swingchickie | Entries tagged with hooping

last night i had possibly my best "flight time" (term i've learned for hooping) ever. after all the frustration i've felt lately, something clicked last night and it was a blast! i'd just come home from running errands, and it was the time of night where i usually wind down and get ready for bed, but something inside said "pick up the hoop and just play around for a bit". i put in a CD that i had never hooped to before: "baduizm" by erika badu... that CD got me out-of-the-universe inspired when johnny lloyd used it in a hip-hop lindy workshop years ago. and i think it did the trick this time too, i guess erika is my dance muse!

i had no expectations for the dance time other than to play around with the music and see what happened. it didn't matter if i dropped the thing (which i did a million times), i just picked it up and worked it into how i was moving. and the amazing thing is, as i danced, i was suddenly able to do several things that had been driving me crazy for weeks -- lift my hoop from the waist in a "push" motion... step through the hoop vertically... walk around in all directions... and even HIP hoop for a bit! i have no idea how i was able to finally do all of these things, after NEVER getting them down even ONCE, but somehow they happened and it was just amazing.

so, yay! i'm so excited! can't wait to dance again tonight when i get home...

i've been pretty pissed off lately at the whole hooping thing, to the point where i posted a mini-rant on the hooping tribe at tribe.org. i'm just not feeling the joy that i should be feeling when i hoop. i think it's mostly because i'm learning in my living room, instead of with other people... there's no social aspect of it, i don't get to see anyone dance in person to make me feel inspired, and i have no teacher or peer feedback to tell me how/why i'm doing a move wrong, so that i learn faster. (it's taking me a LONG time to learn any more moves, and i'm still a rank beginner.)

so, in response to my post, a number of people wrote really supportive helpful hints, but which all amounted to "it'll take a long time, you just have to practice a ton". one person in particular let me know about a hooping retreat weekend taking place in NC in a few weeks, and i think i'm going to go. it seems a bit new-age-y, the group is all about the spiritual connection with your hoop and the cosmic joy you get from the dance... but darnit, i could use some cosmic joy, and could stand to finally do this live with other people who seem really nice to boot.

in the meantime, i took a step back today and assessed what i've learned so far. and you know what, for only doing this a couple of hours a week, what i've learned in 2 months ain't half bad. from having never hooped before, in 2 months i've learned:

waist hooping in my dominant direction, very well
waist hooping in my secondary direction, not too badly
turning around along with the hoop while waist hooping
floating the hoop around me
"halos"
"swish" (spinning the hoop off-body)
the "booty bump"
lifting the hoop overhead from hooping on the waist - both from a front scoop and a rear pickup
bringing the hoop down to my waist from an overhead spin

so, dammit, i'm not going to beat myself up. sure, i want to learn more, and my frustration comes partly from wanting to explore all i can with this form of dance but knowing i'm physically limited in what i can do right now. but it'll come, with time and practice. it'll come.

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Entries tagged with hooping

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July 2014

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