Posts Tagged ‘hoop dance’

• Episode 15 – Philo Hagen: Hooping.org, Blogging and Modern Hooping Origins

  Date: 2015.10.12 | Category: PODCAST! | Response: 0

  Love this man!

  I snagged Philo at Hoopcamp this year for a chat and I’m still giddy about it. There is a lot of history in this conversation.

  

  Rainy Day at Hoopcamp

  Last year at Hoopcamp we had a little early morning bonding because he had been rained out of his tent and I needed coffee. We sat on the front porch of the dining hall in the rain and just talked. I definitely felt a bit like a fan girl around him. And why not?! But he is warm and sweet and funny as hell. My favorite MC hands down!

  He was the very first hooper I met while walking toward my first hooping experience – The Northwest Hoop Gathering in Bend, Oregon in 2009. We walked side by side and I asked him if he’d ever been to something like this before and he said he hadn’t been to that one. I was brand new to the hooping world and didn’t know who he was or what I was about to experience when I walked into that gymnasium full of hoopers. Mind blown. Life changed forever. Philo was there at the beginning of my hoop journey. I’m not the only one.

  

  MC Philo

  He told me the story of the origins of Hooping.org – THE hooping portal – which, interestingly enough, has some of its roots in the early days of blogging. Honestly, it was like sitting by the campfire listening to the lore of a world that is still mysterious to me.

  This year I missed out on his workshop. Boo! This man can dance in a hoop and I enjoy watching him so much. Both he and Anah Reichenbach (Hoopalicious) are self-proclaimed “body rockers” and it’s sort of my style too. But at Hoopcamp, there were so many ways to hoop and I enjoyed exploring some of those new ways.

   

   

  Some Good Stuff…

  Philo’s Gotta Hoop!

  Hooping.org

  Philo’s Blog
  http://philohagen.com
  http://philohagen.com/hoop-dance/

  Bay Area Hoopers
  L.A. Hoopers Facebook

  Sadly Jason’s hoop making instructions aren’t online.
  http://www.hooping.org/2006/08/how-to-make-a-hula-hoop/

  See the aura photos!

  Music by the dawn machine

   

  

  Podcast: Play in new window | Download

  Subscribe: iTunes | Android | RSS

• Hoop Jam & TV

  Date: 2011.11.17 | Category: Hooping Hub | Response: 0

  Come for a day side hoop jam and be seen on TV!

  Center Space Studio
  420 SE 6th Avenue – PDX
  10am – 12noon
  Fee: $5

  Local TV station, KPTV Fox 12, is sending a reporter and photographer to shoot a segment for their show, MORE Good Day Oregon, which airs weekdays at 9am on Channel 12. They will be at the hoop jam from 10:30am until 11:00am or so but I thought it would be fun to make it a 2-hour hoop jam (10am-12pm) for the heck of it.

  If you do not want to be on camera, you can step out of the room for the taping and step back in when they are done. The segment will air on Wednesday, December 7th.

   

• Episode 2 – GroovinMeGzz, Inspirational Students and the Male Perpective

  Date: 2011.11.15 | Category: PODCAST! | Response: 0

  Welcome to Episode 2 

  It’s World Hoop Day 11.11.11!  Well, it was when I recorded this anyway.
  We had a great turnout for our fund raising hoop jam.  In this episode, I pull a handful of hoopers out of the studio during the event for a little one-on-one.

  Meet hooper extraordinaire, GroovinMeGzz, a few of my very enthusiastic students and get a male perspective on hooping.  Our goal was to raise $500 for WorldHoopDay.org and we made it to $200…that’s still great!

  Subscribe on iTunes!

