It was five years ago today that I started hooping. What a life changing experience. Except, really, it isn’t. I am still me but I dance more. I have always been drawn to creating projects, organising events, choreographing performances. Now I have a great excuse to do all of that – the hoop. Hooping still bring me challenges, opens doors, and gets me out into the world to meet people and have adventures.
Sometimes I feel that I haven’t improved much after my first year of hooping. I learned a ton then with the influence of weekly classes and hooping friends who encouraged me to try hard. Since then, my skills have increased slowly and I never feel that I’ve mastered anything. Watching the emergent hoopers, who are so dedicated to artistry and technicality, makes me feel sloppy and lazy. But I am what I am and I love hooping no matter how I may compare to others.
To remind myself of the changes and advances I’ve made, I am sharing a retrospective of my hooping.
2008: This is a video I took one week after my first hoop class with Deanne.
2009: Here is one I made for a HoopCity contest in June.
2010: Enjoying some evening hooping in August.
2011: On a summer visit to the US, I got to perform with my sister.
2012: I captured this silent video in a practice session in September.
2013: And today I went to the beach to celebrate and commemorate.
