Foto~Circular #4: Bring It!
Many thanks Erin [Doh!] for sending along this fabulous femme-fantastical hoop shot in my general direction. Love to hoopers all over the world! It’s already been brought’en. : )
The Infinite Power & Joy of Poi
While I have yet to take a formal class on the New Zealand-born art of Poi, I have increasingly amp’ed up my own exploration of poi-inspired hooping techniques in recent months and it has proven more powerful for bilateral brain strengthening than most other movement paths I have explored in this lifetime. The basic motion of poi hooping movement involves circles and figure 8s~ infinite shapes that create infinite flow. As a pianist plays one chord with one hand, and another chord with the other, so does a flow artist trace one path with one hand, and another path with the other, while often times crossing the midline of the body & brain~ a critical tool for enhancing neural connections from your brain’s right hemisphere to the left hemisphere. Back and forth, over and over, this criss-crossing & ever-circling figure 8 pattern helps the merging of one’s emotional and rational facilities and in turn eases emotional trauma and improves coordination & mood, among many other health benefits. I’m excited to continue to share more of the poi-style hooping in my classes with both adults & youth, as I think it’s an underutilized & invaluable tool in overall flow technique, shoulder-arm-wrist-hand strength/flexibility, & breadth of one’s off-core hoopdancing repertoire. A big thank you goes out to the several poi & hoop artists that have shared technical know-how with me in the last 6 months to acquire certain moves that would have been tricky if not impossible for me to have mastered on my own. In flowing & infinitely loving gratitude~
De’Arra’s Hoopy B’day Jam~
Here’s a mildly fuzzy yet still super fun shot from De’Arra’s recent 3rd year of life birthday party in which I facilitated a HoopingPowers Hoopy Birthday jammy-jam-dance session of bliss with HOOPS! This particular moment captured was when we were driving around with hoops as our steering wheels, whirling up a storm of goodness. The party was unique in that the ages of the youth ranged from 3 to around 11~ and it seemed to work out comfortably if not perfectly for all ages involved. I think, now that I’ve been constructing smaller, lighter, “toddler-friendly” hoops, and also hanging and hooping with both my 3 year old niece and 4 year old nephew, that I have developed more of a capacity to flow well in introducing hoops to younger humans. I used to shy away from working with youth under ages 6 or 7 for hoop parties and/or classes. I am excited to be gaining skill and grace in working with younger folks as well, and am thankful to De’Arra’s party people for being so cool and open to the magic of HoopDancing. I’m currently scheduling summertime parties from birthdays bashes to Bat Mitzvahs and all around the hoop of life. Contact Noelle at HoopingPowers dot com with party deets and visions, and we will liberate dancefloors with celebration & delight through HOOPDANCE!
April Hoop Shoot With iOboka
Here’s a powerful double hooping shot from a recent afternoon with my talented dancer and photographer friend Isaac Oboka. Thank you so much Isaac, for the lovely images & and for the laughter-filled time in the studio. I will be sharing more from this hoop-shoot in the near future so check back often to see what we recently captured. Also, if you are a dancer-mover-person in the DC area and are interested in getting some fresh images of yourself and/or your work, Isaac is currently accepting new clients. Especially gifted in the the art of photographing dancers, I highly recommend contacting Isaac for your upcoming still picture wants and needs~
Mandala & Hoop-Making Workshop! This Sunday: 4.25.10
I will be hosting a Mandala & Hoop-Making Workshop this coming Sunday the 25th of April in Baltimore City (Waverly neighborhood)- complete with tons of education & materials at your fingertips, refreshments, and the house cat, Ellsie, who rather likes herself a hoola hoop.