  World Hoop Day
  The Hooping Body
  Hoopcamp
  HulaHoopla
  Center Space

   

  

  Podcast: Play in new window | Download

  Subscribe: iTunes | Android | RSS

• World Hoop Day Dance 2011

  Date: 2011.11.06 | Category: Hooping Hub, Performance | Response: 0

  We got together at our first night side weekly hoop jam at the Bamboo Grove Salon (we are looking for a new space for this time slot, btw!) and rehearsed and performed the official World Hoop Day Dance!  Thank you to Laurie, Kundalini, Fawn, Shelly and Kay for playing and to Renee for shooting the video.  I hope I spelled everybody’s name correctly!
  We’ll repeat the rehearsal, performance and recording at Center Space, 420 SE 6th Ave., PDX during our World Hoop Day fund raiser hoop jam on 11.11.11 starting at 7:30pm.
  Happy Hooping!

  World Hoop Day Dance 2011 – Portland, OR

   

   

• Podcast

  Date: 2011.11.04 | Category: HulaHoopla, PODCAST! | Response: 0

  Hola!

  So I’m gonna try the podcast thing.  I’ve recorded and interview and an introduction and am about to embark on learning how to add music and fix the levels, etc.  Yay!

  Of course right off the bat I screwed up on my introduction and said I won a bottle of TEQUILA in a hooping contest.  It was KAHLUA!

  Fingers crossed that I pull this off and have a podcast for hoopers debuting on iTunes on 11.11.11 – World Hoop Day!  In the mean time, I will do my best to add it to this blog and on my website.

• Reach Out to a Hooper

  Date: 2011.04.26 | Category: Exploring The Path, HulaHoopla | Response: 0

  So while I was writing my last post, I got an email from my hoop sista, eS-Bot.  I wrote to her about where I was in my hooping life and after reading what she had to say, I called her.  We talked for about an hour and the more I talked and voiced my thoughts out loud, the better I felt.  She understands what I’m going through, offered advice based on her own experiences.  I think I know what direction I need to steer myself toward.  My energy, although well-intentioned, has been focused on things that have not served me and I need to move on and focus on things that fill me, not drain me.  Thank you, my beloved hoop sister.

• Crossroads of Energy

  Date: 2011.04.26 | Category: Exploring The Path, HulaHoopla | Response: 0

  Well, I actually got a part-time job doing what I used to do. Floor directing for a live show.  I love it!  Right now I can teach my morning and night classes and still work at the job.  The income will go down because of more driving, downtown parking, montyly fees associated with my job. I still have unemployment for a while longer and I will receive some benefits to sort of make up the difference between what I make at my new job and what I used to make.  whew!  Good thing I worked crazy hours all those years!

  Of course, with new things, come new challenges.  Balancing a mid-day job with morning and night classes, the commute, trying to drive less yet haul hoops and being away from home and keeping up with hoop biz related emails, web things, updating classes, etc.  And right now my VW Bus is having major issues and I am hemorrhaging money between fixing her, paying rent on studios, etc.

  I’m at this crossroad – where to I put my energy?  I had a complete meltdown as I was trying to leave to teach a class.  Couldn’t find the keys that I just had in my hands not two minutes before.  I was going to be late for class.  Totally lost it, yelled, kicked over my cute little black leather foot stool (no damage!), heaved a cookie sheet out the door (that felt good!) but I must’ve sounded like a crazed screech owl to my neighbors and I certainly scared my cats.  WTF?  That isn’t how I want to be as a person.  But I just lost it!  It seems like my energy is so closely tied to money – probably because I’m always on the verge of not quite being able to pay my bills.  I’m forgoing many of the hooping events that I attended last year because of the lack of funds and knowing I need to rebuild my engine.  But those are choices I had to make and it’s not like I can’t go next year.  Maybe not being among all the other hoopers is what’s making me so unnerved.

  OK, so I love teaching, I love my students and want to keep doing it.  Problem is that I don’t have enough students to cover the expense of running the classes.  I assume that is typical when you’re starting out.  I’m sort of paying money to teach.  I know spring is coming and I can see that it is bringing out more hoop students.  I feel I need to keep going until at least June.  Maybe take a break over the summer (last summer was very slow for students) then push again in the fall.  Not sure.  I feel my personal practice has suffered tremendously because, frankly, I don’t make time for it.  I’m teaching 5 classes a week and host a hoop jam.  That’s a lot of being responsible for someone else’s hooping.

