This is the only way I can keep myself motivated. Here's my list of goals for the summer:
1) Shoulder/chest hooping
2) Waist hoop in the reverse direction
3) Corkscrew
4) Moving while hooping
5) Knee hooping
I really want to take one of the aerials classes in philly, but now my car needs work so it might have to wait for awhile. In the meantime I'm going to research different ways to build upper body strength, since I have virtually none.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Check out my new Facebook Group!
If you love to hoop, or want to learn, join my facebook group! I'm trying to find more NJ hoopers, and since everyone and their mother is on facebook I figured why the heck not?
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
I made my first hoop!
Tonight I went to Erins place so she could teach me how to make my own hoops, and I was really surprised at how easy it was! She said it was because she went through all the trial and error to get to her construction method (which, since I usually do the same thing when I make things I totally agree with), and although some of my taping was a little bit off, it really doesn't look to bad!
First round of tape. The hoop itself is black, if it wasn't for the fact that there was virtually no grip to the hoop when it's like this I would've left it this way, it looks really good!
Sunday, June 13, 2010
My First Wildfire
I've had an interesting in hula hooping and fire arts for about a year. I started taking hula hoop/poi spin classes early this year, and my instructor told me about this retreat she goes to called Wildfire. It's a community based retreat at a boyscout camp in Ashford, Connecticut. It was last weekend, and I'm so glad that I went! Here's a rundown of my weekend:
Friday:
Took a little over 5 hours to get there because of traffic! It was only supposed to be about 4 hours, so it was a little frustrating. I was so relieved to be out of the car once I got there, got my tent set up...and then realized the zipper on the front flap was broken. That was fantastic. I was able to fix it eventually. Later on that night I met up with my hooping instructor Erin, and she introduced me to a bunch of her friends. And she put up with my constant run of questions! I kept seeing people using toys that I had never seen before, like fire fans, double staffs, meteor, torch poi, flow wands...oh, and a flaming marionette and a group doing flaming double dutch!
Saturday:
My first day of workshops! First up, intro to traditional staff. I caught on to this really quickly, I'm pretty sure it's because I did color guard in high school. It's almost the same thing...only on fire! I'm thinking about trying contact staff at some point, which is when you use your body to manipulate the staff, not just your hands.
Next up, intro to aerials. We worked with silks and the sling. I was looking forward to this the most out of anything! Last year I saw a silks acrobat at a Renaissance Faire, and I've been wanting to try it ever since. I've come to realize though, I have no upper body strength what so ever. I could barely hold myself up on the silks. I spoke with the instructor, and she said there's a bunch of circus schools that teach aerial silks, and if I'm really interested in learning more I should look into it. I looked them up, and there's one in Philly and a few in NYC. And surprisingly, the classes aren't that expensive! Also, Philly has a conditioning course for aerialists for people who don't have much upper body strength. When I get some more money saved up I might try and do that.
Third workshop, lower body hooping. Learned knee hooping, ankle and foot hooping, how to bring the hoop from the knees to the waist, and different ways to get the hoop from the ground up to the waist without having to pick up the hoop and put it there with your hands. I understand how to do most of these, but it's the act of actually doing them that's the problem. I can knee hoop, but can't get it back to my waist once it's at my knees!
Fourth, intro to belly dance. Apparently I'm pretty good for a beginner, especially when it comes to doing the shimmy. Belly rolls are a little more difficult. It was fun, but I don't think I'm going to stick with it- I just tried it because I've always wanted to.
Last workshop of the day, small double hoops. I thought it was going to be more like poi but with small hoops, but it was really about isolations and illusions. It was fun, but not something I want to delve into much.
At the end of the night, I completed my first burn! I was so petrified I was going to catch myself on fire. I borrowed Erins staff since I didn't have my own fire toy and did a few simple spins that I had learned earlier that day. The only thing I didn't do was burning off (or spinning off? I don't remember what it's called). Basically it's when you take the staff between your hands and spin into the air really fast to spin the excess fuel off the ends. I didn't know how to do that, so Erin found one of her friends who knows staff to do it for me. But it's all good, I played with fire AND I didn't burn myself!
Sunday:
First, intro hoop. Even though I've been hooping for awhile I took the intro workshop instead of the intermediate because I was still having problems with shoulder/chest hooping, and lift ups. I figured intermediate might still be a little over my head. I got some new tips on shoulder hooping and I almost have it! I can do it for a few rotations before I loose it. It's a bit frustrating, but I'm getting there.
Second, intermediate traditional staff. I figured since I caught on to everything so easily the day before that I should have no problem with this....yea, I was a little too cocky. I got pretty much nothing out of this, but the instructor for this class had a very different teaching style from the intro classes instructor, so that may have been why I was having so much trouble. I've been looking up tons of youtube videos though and I have a lot of different spins to try out!
After staff spinning, I stopped taking classes and decided to relax and practice what I learned the rest of the dat. I started feeling a little under the weather- I started getting a headache, and my stomach was bothering me. I figured it was because I took a hooping class right after breakfast (not the brightest idea in the world), so I wanted to just chill out for a bit. I met up with Erin and her friend Kim and decided to buy a new hoop from Hooping Harmony. And I bought my first fire toy- a staff from Trick Concepts!
