. to enjoy the time i have. i danced, and the hoop just happened to be there swirling around me at just the right times.

here is to letting things go, picking things up, and allowing things to be right where they need to be at just the right time.




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tomorrow is the first meeting of the hooptacular extravaganza here at my house! i cant wait to post pictures and stories!!!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

hoop storage solutions

this is a blog response to my sweet friend sara's latest blog post. she wanted to know how we store our hoops when we aren't using them. she is a nomadic mama, traveling with her hubby and two beautiful little girls. she is also the sweet friend who sent me my first hoop, and started me on this crazy spiral journey. sara if i havent told you in the past week, thank you so much sistah!!!!
so how do i store my hoops?
since i started hooping a little less than 3 months ago i have made about 14 hoops, some have stayed here some have found new homes with new hoopers. so to accommodate that many hoops i needed a place that could hold the weight, and keep all those big hoops out of the way. i was searching for just the right place for them, when i realized i already had a hoop "holder" hehe. just above my front window in the dining room is a heavy duty plant hanger that has been there for years with no plant on it. so shazam!!!! instant hoop holderererer. here is a pic of what it looks like right now.





i havent had any problems with warping, or bending of the hoops. the only problem i have with this system is that if i want a hoop that is at the back i have to take them all down to get to the smaller ones. i normally take at least 3 hoops out at a time so it isnt a problem, but it can be a test of strength to get 3 hoops down at a time to get the one you want.
so sara, there is my hoop storage.

Monday, July 12, 2010

yesterdays backyard hoop

here is a video i took yesterday in the back yard. i didnt feel like i actually got into the song until about half through. it is hard to remind myself to be present with the hoop and just dance. i have a hard time finding things to do with my hands while the hoop is on my body. another note to self......SHUT YOUR MOUTH! i am going to tie my bottom lip to my forehead next time! it is just so hot out right now, like breathing underwater. i actually only hooped for about 45 min. yesterday because i was sweating so hard the hoop was slipping off.
on a funny note, yes those are maternity pants, and yes they do hang down to the backs of my knees, but they are sooooooo freakin' comfortable.
the song is by arcade fire, they are super fun to hoop to.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

what am i working on????

so i figured i would post the tricks i am working on right now, and hopefully get a chance to come back and post some video footage.....i wanted to post some youtube tutorials on the moves, but cant find the ones i am looking for.....but alas
tonight i wrestled with the double shoulder hoop, and the double behind the back pass....ill get video soon. i am feeling more comfortable with the barrel rolls, and the walk through, going to the left and the right. my single shoulder hoop is cleaning up nicely, but i still cant get that dagblasted behind the back elbow pass!!!!!!! BAH!!!!! tips, please!!!!!


Thursday, July 1, 2010

the mad hat lady can hoop!!!!

today was a beautifully wonderful day!!!! i got to spend some good genuine quality time with one of my most favorite people in the whole wide world. seriously check her out, she is one of the funniest most sincere women i have ever met! but to top off the fact that we got to hang, she learned to hula hoop today!!!! i love seeing people learn to hoop. it always starts with someone saying, "i've never been able to." or "i could when i was little but...." and then within a few minutes with a little perseverance, and a little bit of practice they are pushing that hoop around and loving it! there is a technique to it that i have yet to master the language for, but the basic idea of it is to put one leg a step in front of the other, then when the hoop hits one of the two pressure points on your hips you counter re-act that point with a slight shove, sending the hoop swirling around. now i have found that there is one factor that can not be taught, no matter how good the teacher, or how devoted the pupil. that factor is the ugly face......oh yes, the ugly face. the contorted face you must have at the beginning of a new task. it is different for different tasks, and changes with difficulty levels, but there is always a face. most times we are not aware of it until someone points it out. it just comes naturally, and once we get more acquainted with what we are doing that face relaxes.
today just as my sweet friend learned her own face, and how to hoop, i learned something else. i am learning new things every day. not just hooping, but also passing through a new place in my life, and with it comes a contorted face, one that might look misshapen or ugly. but i need it, and i should give myself some grace with it. i have no doubt i will get the hang of what is going on. and soon i will be able to relax into it. sure the "hoop" will still slip off of my hips, ill lose control, and it will fly off across the yard. i'll keep at it, holding to what my teacher told me, practice hard, relax my face and get ready for the next lesson.
digging too deep? maybe, but that is how i learn. ugly faces, bruises, and grace.......
i like that.



ps. mad hat lady, you make me smile real big!!!!!!!! thank you.