hooping shennanigans.
I am home safe from my first ever Hoopfest! What is a hoopfest, you ask? Hoopfest is a yearly weekend retreat out into the bush in which hula hoopers convene to learn new tricks and bond over their love of the hoop.
I discovered NZ Hoopfest long before the move. After worrying whether or not there was an arts scene in Wellington, I began to wonder if there were any hoopers. A quick Google search and I discovered not only NZ Hoopfest, but also a strong circus community in the tiny capital. It took some convincing to actually purchase a ticket though, I was a bit worried about going out into the bush for a weekend with people I didn't know in an unfamiliar country. After some prompting from my hoop instructor, Ryn, I finally bought my ticket.
Perhaps the most surprising discovery of the weekend had absolutely nothing to do with hoops, I was shocked at just how many international travelers found their way to Hoopfest! It seemed as though Kiwi's were far outnumbered by Brits, Americans, and Canadians, many of whom had just found out about the event. New Zealand is incredibly remote, but people from all nationalities seem to find there way here!
Side note: On the drive up I finally saw my first New Zealand sheep! It was so exciting! Much better than when I went to Canada and didn't see a single moose.
My main objective for the weekend was to find my flow. Between
hooping for four years and taking a six week beginners hoop class last
month I have a lot of tricks in my arsenal, but no idea of how to link
them together. Tiana Zoumer gave a lovely
workshop on Listening and Intention which she began by having us explore
how our bodies can move. Beginning with feet and working up to our
heads, we moved ourselves about (sans hoop). Well, everyone else moved
about, I kind of just stood in one place and moved as little as
possible. I am just too shy! Later in her workshop we picked up our
hoops and pretended they were fishies swimming in the sea (Or were we
the fishies? It was too hard to tell.) for this exercise I was able to
explore the space a bit more, but I still felt incredibly self-conscious
for no good reason.
It's weird, at home I will put on music and dance around my flat like a fool. But out in public, even if said public is wrapped up in their own dancing, I become a stiff board just moving my hands about and not much else. Eek!
Strangely enough, the workshop in which I opened up the most had nothing remotely flowy about it. The Hoop Hooligans taught two mini-hoop isolation workshops, but they also took the time to incorporate games into their workshops. As the girl who was so bad at sports I often got hit in the head with whatever ball we were using, I am not much of a fan of running around a field, but their games were actually fun! The content they were teaching was mind-bendingly difficult, but I am pretty sure there workshops were the ones that left me with the biggest smile.
Now that I am home I am practicing everything I learned and have realized I might have found a bit of that elusive flow. I find I most like working with the mini-hoops I picked up over the weekend. When I put on music it is easier now than it has ever been to transition between tricks, and sometimes, depending on the beat, execute tricks that have been evading me.
So Hoopfest, I wasn't exactly sure how I felt when I was there, but in retrospect, I had a blast! Up next on the circus-docket? Partner acro at the Circus Hub! Seth will also be taking the course, but we have requested to have different partners so we can meet some new people. (This also insures that we won't hate one another by the time it is over.) In the meantime, I am enroled in a corset making course. Our first class was yesterday and my fellow students are wonderful! They are the first Kiwi's I have met that make Doctor Who references and are into steampunk.
2014, you are turning out to be a great year!
I discovered NZ Hoopfest long before the move. After worrying whether or not there was an arts scene in Wellington, I began to wonder if there were any hoopers. A quick Google search and I discovered not only NZ Hoopfest, but also a strong circus community in the tiny capital. It took some convincing to actually purchase a ticket though, I was a bit worried about going out into the bush for a weekend with people I didn't know in an unfamiliar country. After some prompting from my hoop instructor, Ryn, I finally bought my ticket.
Perhaps the most surprising discovery of the weekend had absolutely nothing to do with hoops, I was shocked at just how many international travelers found their way to Hoopfest! It seemed as though Kiwi's were far outnumbered by Brits, Americans, and Canadians, many of whom had just found out about the event. New Zealand is incredibly remote, but people from all nationalities seem to find there way here!
Side note: On the drive up I finally saw my first New Zealand sheep! It was so exciting! Much better than when I went to Canada and didn't see a single moose.
It's weird, at home I will put on music and dance around my flat like a fool. But out in public, even if said public is wrapped up in their own dancing, I become a stiff board just moving my hands about and not much else. Eek!
Strangely enough, the workshop in which I opened up the most had nothing remotely flowy about it. The Hoop Hooligans taught two mini-hoop isolation workshops, but they also took the time to incorporate games into their workshops. As the girl who was so bad at sports I often got hit in the head with whatever ball we were using, I am not much of a fan of running around a field, but their games were actually fun! The content they were teaching was mind-bendingly difficult, but I am pretty sure there workshops were the ones that left me with the biggest smile.
Now that I am home I am practicing everything I learned and have realized I might have found a bit of that elusive flow. I find I most like working with the mini-hoops I picked up over the weekend. When I put on music it is easier now than it has ever been to transition between tricks, and sometimes, depending on the beat, execute tricks that have been evading me.
So Hoopfest, I wasn't exactly sure how I felt when I was there, but in retrospect, I had a blast! Up next on the circus-docket? Partner acro at the Circus Hub! Seth will also be taking the course, but we have requested to have different partners so we can meet some new people. (This also insures that we won't hate one another by the time it is over.) In the meantime, I am enroled in a corset making course. Our first class was yesterday and my fellow students are wonderful! They are the first Kiwi's I have met that make Doctor Who references and are into steampunk.
2014, you are turning out to be a great year!