Then, things started to get really hairy. I started feeling worse, and my headache turned into a full on migraine. I was so pissed because the performance class was Sunday night, and I really, REALLY wanted to see the performances. I saw 3 of them before I couldn't handle it anymore. I went to lay down in my tent, and I was there for all of 15 minutes before a puked. Thank god for garbage bags, it was awful. But then, like usual for me after that I started feeling better, and I fell asleep until about 12:30AM. And then I felt fantastic. I knew I couldn't leave without burning my new staff, so I found Erin to be my safety, and broke in my first toy!
Monday:
There was a hooping workshop I wanted to take that morning, but I decided to pack it in early. I hadn't camped since I was 10 years old and forgot how much sleeping on the ground really sucks, and I honestly- I wanted a real shower that lasted longer then 10 minutes.
So, other then getting sick my first wildfire was a blast, and I can't wait to go back again. I miss it so much already!
Friday:
Took a little over 5 hours to get there because of traffic! It was only supposed to be about 4 hours, so it was a little frustrating. I was so relieved to be out of the car once I got there, got my tent set up...and then realized the zipper on the front flap was broken. That was fantastic. I was able to fix it eventually. Later on that night I met up with my hooping instructor Erin, and she introduced me to a bunch of her friends. And she put up with my constant run of questions! I kept seeing people using toys that I had never seen before, like fire fans, double staffs, meteor, torch poi, flow wands...oh, and a flaming marionette and a group doing flaming double dutch!
Saturday:
My first day of workshops! First up, intro to traditional staff. I caught on to this really quickly, I'm pretty sure it's because I did color guard in high school. It's almost the same thing...only on fire! I'm thinking about trying contact staff at some point, which is when you use your body to manipulate the staff, not just your hands.
Next up, intro to aerials. We worked with silks and the sling. I was looking forward to this the most out of anything! Last year I saw a silks acrobat at a Renaissance Faire, and I've been wanting to try it ever since. I've come to realize though, I have no upper body strength what so ever. I could barely hold myself up on the silks. I spoke with the instructor, and she said there's a bunch of circus schools that teach aerial silks, and if I'm really interested in learning more I should look into it. I looked them up, and there's one in Philly and a few in NYC. And surprisingly, the classes aren't that expensive! Also, Philly has a conditioning course for aerialists for people who don't have much upper body strength. When I get some more money saved up I might try and do that.
Third workshop, lower body hooping. Learned knee hooping, ankle and foot hooping, how to bring the hoop from the knees to the waist, and different ways to get the hoop from the ground up to the waist without having to pick up the hoop and put it there with your hands. I understand how to do most of these, but it's the act of actually doing them that's the problem. I can knee hoop, but can't get it back to my waist once it's at my knees!
Fourth, intro to belly dance. Apparently I'm pretty good for a beginner, especially when it comes to doing the shimmy. Belly rolls are a little more difficult. It was fun, but I don't think I'm going to stick with it- I just tried it because I've always wanted to.
Last workshop of the day, small double hoops. I thought it was going to be more like poi but with small hoops, but it was really about isolations and illusions. It was fun, but not something I want to delve into much.
At the end of the night, I completed my first burn! I was so petrified I was going to catch myself on fire. I borrowed Erins staff since I didn't have my own fire toy and did a few simple spins that I had learned earlier that day. The only thing I didn't do was burning off (or spinning off? I don't remember what it's called). Basically it's when you take the staff between your hands and spin into the air really fast to spin the excess fuel off the ends. I didn't know how to do that, so Erin found one of her friends who knows staff to do it for me. But it's all good, I played with fire AND I didn't burn myself!
Sunday:
First, intro hoop. Even though I've been hooping for awhile I took the intro workshop instead of the intermediate because I was still having problems with shoulder/chest hooping, and lift ups. I figured intermediate might still be a little over my head. I got some new tips on shoulder hooping and I almost have it! I can do it for a few rotations before I loose it. It's a bit frustrating, but I'm getting there.
Second, intermediate traditional staff. I figured since I caught on to everything so easily the day before that I should have no problem with this....yea, I was a little too cocky. I got pretty much nothing out of this, but the instructor for this class had a very different teaching style from the intro classes instructor, so that may have been why I was having so much trouble. I've been looking up tons of youtube videos though and I have a lot of different spins to try out!
After staff spinning, I stopped taking classes and decided to relax and practice what I learned the rest of the dat. I started feeling a little under the weather- I started getting a headache, and my stomach was bothering me. I figured it was because I took a hooping class right after breakfast (not the brightest idea in the world), so I wanted to just chill out for a bit. I met up with Erin and her friend Kim and decided to buy a new hoop from Hooping Harmony. And I bought my first fire toy- a staff from Trick Concepts!
Then, things started to get really hairy. I started feeling worse, and my headache turned into a full on migraine. I was so pissed because the performance class was Sunday night, and I really, REALLY wanted to see the performances. I saw 3 of them before I couldn't handle it anymore. I went to lay down in my tent, and I was there for all of 15 minutes before a puked. Thank god for garbage bags, it was awful. But then, like usual for me after that I started feeling better, and I fell asleep until about 12:30AM. And then I felt fantastic. I knew I couldn't leave without burning my new staff, so I found Erin to be my safety, and broke in my first toy!
Monday:
There was a hooping workshop I wanted to take that morning, but I decided to pack it in early. I hadn't camped since I was 10 years old and forgot how much sleeping on the ground really sucks, and I honestly- I wanted a real shower that lasted longer then 10 minutes.
So, other then getting sick my first wildfire was a blast, and I can't wait to go back again. I miss it so much already!
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