A hoop is an example of a mandala, or an expression of inner reality, on the levels of the individual, society, and universe at large. The process of making a hoop and/or mandala often provides a way for meditation, creative energy, and various nuggets of self awareness and growth to flow forth. Drawing from Susanne Fincher’s The Mandala Workbook: A Creative Guide for Self-Exploration, Balance, and Well-Being, and my own 5+ years of hoop-making & spinning experience, we will convene in comfort at my humble abode in Waverly to construct & decorate large, adult-size-friendly hoops with brilliant colors & bits of bling to boot, and also create a second smaller mandala craft of choice as well (i.e. drawing, journal, baby hoop, mobile, necklace etc.) all the while learning about the history and significance of hoops & mandalas throughout the world & building hooper-community to boot.
It is not too late to register for this unique DIY workshop-opp. to create a sweet hoop & relish in the magical beauty of mandalas. Sign up here, and please contact me with any questions at: noelle at HoopingPowers dot com. All materials provided with workshop investment. Locale will be emailed to you upon receipt of payment. The picture above is not my house in B’more, it was taken this past December with my friend Christine outside her house in Chile. I am looking forward to group-hoop-making Sunday night! 6pm~?> Probably wrapping up around 8 or 8:30 depending on our flow…
Strr r r e t c h with your Hoop
Anyone who’s ever stretched and moved about with hoop in hands is sure to have felt the incredible benefits of this simple & most gloriously deep shape in ever-expanding one’s range of body movement/s. I have danced throughout my lifetime, but only in the last five years and more intensely in the last one or two years have I felt a dramatic increase in my joint mobility, a lessening of pain to the point of completely eliminating my lower back pain, and a strengthening of my wrists & hands so much more than I ever would have thought possible without the blessing of a healthy dose of hoop practice. Moving your spine does good stuff in your bod. It is my assertion that: twisting, shifting, rolling, and reeling through space with and against gravity, pushing and pulling and dance-making with your circular partner makes you at least a bit to A LOT more happily cope-able with and on this world. Tonight I had an interaction with a woman from the group who comes in after our hoop class to use the space for her Gamelan Orchestra. She was stretching, bending forward with widening arms and such, when I noticed and suggested she try it with a hoop~ explaining after she inquired–> how we integrate stretching regularly into our warm ups and cool downs and into specific movement choices that contribute to beautifully slow & flow-ful paths of hoopdance. She tried it and immediately, enthusiastically agreed how powerfully good it felt~ & naturally energizing! The hoop sells itself. It needs no marketing gurus, no Hollywood Hudsucker Proxy tales of success. It is a magnetic shape in which we want to be enveloped, & with which we want to adorn our lives. It helps us feel united & whole, in a rather torn apart world. Within families that couldn’t be more repelled, it brings folks together. The hoop helps you stretch out of your comfort zone just a little bit more, each and every day. Even if you don’t have time, space, or energy to hoop it out on a given day, the simple act of lifting and lowering, bending and reaching, circling and twisting, & all the while Breathing with the magic ring allows a person to be more flexible in the inevitable winds of challenge & change. May the hoop increase your peace in the whirlwind of your life~
Mine Irish Hooper-Eyes Are Smiling
Hoopy St. Patty’s Day, friends! Here’s a stunning Celtic Mandala created by Barbara Clare Goodwin that I feel well represents the beauty & majestic power of this ancient art form recently experiencing a surge in popularity~ no doubt thanks in part to spiritually conscious hoopers all over the world~
Hoopy Pi Day!
