Hooping Up High

I recently did an interactive performance at the Mado Lounge in Roppongi hills for Guy Perryman's Sky High Party. The party peeps got into the hoop groove and Isaac Shultz of Brilliant World Tokyo was there to capture some of the light show, laughs and hooping hips.

Love the footage he took, at one point it looks like my LED hoop is swirling around one of the Tokyo skyscrapers.

Tokyo Freeze June 2008

We froze, purely by accident after bumping into Martine on the way to grab a salad.
The hoops starred heavily, it was all good fun!

Hooping = Brain Gym

I remember in my first few years as a primary school teacher in Australia a very powerful program called Brain Gym was a favorite flavor of many teachers. Known as educational kinesiology, it was a wonderful way to switch on student awareness as well as bring some of the high flyers down to a calm and more focused level. After finishing my Hooping class this afternoon with a multi-age, diverse group of elementary school students I couldn't help but think about the correlation between the brain gym program and hooping.

A powerful reminder of the ability of the hoop to calm even the most easily excited kiddies came on Monday morning. There was a twinge of anxiousness when I found out that Lindsey and I would have to choreograph and train 80 students to hoop dance for the school community on Sports Day (May 30). However I had full faith in the power of the hoop. When it came time to settle the students down, help them find their positions in the big dance scheme and show them the beginning dance moves, all done in their third language English, I felt total bliss as I looked out over a sea of little people sitting, transfixed as we gave instructions and showed off some off the hoop moves.

The power of the hoop sounds itself strongly each and every recess and lunch time when I have droves of happy hoopers lining up to grab their hoops and find their space in the rotation. It truly is a revolution that has taken hold in a very positive way. Calming, challenging and focusing their little brains.

And now something to excite adult minds...
Anah the Hoopalicious one

Karis

I enjoyed pole dancing class but this ROCKs my socks more!!

That hoop slam down gives me shivers!! HOT
In case you were wondering this mind blowing performer is Karis, known for his sizzling performance in the Scissor Sisters Filthy Gorgeous film clip among other things.
(oh hey these vids may not be safe for work...guess it depends on where you work, but a heads up just in case, watch em at home they are fun)

Dance Parties in Yoyogi Park

Tokyo is a never ending series of surprises. This weekend was no exception. After a huge night on the dancefloor at the very successful ABM party held last night at JZ Brat we had a quick sleep and headed out to Yoyogi park for a gorgeous afternoon. The weather was divine and the hoops were spinning.



As the sun went down the sounds out on the horizon were turned up. An email from a friend asking "Are you at the dance party in Yoyogi Park?" helped make the connection that the beats we were hearing in the distance were something worth seeking out.



A short trek through the darkness avoiding the trees and resting bodies we let our ears guide us and soon stumbled upon a very happening, techno flooded dance party. Needless to say the hoops were whipped out yet again and bodies warmed up nicely in the coolness of the Spring night.

An interesting mixture of Japanese and foreign dancers pounded the park floor to the happy vibes as the sun completely left for another part of the world. Plenty of friendly faces and music lovers. Not long into the set things seem to shut down and people scampered of in various directions. Left standing in the middle of the dark park with smiles on our faces and wetness on our skin our ears pricked up again to the sound of more beats in the distance. The search was on again.

This time we discovered a more low key but possibly more crowded make shift club. Plenty of smiling faces, funky beats and some of the hugest speakers I have seen set up outdoors in a long time. Good times.



According to our new dance party friends and the DJs the parties in Yoyogi park are every Sunday once the sun goes down, usually 5pm - 8pm. They are not hard to find, follow your ears. Look for us, we will most likely be there. What an awesome way to end the weekend!

What a Weekend!

It is hard to know where to start I am still really trying to process the greatness and intensely of the weekend. Leila Chan as always has such a wonderful way with words and summed it up quite nicely here.

I have so much more to add but am finding it hard to put into words! The people, the action, the happenings, the connections that were made are really all just starting to sink in.

It is an unexplainable feeling to have dreams and thoughts manifest so succinctly. There were many dreams becoming reality for a lot of us this weekend.

As always I have so many people to extend unspeakable amounts of gratitude to...
Masao the man always cool, calm and overwhelmingly supportive. My ladies my beautiful ladies you know I love you and you never fail to surprise me, scare me and fill me with pure joy. New friends I need to sincerely thank all of the wonderful people who approached me this weekend both at Velours and in Yoyogi park at the Hoop Matsuri, for me hooping is all about togetherness and while I am often in my own little hoopy world I am very grateful to anyone who is free spirited enough to want to be a part of the spin so thank you to all of the gorgeous new friends who I met this weekend looking forward to sharing lots of greatness. My fabulously funky friends without a doubt I have the most amazing circle of open minded, fun loving, interesting friends I don't think there is much else a girl can ask for in life. I truly hope I offer you as much love and support as you give to me, it is an overwhelming task because the power you give to me it so very great! Thank you!

