I feel like I am in preschool it is all about sharing these days. I am grateful there is so much goodness to share. Here is some yummy self expression that Lindsey, the poi mistress, just shared with me. I love it so much that I may have to get my poi skills into action!
Thank you so much to all of the hot hoopers that had faith in the sun and came out to play in the park yesterday. You make my day, my month, my entire life more joy filled. Just watching you hoop it up with smiles on your faces and rhythm in your bodies is the ultimate hoop high.
Hello to all of the new friends we met yesterday. We are so happy that you stumbled into our lives. A big hug to all of my hoop buddies the circle is expanding thanks to you! Share the hoop love.
I was still filled with energy on the walk back to the station from Yoyogi Park last night, despite having hooped for about 6 hours, so I thought I would give the LED hoop a quick spin before getting onto the jam packed train. We picked a sweet little spot at the top of Omotesando Dori, Harajuku and I spun to the sounds of the passing people and traffic. A true Tokyo hoop up.
In other hoop news...I may have secured one of Tokyo's funkiest studio spaces so Hoop Dance for Beginners, Hoop Work It and Hoop Love classes will begin very soon! I am super excited! Check out HOOPLOVERS for more info.
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!
Check it! Hot Euro para para. Definitely something to incorporate into any dance routine! Love it, totally using it! The over head swipe is hotter than hot!
Have watched this approx 476 times so ready to bust these moves on the dance floor. I am so in love with Jey-Jey.
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.
Last night was a Tokyo extravaganza to remember! To celebrate the launch of chief&mischief on TOKYOMADE, a delicious crowd of designers, dancers, photographers, artists, djs and fashionistas made their way to the stylish Velours in Aoyama, Tokyo.
It was a super special night for me though as I had been asked to hoop dance in the club. This was my first ever "public appearance". I thought I would be more nervous. I had a few pre-performance worries earlier in the week doubting my ability to keep a handle on the new and much heavier LED hoop I had ordered from Super Hooper but something told me I was going to love the experience. That something was totally right.
Masao is a wise old man. When I said to him earlier in the week that I didn't think I was ready and I wasn't sure if I could do it he said to me, "No one ever thinks they are ready for anything so most people sit around thinking they can't do things because they are not ready. If you wait until you are ready you will never do it and then you can't get better". A simple piece of advice.
I was set to perform at 11pm and 1am. I had practiced a little routine to the first song, Boyz by M.I.A, to be mixed in by dj James. When I took my place in the tiny little space in the middle of Velours that routine flew out the window, the music and cheers from my friends and rest of the audience took over and I felt completely relaxed and spun in a heightened sense of flow. My only analogy for this feeling would be something drug related. The ultimate high.
I really need to thank so many people! My mum for buying me my first hoop, hoop store tokyo for giving me my first few lessons that was a great springboard, Masao for always encouraging me and putting up with hoops and hoop marks all over the apartment, all of my gorgeous and crazy friends for giving me more courage than they realise, my students for cheering me on at school and sharing my love for hoop videos on youtube, hoopers around the world, chief&mischief Caroline and Brandon for thinking of me and inviting me to perform, Bunny for being an inspiration, everyone who cheered, clapped, whistled, complimented me last night you made my year!