  Now back to the money.  I barely make rent on the studios.  I do teach two classes that pay well per hour and I don’t have to rent the space but they are very unreliable.  I feel like I should step away from one because of poor communication within the community center (where I teach) and it reflects bad on my hoop biz.  And the two spaces I rent for evening classes are not attracting students like I had hoped.  But if I drop them, I will likely lose those spaces at those times indefinitely.  So the question is here, who am I renting them for?  Do I keep plugging along and hope that all my flyer passing, web postings, twittering, marketing (such as it is) will eventually get to my audience?   What key element am I missing?  If I give up my studio space only because of money, what would that say about me?  That I’m a smart business woman who knows when to cut her losses? or a quitter?  YIKES!

  So right now, I’m drowning in debt, am struggling with whether I should continue to teach, gaining weight through stress eating.  Yep, my life is not balanced.

  Gotta do some more soul searching and path exploration.

• Have Hoops, Will Travel

  Date: 2010.12.29 | Category: Exploring The Path | Response: 0

  ¡Hola amigos!
  Spent a fantastic, inspiring, regenerative week near Tecate, Baja California Norte in Mexico leading up to, and including, Christmas. *sigh*  The place was called Rancho La Puerta and if you can go, GO!

  

  Moonrise in Baja

  Baja has a special place in my heart…I’ve traveled there a few times, once via the Green Tortoise and another time via VW bus.  I even have a tattoo of a boojum tree, which is Dr. Seuss-looking plant that grows in Baja.

  

  Boojum Tree - photo by Stephen Sharnoff

  Brought my travel hoops but devoted most of my time to hiking, stretching, African Dance (kick ass!) and eating healthy, nourishing food.  Heaven.  Met amazing people who were fascinated about my life as a hooper!  Talked about my hooping life, my teaching, my students and how hooping makes me comfortable in my own skin.  I handed out lots of business cards and got people fired up about the upcoming hoopdance class at the ranch.  I was there to visit a fellow hooper and she was going to teach the class, but we were going to perform together. woo hoo(p)!  Great enthusiasm, super fun class and, of course, I picked out music that was incredibly fast.  Oh well, everyone was thrilled by our crazy fast and eventually breathless hooping. And I know for a fact that I converted more than one hoop dabbler while I was at the ranch.

  

  Hoopdance Class

  

  Rancho La Puerto Performance

  Later on, my hoop sista and I made hoops that would eventually go to the local kids of the environmental school.  Yay!

  

  Hoops Ready for Decorating!

  It rained most of the time I was there but I loved the sound and the smells that the rained kicked up. Very earthy and savory.  When the sun did come out I wandered the grounds of the ranch and hooped the Labyrinth – very meditative and joyful.

  

  Labyrinth Hooping

  

  Labyrinth Hooping

  

  Happy Labyrinth Hooper

  And the best part? I gifted two of my travel hoops. One to my hoop sista at the ranch and another to a woman who travels a lot and loved the idea of having a hoop with her despite the fact that she doesn’t hoop.  I received an email from that woman shortly after I got home.  She got delayed in San Diego due to the snow on the East Coast, looked up hoop tutorials on YouTube (as suggested by me!) and started hooping!  She sent pictures of herself and my gifted travel hoop.  Made my heart swell!  She even found a hoop instructor in her neighborhood. Wow!  I’m spreading the hoop love internationally!

  

  Happy New Travel Hoop Owner!

• Winter Hoop Classes

  Date: 2010.12.05 | Category: Exploring The Path, HulaHoopla | Response: 0

  Holy Crap! Lots of classes to choose from.  I got ambitious…I only have a few months left to see if I can make this fly as my main income.  Fingers crossed and COME ON STUDENTS!

  See the HulaHoopla website for full class descriptions, payment information and DISCOUNTS!!!!