If this weekend was just the warm up to Summer then we are in for one insanely hot Summer session! Cannot wait!

Earth Day Hoop Matsuri

Just when I thought no good could come of today's gloomy Tokyo weather I was hit by an intensely inspirational whirlwind which launched many new projects out into the universe some of which I will tell you about later (very exciting though my hoop site is almost done!!) The most colorful new project I am calling the Earth Day Hoop Matsuri.

Inspired by the Color Parade in Sydney, the crowds of performers and hemp beer swillers at last year's Earth Day Tokyo and today's dismal weather I decided that we should be sharing as much color and light with Tokyo as we can - it needs it!

Name: Earth Day Hoop Matsuri
A Colorful Procession
Host: Hoop Lovers (Deanne)
Type: Causes - Rally

Time and Place
Date: Sunday, April 20, 2008
Time: 1:00pm - 7:00pm
Location: Earth Day Tokyo
Street: Harajuku Station to Yoyogi Park
City/Town: Tokyo, Japan

Let's share some color and love with Tokyo by parading our vibrance through the streets to arrive at Yoyogi Park for Japan's biggest Earth Day gathering on Sunday April 20.

Where: Meet at the Harajuku Girl's hang out near Harajuku Station.

Costume: Wear your finest, brightest, most colorful creations!! We will take our hoops and other play things in a matsuri style precession to the Earth Event find ourselves a spot in the action and show off our inner child in celebration for our gorgeous Earth.
(OR drink lots of hemp beer and take in the aromas of undeoderized armpits!)

Don't worry if you cannot hoop, today will be the time to learn and get your groove on!! All other play things, pets and puppets welcome.

(The sun did not show us any love today so you had better all be praying for it on Sunday 20th)
IF IT RAINS THIS EVENT WILL BE CANCELED via facebook on the morning of.

SO DUST OF THOSE WIGS, DIG OUT THOSE PLATFORMS - IT IS SHOWTIME!

Some photos from Nick Coppins to give you a little inspiration and food for thought! I may even wear my pink wig...and you know what kind of havoc that creates!!!





If you are in Tokyo next weekend and the sun is shining I will see you there!

Rain Rain Go Away

Sadly today's Hoop Fest in Yoyogi park had to be canceled because of rain but here is some hoop action that should make you smile. Mario from Hoop Tokyo shows off his moves and tests out another odd Japanese invention the bean shaped hoop.

Enjoy the rain and watch out for a hoop happening coming to a park near you!

The story behind this shot

Sunday was just one of those wonderfully memorable days. Hanami, cherry blossom picnic, time for us is one of the most gorgeous times of the year in Japan because it is a time when we can all come together and just chill under the Spring flowers, get all excited about Summer and laugh about times gone by - Sunday was no exception.

Having been away in Australia for what I thought was the peak sakura time I was sad to think that I might have missed hanami season in Japan this year. Perhaps the blossoms were a little less plentiful but that didn't stop the crowds of party goers flocking to Shinjuku park to enjoy the last bursts of the short lived season (I swear there are way more than 4 seasons in Japan.) I was lucky to be a part of Sunday's celebrations.

We packed up the hoops, stuffed our bags with some yummy fruit and headed to meet up with the gang. Shinjuku Park is a gated park for which you need to pay an entry fee. To keep the park gorgeous all year round and ensure everyone's happiness, apparently, there are many rules and signs clearly stating them. One of the rules is " no play things" - that includes hoops. I prewarned Masao that we would be busted at the gates (there is no way to hide 10 colorful hula hoops) Sure enough we were swarmed upon by security guards, one after another. Each time we fended them of with "Oh no we are not going to use the hoops we are just carrying them" They believed us (??) and we were in.

It was not too long before the hoops were cracked open and the groovers came out of the woodwork. It is so cool to watch hooping newbies initial reaction to hoops. It is like each personality type has a different approach to how they tackle the first time hoop moves. Some like to sit back and watch for a long time before attempting, some want to jump right in and get their spin on not giving up until they master it, others come into the spin laden with self doubt and then surprise themselves when they can actually get into the moves quick quickly. It is all such a joy to watch.