Hope we all get a chance to spin it up today: the 14th of the 3rd month of the year (3.14), or annual “Pi Day!” Pi is the mathematical constant that represents the relationship between a circle’s diameter and circumference. As hoopers (and even more as hoopmakers) there’s a chance we think beyond most (non-mathemetician) folk about the strange and infinite number that is Pi. It seems fitting to me that a number so critical to the existence of a circle would be an INFINITE one. Hoopers know that the ring is a supreme device of connection for us all~ that there is indeed a spot in/on the circle for all beings, feelings, and choices to co-exist. It is by far the most inclusive tool I have come across in my lifetime to joyfully unite, build community, uplift, induce laughter, generate peace, self-awareness, transcendence, and energized calm. While traditional scientists and math geeks celebrate & reflect on the wonders of Pi today through news reports or fancy calculators or pie-eating parties, us spiritual scientists can express our gratitude by taking some time to move our bodies inside the circle~ and feel infinitely connected to all that has come before us and all that will come after, AND most importantly: feel an enhanced connection to the present moment through the grounding and whirling and never-ending shape of the hoop. And then maybe eat some pie, too! Holistic & happy hooping to all~
DC Hoop Collective Revolvie Award 2009
A belated and genuine thanks to the lovely Revolva from PDX for highlighting our DC Hoop Collective in her 2009 Revolvies, commending solid and extraordinary folks & happenings in our ever-growing hoop community. And of course, gratitude goes out to Jaguar Mary (who’s currently in BALI for a Sacred Circularities hoop retreat that she’s organized) for being the gentle driving force behind the creation of our widening & solidifying DC hooper-group. Above is a picture of my dear friend KaRa Maria (of Circles of Alchemy) who does not reside in DC herself, but does hold the HIGH honor of having introduced me to my first play with modern-day-hoola hoops back in 2005. Best wishes to hoopers all over the world for a peaceful 2010!
Foto~Circular #3; Edibly Delicious Hoops
How many foods can really represent as well as this one can for us fans of the sublime circle? The onion steals the show. We should all try our hands at finger hooping! 
Spin Jam Sunday the 7th, Mount Rainier
DC’s burnery, object-manipu-
latory, improvey crew DanceAFire is hosting a Free Pajama Jam at the Mt. Rainier Artist Lofts featuring the musical stylings of DJ Sam starting at about 6:30pm tomorrow eve, Sunday the 7th of March. Wear your PJ’s or something equally as cozy and prepare to move and groove. It’s been suggested that you can DVR the Oscars if that’s a concern. 
Your body will thank you for hooping. The address is 3311 Rhode Island Ave., Mt. Rainier, MD. Hoop~dancers are ENCOURAGED to come and play!
HoopJam for Haiti~ Follow-uP!
This weekend’s hoopjam fundraiser for Water Missions International and the Haitian community was a beautiful time~ with around 20 hoopers coming out to move & share in the joyful revolution, send healing energy outward, self-loving energy inward, and also to learn more about the importance of clean water for our fragile human systems. We collectively raised $265 for this vital cause, with our intention being to raise $400. If you were unable to attend, but would still like to contribute, please do so securely right here, and thank you very much for your support! To learn more about how our thoughts and emotions affect water, both in our cells and beyond our individual physical bodies, check out the groundbreaking work of Dr. Emoto and the Hado Institute. If you are interested in learning about the alkaline-rich water we drank on Sunday which helps balance out acidic dietary tendencies, check out this link about magnesium-oxide Prill beads. Big thanks again to Jocelyn from Love Movement who spearheaded this fundraiser and super sweet jam-time. Peace, love & healing to all people of our ever-shifting earth~
Opensure Closure
I was talking to my dearest on the phone today about the concept of closure, and I quickly made mention of “opensure,” ’cause that’s where my goofily mercurial mind traveled… We both had a minor chuckle, but later I got to thinking more seriously about how much hooping & in particular full-bodied hoopdance truly captures both Closure AND Opensure~ and of course how vital both of these contrasting concepts are for helping to balance out our precious celestial earthling selves. As hoopers, we have a head-(& shoulders & knees & toes!)