  

  Happy Hoopanista

  MONDAYS

  Hula Hooping for Fitness
  Portland Community College (**you must register through PCC)
  SE Center TABOR 102, 2305 SE 82nd Avenue
  1:15pm – 2:15pm

  Two 4-week sessions:
  Jan. 3^rd – Jan 31^st (NOTE: NO CLASS JAN. 17^th)
  Feb 14^th – March 7^th

  *************************************************

  TUESDAYS

  The Bamboo Grove Salon
  134 SE Taylor (Entrance on SE 2^nd between the two potted bamboo plants)
  11:00am – 12:30pm

  Two 6-week Intensive Sessions!

  HoopGirl Workout 6-Week Intensive Beginner Series:
  Jan 4^th – Feb 8^th
  HoopGirl Workout 6-Week Intensive Intermediate Series:
  Feb 15^th – March 22^nd

  Fee: $60 for 6-week series (just $10 per class, $15 drop-in)

  >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

  The Village Ballroom

  HoopGirl Workout Beginner I & II (Take I & II in any order)
  700 NE Dekum Street
  7:00pm – 8:00pm

  Two 6-week sessions:
  Beginner I: Jan 4^th – Feb 8^th
  Beginner II:  Feb15^th – March 22^nd

  Fee: $90 for 6-week series (just $15 per class, $20 drop-in)

  ***********************************************************

  WEDNESDAYS

  Rigler SUN (Schools Uniting Neighborhoods) Community School
  5401 NE Prescott Street
  3:00pm – 4:00pm

  Hooping is Fun! Rigler Elementary School 4^th – 6^th Grade Students
  Jan. 12^th – March 2^nd

  >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
  

  Hoopdance Fitness
  Gem Studio
  1110 NE Glisan, PDX
  6:00pm-7:00pm

  Classes start January  and run through February and first week of March.
  See the Gem Studio website for details.
  Fee: TBD

  >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

  Multi-level Hoop Clinic
  NW Dance Project Studio
  833 N. Shaver @ N. Mississippi
  8:00pm-9:00pm

  4-week sessions:
  Jan. 5^th – 26^th, Feb. 2^nd – 23^rd, Mar. 2^nd – 23rd

  Fee: $80 for each 4-week session (just $20 per class, $25 drop-in)

  ***************************************************************

  THURSDAYS

  Over-the-hump-day Hooping with the LooLoo’s!
  The Bamboo Grove Salon
  134 SE Taylor Street
  (Entrance is on SE 2nd Avenue between the two potted bamboo plants)

  Every Thursday TFN
  12:00pm – 2:00pm

  Fee: $3 suggested donation

  >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

  The Village Ballroom
  HoopGirl Intermediate I & II (Take I & II in any order)
  700 NE Dekum Street
  7:00pm – 8:00pm

  Two 6-week sessions:
  Intermediate I: Jan. 6^th – Feb. 10^th
  Intermediate II: Feb.17^th – Mar. 24^th

  Fee: $90 for 6-week series (just $15 per class, $20 drop-in)

  ********************************************************

  SUNDAYS

  Hoopdance Fitness
  Northeast Community Center (NECC)
  1630 NE 38th Avenue – PDX
  (If you use the NECC parking lot, please get a parking permit at the check-in desk)

  10:30am – 11:30am

  6-Week Sessions:  January 2nd – February 6th
  $40 Non-Members
  $60 Non-Members + teens (14 & up)
  $20 Members
  $30 Members + teens (14 & up)

  Please visit the NECC Website for payments, membership information and drop-in fees.

  **************************************************

  MONTHLY COASTAL WORKSHOPS

  Newport Recreation Center
  225 Southeast Avery Street
  Newport, OR

  January:
  Friday Jan. 21^st 6:00pm-7:00pm
  Saturday Jan. 22^nd 12:30pm-2:30pm

  February:
  Friday Feb. 18^th 6:00pm-7:00pm
  Saturday Feb. 19^th 11:00am-1:00pm

  March:
  Friday March. 18^th 6:00pm-7:00pm
  Saturday March 19^th 11:00am-1:00pm

  Please register with the Newport Recreation Center for each class.

• Winter Classes – TBA SOON!

  Date: 2010.11.27 | Category: HulaHoopla | Response: 0

  I am in the midst of confirming days and dates for winter classes.  Stay tuned!