Time flew and we were soon heading out of the park towards another local hang when we spotted IT. The ghetto blaster sent from heaven. It twinkled in the sunlight and spoke to Leila and I in very clear terms, saying "turn me on and get your hoop on!"

And so we did!

With the hoards of human traffic flowing out of the gates it wasn't long and we had drawn quite a crowd. The show pony in me took full advantage. Leila and I showed off a few moves, we let the break dance boys do their thing, a funky old man with smoke in mouth popped in for a quick dance off, we passed around a few hoops and then it was time for the grand finale. A little party trick that Bunny taught me that is a true crowd pleaser - the hoop throw on. We only had enough hoops for Leila to throw 5 hoops on me but it was enough for a big cheer, a good tummy workout and a final rock star pose.



It is a revolution!

Return to Tokyo

I am back in Tokyo after a gorgeous time in Australia. It went by too quickly but the weather was perfect, I achieved all that I set out to do and I got to spend everyday with my mama relaxing, shopping, eating and just hanging out.

Arriving in Brisbane airport I was whisked away to the Sunshine Coast to hang out with my nan and gran. The perfect opportunity to get a bit of family hooping happening.


I cannot even describe how beautiful the weather was. Returning to Australia makes you realize what an outstanding country it is. The space, the beauty, the smiles are so very missed being away from it.

And then there was Sydney. I have been to Sydney many times in my life for various reasons - shopping, parties, friends, travel. This time blew me away. I can honestly say if I could pack everything into a bag including Masao and move to Sydney next week I would. The planets were superbly aligned on our visit. Mum and I took the quick flight from Brisbane to Sydney and from the moment we stepped off the plane Sydney did it's best to impress!


I had heard people in the past, non Sydney dwellers, refer to the city using all sorts of negative terms. After living in Tokyo for more than four years now I saw Sydney as a city that knows what it wants, provides for diversity and offers spectacular scenery to delight the senses. Of course that is from a visitors point of view, but I am still a bit Sydney starstruck.

While I hooped it up with Bunny Hoop Star and a fantastic group of talented women, Mum hit the streets with camera in hand documenting her kilometers of travel on foot in photos, hundreds of them! Naturally she ended her Sydney adventure with a long reflexology session at one of Sydney's many massage centers.


The Sydney journey was made even sweeter by the accomplishment of three of my big goals for the year. 1. Meet Bunny Hoop Star 2. Become a certified hoop teacher by April 1. and 3. Purchase at least 10 hoops by April 1. I plan to write a whole post about the weekend of teacher training.


Arriving back in Tokyo last night I saw the cherry blossoms from the sky and knew I had to christen my new hoops under the blossoms today. It is good to be back, I have massive plans and some how I have a feeling Australia will feature more heavily in them than I had previously envisioned. Yay for international hoopiness!

The Making of a Hoop Star

Recently I have been asked by a tribe of amazing supporters how I began hooping. So I have decided to write a little post about my steps to becoming a hoop obsessed dancer.

A friend of mine Gala, creator of the must-read blog iCiNG (if you don't read her and love her by now you totally should!) held her 5th International Dress Up Day back in June 2007. The theme was alter ego. The pictures and stories sent in were glorious and the effort outstanding. One stood out for me and so I quickly jumped onto the link promising a "short video of my alter ego in action". What I saw was this...

A sideways video that would change my life!

I couldn't get the image of the funky hooper out of my head and I knew I had to get my hands on a hoop. I remembered that a year or two before during a totally spontaneous shopping spree at a sports store (??) in Tokyo Masao had bought me a hoop in a box that had to be assembled, made up of about 12 pieces. I dug in out of storage, put all the pieces together, realised it was quite small but took turns with Masao until one of us could keep it revolving around our hips for more than two or three rotations. Masao was the pioneer. His hips pumping at warp speed he was able to keep the tiny hoop spinning for quite some time. This crazy hip pumping went on for days. I was completely entranced by the motion, the sweat, the centrifugal force. At the same time I began to collect a growing number of hoop videos on youtube and information about hooping. I learned that I needed a large hoop, measuring about 95cm in diameter, if I hoped to do anything more than a hip pumping, body shaking dance.

I searched and pestered Masao to find me a hoop in Tokyo. It seemed near impossible, no one we contacted knew anything about the hoop thing. I persevered with my mini hoop and mimicked the motions and moves I had been watching over and over on youtube, spending up to two hours a days spinning, twirling, jumping and dropping the hoop. Finally Masao stumbled upon Hoopstore Tokyo. I could barely contain myself and sent an email to the Hoop Girl trained, Justin and Mario immediately. They wrote back with such a friendly response and I booked the next class that was available.