-start over non-hoopers in finding this balance, simply because the *spinpetus* (motivating orbit) of the hoop requires opensure and closure, it requires a certain amount of both protecting and surrendering, both left and right body and brain activity, rocking forward and back, convex, concave, low & high, right and left, thin & wide, fast & slow, big & small, up & down; translating into sun & moon, lightness and dark, work & play. I suspect that most of us feel not quite as balanced as we’d idealize on most days; like we could frequently use a V-8 or other body-aligning beverage d’jour… constantly weeble-wobbling back and forth between too much of this or not enough of that. Of course a certain amount of this wobble is an integral part of living life. However, sometimes the scales tip a little or a lot more to one side for too long for many of us to remain comfortable and we get an ache in our back or our belly or our brain. If we were hooping our way through life in this lopsided fashion, the hoop would be dropping far too often to advance much at all on our path. Sometimes we need to get back to center and ground out in our bodies. When we’re ready, we can expeditiously find grounding and attain high levels of embodiment in the hoop. The simultaneous push and pull around the circular form reflects both our openness to our selves and evolution, as well as our need to feel protected and even guarded within the bounds of the hoop itself. The hoop is our tool, but if it’s not aiding us, if we’re not able to hear it’s rhythm beckoning us with each hug of our core, we can set the hoop down for a moment or few, or simply & subtly move our bodies inside of the hoop as we hold it relatively still in our hands around us. We can try to feel our bodies from more of an internal awareness. We can try to quiet our minds enough to truly feel Embodied~ to let go of our external concerns and worries and doubts, and to circle and circle and circle and circle and c i r c l e~ creating a joyful human-hoop-movement fusion. Fast or slow or mid-tempo smooth~ our moving meditation makes sense across the nation & world, planets & universe… Hooping is orbital be-bop for folks who realize that the speed of the earth around the sun (18+ miles a SECOND!) creates an invisible ring which places all of us earthlings inevitably on a hooper’s path! By the way (as just noted) we’re moving so so fast that it’s OK and in fact necessary, to slow down or even break to play (in other words, Adults: you have a right & dare I say need to hoop or otherwise have fun!). Circularity continued: The moon around our Earth is also a ring. The bits of moonlet around the planet Saturn? Rings. The rest of the rotating planets also form a target of rings around the biggest star this side of what we’ve discovered thus far in our circle-clad solar system. All of these circles and spinners and even hoopless humans, too, ever opening and closing and opening again. The only constant we know is this ebb and flow~ and what a delightfully (whirled) peaceful way to notice as when you’re inside of your hoop! Above is a quick picture I drew in between hooping and marinating on the center of this hoopdance seesaw of life. Please do comment if you have any of your own circular insights or musings to share~ oneLove, noelle
Fishnet Fundraiser for Tango!
This coming Thursday I will be donning my fishnets and grabbing my hoola hoop for a short performing appearance at Tango Mercurio’s Fishnet Fete party to raise money for this wonderful dance company spreading the beauty and passion of the Tango tradition throughout DC and beyond. Reception begins at 7pm and I will be hooping it up around 8:30. There will be tango dancing throughout the night ending promptly at 11:30pm. In addition to a splash of hooping, enjoy tango, live music, food & wine, a silent auction, and additional surprises! $35 and fishnets to enter. More on Dress Code: Fishnet fabric in any form or color will get you in the door. Legs, arms, ankles, wrists, and hair are all fair play for fishnet fashion! Masculine folks: consider a fishnet tie, cravate, or pocket square! This exciting evening will take place at the lovely Josephine Butler Center in Washington, DC. Get there early to enjoy all the fun and festivities. Limited parking in Josephine Butler’s lot and on 15th and 16th streets. Metro accessible by way of Columbia Heights or U Street/Cardoza. See you in your fishnet gear!
Captain Obvious Sez: “No Hoop Class Tonight!”
Just sayin… in case any of you DMV hoopers are extraordinarily hard core~ that I, am not. And Joe’s is closed. See you post-snowsanity! In the meantime, if I may suggest: make some hot cocoa, move some furniture, and getchur home-hoop a’spin! What better way to enjoy the day? With Love & Blinding White Light~ sTrAnGe PoWeRs
Hoop Jam For Haiti= RESCHEDULED!
The hoop jam originally scheduled to take place tomorrow, February 7th from noon to 2pm is now rescheduled (due, of course, to the Blizzard of 2010) until Sunday, February 28 also from noon to 2pm at the same location. Enjoy the winter wonderland and please come out on the 28th to hoop, fun-raise & fund-raise for clean, drinkable water in Haiti. Until soon, take good care~
Foto~Circular #2; Gay Means Happy!
