2014's Best Hooping Moments

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What were your favourite hooping moments of 2014?

 

January - Karen Therese & Bunny Hoop Star start an Art Revolution

Image from Hoop Empire

What happens when you return to your hometown after 26 years and find that the once thriving shopping centre and fun park are no more? You start your own revolution of course!

That's what Karen Therese did when she returned to Mt Druitt, New South Wales, Australia. In collaboration with Bunny Hoop Star, and other local artists and community organisations, FUNPARK was created and described to be a "radical new site responsive live art initiative".

The free event, which was presented by Sydney Festival, saw Bunny Hoop Star invite people to participate in a mass hooping chorus. Over 100 community members participated in a four hour hooping event including hoop performances. Other events included parkour workshops, trike rides, film installations and an arena rock opera.

What Karen has achieved is truly a beautiful thing and brings a big smile to my face the more I read about FUNPARK. Take inspiration - if you have a dream or a vision, make it happen!


April - We were finally able to watch The Hooping Life Documentary 

Initially released in 2010 for the Film Festival crowd, The Hooping Life, is the documentary which has been highly anticipated by the hooping community for four years. It took six years to film and follows Anah 'Hoopalicious' Reichenbach, Baxter, Christabel 'Hoopgirl' Zamour, Karis Wilde, Sass Schultz and Tisha Barnard as they each tell their story of how the hoop has changed their lives.

I'm not one to plot spoil any film or documentary, so I am not going to go into any details here. It did however make me smille, laugh, cry, feel inspired and like I was part of something big. It made me want to pick up my hoop immediately and never put it down. If you haven't seen it already, go and see it already! 

You can get it from Amazon or download it from iTunes.



May - Hooping Idol 2014 

Esmeralda Garcia Hooping Idol
The Hooping.org fourth annual Hooping Idol contest was as incredible as ever in 2014, and congratulations to Esmeralda Garcia from Mexico,  who was this years well deserved winner. Esmeralda said to Hooping.orgs Philo Hagen, that
"The competition was extremely close, so it’s a great privilege to have been in 1st place! I still have not assimilated it at all, I’m in a dream!"

If you haven't caught up with it yet, then head over to Hooping.org where you can watch all four Hooping Idol contests from where it all started in 2011 (be careful, you can lose a day or two, it's really addictive). 

This year the competition was fierce, all 21 finalists are incredibly talented hoopers, but Esmeralda stood out not only with her amazing talent but with her unique and surreal videos, which are a work of art in their own right.

I'm already excited for Hooping Idol 5!



June - The Hula Hoopin' Queen by Thelma Louise Godin

In June this year children's author and hula hooper Thelma Louise Godin released the book The Hula-Hoopin' Queen. The book is about young Kameeka, a girl who has a hula hooping contest lined up with her rival, Jamara. Instead, Kameeka has to help her mother get the house ready for a neigbours birthday party, but wants to go and hula hoop with her friends instead of doing her chores.

The book looks at how something simple like hula hooping can bring a community together, and about balancing play time with responsibility, and it is full of great messages for any young aspiring hooper.

You can buy the book on Amazon.



August - LED Hoop Photography went Viral

Image from This is Colossal
I adore Martin Kimbell's LED hoop photography. The 'tornadoes of light' which he creates took the internet by storm this year when the photos went viral in the photography community. Martin makes his own LED hoops and experiments with different tube sizing and what adding weights can do when shooting to get interesting patterns.

If you want to take your slow-shutter hoop photos to the next level, then you should check out Martin Kimbell's gorgeous LED hoop photography on Flickr for inspiration.


October - World Hoop Day

Image from Worldhoopday.org
The first Saturday of October is World Hoop Day, a day when hula hoopers across the globe perform the same dance to raise awareness for the World Hoop Day mission. Hoop dancers learn a set routine choreographed by Kristen 'Tink' McQuillin. World Hoop Day aims to promote the importance of play in child development, and well, everyones development.

They also say: "The benefits of playing with a hoop include having a fit, leaner body with a stronger core and leaner muscles.  Hooping improves self-confidence, inner peace, contentment and relieves depression." 

 "The importance of play is undervalued in this technological age of information.  World Hoop Day brings cost-effective toys that double as a portable gym to remote areas of the world where resources are limited."

Hoops have been donated to the Peace Corps, girl scouts, orphanages, rehabilitation centres and senior homes. If you have time in 2015, why not create your own World Hoop Day event and raise awareness (and funds if you can) for this great cause.

2014 saw 275 hoop dancers from 11 countries create 31 performances, and here is the compilation video:






November - Kari Revolva and Operah-Gate



If you got a phone call from the producer of Operah Winfrey's 'The Life You Want' tour asking you to perform, you would say yes, right? "The event entry costs between $99 - $999, you will be outside the event on a separate stage, oh, and it isn't paid, in cash, but you get amazing exposure"

Something every professional artist will almost certainly relate to is Kari Revolva's predicament. It's not a new problem, but something which has been regularly encountered by artists of all professions since what seems to be forever - photographers, graphic designers, musicians, artists, performers, face painters, tattoo artists, hairdressers... (to name a few creative types that I know have had the same issue), the list could go on and on. For example, graphic designer David Thorne's witty reaction to a similar situation, even if it is posted on his blog for comedy value, makes for interesting further reading on the issue.

Undervaluing your art not only hurts you, but others in your profession! (See Laura Witwer's view on this here). Please read Kari Revolvas Open Letter to Operah Winfrey if you are unaware of what is going on and honestly, well done Revolva for declining and standing your ground! What you've done is brave and important, and you are an inspiration to us all.



2014 has been a great year for hula hooping. More people are picking up the hoop and becoming part of our growing community.


What were your favourite hooping stories of 2014?
Share your favourite moments in the comments!




Further Reading:
FUNPARK Website
Hula Hoops Spin Mt Druitt Funpark Revolution
Esmeralda Garcia Hooping Idol Interview
Martin Kimbell's LED Hula Hoop Photography Goes Viral
Please design a logo for me. With pie charts. For free.


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