My mum was in Tokyo at the time, possibly confused by my obsession but obviously seeing my delight with the plastic pipe she came along with Masao and I to our first hoop class in Shinjuku. By this time I had mastered the hip pumping but was unprepared for how much of a workout the new, big hoops were about to put me through. Sweat poured, muscles burned and I felt completely alive from head to toe.

A few days later Masao set out on one of his city adventures to "meet a friend" leaving mum and I to relax, shop and cook up a storm. It was getting late and I still had not heard from Masao, he had been out all day and I had tried calling his phone several times to see if he wanted to have dinner with us. Mum appeared to be just as worried as me that he was not returning my calls, little did I know that she was in on the whole scam. Masao returned hours later with a perfectly wrapped, sparkling pink hoop. My mum had sent Masao off to buy one from Justin and Mario at Hoopstore Tokyo and the trio had spent the day talking hoops, business and boy stuff.

I now had everything I needed to start on the road to hoop stardom. We hit the park everyday. I feel like I ate, slept and dreamed hooping. It was the first thing I thought about in the mornings and I would go to bed each night in a spin from watching so many hoop videos on youtube.

I continued to go to a few classes at the Hoopstore Tokyo but as other parts of our lives got busier it became impossible to get to classes. We would go to the park and hoop late at night sometimes well after midnight. That is one of the most amazing things about living in Tokyo, it is so safe.

Still needing instruction but unable to make it to classes I invested in the Hoop Girl DVD and the Hoopnotica Teaching Training Package Level 1 & 2. I would watch them every morning before work and as soon as I got home from work preparing for my after dinner park hoop jam. Masao had his own hoop by this stage and we would teach, encourage and remind each other of things we had learned in class and on the DVDs. I definitely recommend both of these DVDs for mastering a range of hoop moves. Each has it's strengths. The Hoop Girl DVD offers inspiring dance combinations while the Hoopnotics DVD is fantastic for trouble shooting and tips on how to work through the learning process.

From there I basically took hooping into my own hands. Taking inspiration from Hoopers all over the world thanks to youtube, hooping.org and tribe.net I was able to connect with an intense and welcoming global community.



In January I was nominated by hooping.org as one of 5 Newbie Hoopers for 2007. This was an amazing reward and opened up so many opportunities for me. I was invited to perform my first Hoop Dance in a Tokyo club, fulfilling part of one of my goals for 2008. I received my first LED hoop and twin hoops to begin my journey into the world of circus hooping.

Friday night at Velours in Tokyo marked my first Hoop Dance performance in a Tokyo club. It was just the beginning, I hope to see you out and about I plan to take this city by storm and whip the club scene into a flashing, rainbow swirl of wild hoopla! Be sure to come and say hi!

One of the most exciting things to happen in my world of hooping recently is the connection I have made with Bunny Hoopstar. Bunny is a Sydney-based hooper, performer and trainer. She has long been a powerful inspiration to me. In fact one of my goals for 2008 read "Meet Bunny Hoopstar". That dream is coming true very soon as I get prepared to jetset off to Sydney in March to complete teach training with Bunny at her Darlinghurst hoop camp. I had contemplated teacher training via a few other teachers but Bunny rocks the style, strength, individuality and hoop skills that I admire and aspire to the most. I couldn't be happier to have her as my mentor.


So what does the future of hooping hold for me?

I really look forward to sharing my adoration for this mind blowing, body changing, life transforming form of self expression with friends and students in Japan and the rest of the world. I am a life long learner of the hoop path so I also look forward to learning from students, friends and other hoopers.

Everyday I learn something new about my body, it's motion and connectedness with the colorful rings. I look forward to strengthening my practice with each dance.

My LED hoop is far too gorgeous to be locked up at home so I will be spinning it at clubs and events around Tokyo and in Australia.

I am open and ready for all of the exhilarating hoop opportunities that are heading my way.

So there you have it, my short but powerful journey into the world of hooping thus far. I feel it has only just begun and yet has given me so much more than I could ever have thought possible. I have an endless number of friends and hoopers to thank.

Anytime you feel like starting a revolution be sure to get in contact with me! Sure to put you in a spin in the funkiest possible way.

Hips

Another gorgeous day in Tokyo but a little chilly for my liking. I taped one of my hoopdance warmups this morning. Our tatami room is gorgeous in the mornings with sun flooding in. It is a little small for my wild hoop dancing but great for warming up!