You can play ‘Seek The Circles’ in this one, like ‘Where’s Waldo?’ for hooper-geeks.
Hoop Jam for Haiti, Sunday 7th of Feb, 12-2pm
Organized by local and fabulous movement artist Jocelyn Gordon of Love Movement Healing Arts, we will be hooping with a purpose on Sunday, February 7th from noon to 2pm at the Carderock Springs Swim and Tennis Club in Bethesda, MD. The proceeds of this donation-based hoop jam will go to Water Missions International~ helping folks in need/crisis get this essential liquid that flows forth from our faucets in the blink of an eye and twist of a wrist. We will gather at high noon for an opening meditation led by Jocelyn herself, learn some of what they don’t seem to teach in schools about water & it’s vibrational sensitivity, hoop our tail feathers off to an array of hott tracks til close to 2pm, and close with a self-loving hoopdance stretch and meditation led by yours truly. Suggested donation is $20, however, a donation of ANY amount is welcomed and greatly appreciated. All levels (including straight-up-beginners!) of hooping experience are welcomed and encouraged to attend. **If there’s only one hoop jam you make it out to this year, let it be one for a cause as important as this.** We look forward to seeing you at noon on the 7th~ when we will build up all kinds of loving energy for ourselves and all beings everywhere, provide monetary donations to Water Missions for Haitian relief efforts, and relish in our collective, circular dancing bliss! Unending love & healing wishes for the people of Haiti, today and always~
Foto~Circular #1; SkateWheels!
This is a new hoopLog series in which I’m posting circular-ish imagery I’ve captured, mostly from my less-than-awesome camera phone and occasionally also a Canon Power Shot. Low end hoopLove-flavor at it’s finest. Here’s some love for the littlest hardcore wheels of the world!
Online 2010 ‘Race for Hope’ Now Up!
“SuperPowers!” This is my family and friends’ amazing team name for the Race for Hope to fight against brain tumors. As many who are close to me already know, my family’s been doubly affected by brain tumors recently, and we’ve therefore been active in the DC Race for Hope fundraiser for the last four years. I will again be spearheading my annual Hoop for Hope efforts, giving away beautiful hand-crafted hoola hoops on race day in exchange for a donation to the cause. Our team is already actively seeking donations for this incredibly important cause culminating in a 5k race/walk/hoop(!) to take place in early May. Please consider making contribution of any amount you can spare towards finding a cure for brain cancer. More to come on volunteering, joining our team and/or the race, donating hoop materials etc. in the coming months. In the meantime, please feel free to email me from the CONTACT page of this site if you’d like to be involved, and THANK YOU, in advance, from the bottom of my brain and the belly of my heart!
Finding Hoop Space in the Blusteringly Big & Cold City
Having just settled back onto the soil of my country of origin after a long hooping sabbatical in the forest, I’m finding myself in the midst of this big city life where it can be difficult to find environmentally-friendly-hoopspiration & SPACE TO HOOP! Walking the streets of DC, Metro’ing through the Bethesda suburbs, or driving the oft-aggressive avenues of Baltimore can take a tall toll on a human hooper with a country soul. As I walked my sister’s dog this morning pondering the pavement & locale-malady, I realized that the best cure what ailed me was to get into my hoop, and stat. If you have the fortune of a large, open space in your residence, you are all set to hoop it up with any sized hoop you please. However, if abode space is limited or you have fragile items around that could easily be knocked over or break with the smallest of hoop kisses, you still have a viable options to consider in order to maintain your practice & play. The first of which is to gear up in your warmest and least-bulky attire and take your hoop/s outside. Most ideal & important winter hoop-garb: thin layers that are snug to your body, a hat, and gloves with some definite grip and digit-flexibility. Active hooping outside actually warms you up surprisingly fast…and it’s a surefire joy for witnessing passers-by, too! A second option is to find a studio that allows you to use there space for either a nominal fee or even for free! If you already pay for a gym membership, ask them if there is a time and space in which you could play with your hoops, aka: “your preferred fitness workout.” Frequently there are non-peak hours when studios are not being used and you can easily sweet talk your way into them. Your gyms want you to use and make the most of them and most importantly to get fit, so let them provide this service to you! You can also check out your local community rec centers for good empty studios or gymnasium space. If you live in an apartment or condominium, do not overlook the option of hooping in furniture-free hallways or common areas not otherwise in use. If these spots do not afford wide enough spaces, you can use it as an opportunity to practice your hand/arm hooping with smaller to mini-sized hoops. Traversing a long, empty hallway back and forth with hoops a’spin on arms & hands allows for both a long distance of practice/play (you could even hoop with a pedometer affixed to your shoe!) and, as HoopPather’s would say, the ever-so-important “flight time” accrual as well. Changing up your normal hooping environment goes way beyond staying active during the coldest months of the year… It’s also a solid way to bring forth different styles and skill-sets, as well as to further stimulate & strengthen your brain by creating fresh sensory associations in the form of: new surrounding sights, a change in terrain under your feet &/or wind against your cheeks, or simply being exposed to new sounds and smells while spinning your disparate brain hemispheres into more logically soulful sync~
Do you have fav spots to hoop in cold urban environs? If so, do let us know!
Hoop-Mandalas On Altars
Hoops are mandalas, circles, portals, wheels, clocks, rings, irises, and symbols of sacred geometry. The circular shape of the hoop makes it an ideal addition to altars, meditation nooks, sacred spaces, and decorations on/in homes, temples, buildings, barns, etc. Many modern (& European-descended) hoopers are beginning to see what indigenous American people and hoopdancers have known for a great long while, as clearly evidenced through the sacred art of Native American Hoop Dance: a clear connection between the symbol of the hoop and spirituality. I am visualizing a picture of a target- a series of hoops one inside the next; the smallest & most central hoop being you and your soul, then your family, friends, strangers, nature, earth-planet, universal big, overarching higher powers, all infinitely stretching outwards. And beautiful also, to realize that no matter where our ancestors came from, the hoop symbol connects us far beyond our biological families, to the larger family of Human beings, and the even larger family of: All Living & Growing Things on Earth. When I was recently living with some friends in the woods, there were mandalas (see: hoops) on all of the altars. The largest altar being outside, it has a screen decorated with a big & beauteous mandala behind it, along with a bench in front of it on which to sit and pray or just be. An addition that I made to this altar during my stay was hanging a hoop (halo-style) above the bench in front of the altar. I wrapped it in some glow in the dark tape so even in the darkest of nights, you can see the spectacular-circular hoop-goodness glowing in the middle of the trees and better find your way on the path! Around the outside of the hoop I twisted some vines from the very same forest, to help further fuse the slick-plastic-urban-ness of it with the surrounding native trees. Here is a picture from a moment when I was sitting on the bench in front of the altar, looking upward. Watching the trees through the hoop- a veritable portal to the clouds in the sky, helps me feel a little more calm, held, and centered in both the more sorrowful and sublime times of this life~
Circular Moon & Hoop Energies High!
Today is a big day. On this eve of 2010, we are experiencing a rare celestial occasion, with the combined forces of not only a new year upon us, but also the powerful energies of both a ‘blue’ full moon, and a partial lunar eclipse (at 2:12pm EST). The *astrological significance of a blue moon (the 2nd full moon in one month) falling on New Year’s Eve will not repeat itself again until 2028! Those of us already blessed with a conscious hoop practice have an additional powerful mandala (concentric geometric shape) upon which to meditate today and draw strength to carry forward into the new year. Astronomy, astrology, and ‘hoopology’ all share in common certain traits, such as: predictable cycles, geometric beauty, and the movement of encircling bodies, whether they be planets, the Sun, or your everyday human hoola hooper. During a full moon lunar eclipse, as well as on the eve of a new year, things have a tendency to come under reflection and to fruition, often in the form of letting go of that which no longer serves our greatest good. Examples are things like limiting beliefs, relationships, behaviors, or material possessions. On a day like today, we may likely feel more apt and able to make resolutions about living more healthily, ridding ourselves of tired habits, and intentionally committing to furthering our personal evolution. Furthermore, with the influence of a lunar eclipse like today’s, it marks a perfect time to reflect on how we feel about our contributions to the world~community at large, the legacy we are creating within it, and whether or not it is in alignment with our innermost wants and needs. Hooping, like the mandalic planetary patterns studied in astronomy and astrology, can also be used as a tool for this internal and external growth work. As you find yourself inside the circle, it is at once both a literal and symbolic effort to reunify the sense of Self. My own new year-blue moon eclipse’s resolution (and revolution) is to keep fervently focused on Self-Love and being gentle with myself. The constant hug of the hoop helps me do this everyday. And today, more than most days, I have a bonus boost in accomplishing this through such a rare and powerful lunar placement as mentioned above. If you should find yourself free this evening from 7:30 to 9:30pm, please consider joining me and others in the Greenbelt hoop jam to ring in the new year and reflect on living the way we want to live in 2010! More info about the jam on my CALENDAR page and on Greenbelt’s website. Happy New Year, Moon Power, and Hooping Powers to you today, this coming year, and always! With Love, noelle
~Accompanying photo courtesy of my friend Ricardo, shot in Chile last month, of me and my hoops and the moon high above!~
*Thanks goes out to Alison Yates for much of the Astrological data and suggestions referenced above~
More Creative (HOOP) Movement in Education~
This is a video of an excellent Ted Talk about how our education system as it is today, around the world, is basically killing creativity. In this lecture made by Sir Ken Robinson, he champions a radical rethink of our school systems, to cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types of intelligences. I think it’s perfect for hoopdancers, hooping instructors, folks who are curious about hooping, and anyone who feels at all put off by the rather sad state of our industrial-revolution-inspired education system. He asserts that there is a world-wide hierarchy of school subjects, with mathematics and languages at the top, followed by humanities, and at the bottom are the arts. He further advances that within the arts, there’s a hierarchy too, with [fine] arts and music given a higher status than drama and dance…and that there isn’t a system on the planet that that teaches dance everyday to children the way we teach them mathematics. He asks, “Why not? We all have bodies, don’t we? Did I miss a meeting? Truthfully what happens is as children grow up we start to educate them progressively from the waist up. And then we focus on their heads, and slightly to one side.” How dreamy it would be if every classroom across the globe started their days off with a hoopstretch & mini-jam, or took hoop-breaks throughout the day to get bodies and brains’ right-hemispheres extra-activated and feeling great! What a difference it could make for the confidence & skill-growth of kinesthetic learners. Thanks, Michael, for sending me the link to this! A real gem and positive affirmation for a movement arts educator like myself, and for all of us who think a little less linearly (or at least more circularly) than the current powers that be~
Insta-Hooper-Converts
Every once in a while you meet an instant convert to the joyful revolution. You know it the minute you put a hoop around their hips or hand that they’re hooked for life. It’s an incredible sight, bearing witness to someone’s discovery of the hoop’s super magical properties. This past fall/early winter while living in Chile with some of my ‘logical-family,’ I got to witness one of these extraordinary ~hoopiphanies~ in my friend Christine, as she began to find heightened states of liberatory movement through the exquisite simplicity of the hoop. She says, “For me the hoop allows me to move as I have always longed to. I am so grateful that you came into my life right at this time to share your hooping wisdom with me. You have been my bruja hoop guide Noelle and I am so thankful.” And I, too, am so thankful to have gotten the chance to share my love of hooping with my southernly hemisphered friends in the woods! It’s why I have chosen to do the hoop-work I do; because I truly believe how powerful a healing force the movement of the hoop can be~ and souls like Christine continually serve to prove me right. Gracias, Christine! Amor y besitos a ti, siempre~
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