Hula-hoop jams give adults space to play
Freestyle practice sessions are a huge part of hooping community, instructor says
I felt like a clown walking to Dovercourt House with an umbrella in my left hand and a giant dance hoop balanced over my right shoulder.
Dripping wet, I shuffled awkwardly up three flights of stairs to Sugar Hoops Dance Studio. I was meeting Amy MacCutchan, a hula-hoop dance instructor, to check out a jam she was facilitating. The party started the moment I stepped into the studio. Amy had finished teaching and was spinning around the room. A student had brought some flashing, LED hoops; within moments the lights were out and everyone was taking turns with the glowing orbs. Amy turned on some music and the jam was under way.
The concept of adult play has been gaining traction for a while. Adult colouring books are topping Amazon’s bestsellers list, and summer camps for adults are booking months in advance. In a world driven by deadlines and focused on the big picture, it makes sense to me that we’re turning to play for perspective.
“Hooping brings people back to childhood, where they’re not so worried about what people are thinking, or how they look. It’s very freeing,” said Mandy Harvey, founder of Sugar Hoops, a hoop dance lifestyle company. I tossed my umbrella in a corner and looked around the room. I recognized a couple of faces from a class I’d taken with Sugar Hoops last spring.
In a beginner class, you can expect to learn the basics as though you’ve never seen a hoop before. Students learn fundamentals, like how to recover the hoop as it starts to slip, how to hoop in both directions, and how to walk with the hoop around your waist. To keep the hoop in motion, you have to thrust your pelvis back and forth. It’s a fun motion to practice — I find that grunting helps. Hooping can be a great workout, one that inspires a youthful giddiness you won’t typically experience pumping weights.
Jams, like the one here at Dovercourt House, are less structured than classes — more of a freestyle practice hour than a formal lesson. I grabbed my hoop and started working on some tosses. After 10 minutes, I was sweating. I took a break to chat with MacCutchan, who also owns Hooper Sonic, a hula hoop dance and fitness company.
MacCutchan explained that jams are a huge part of the hoop community. She describes them as “safe and judgment-free spaces” for hoopers to practice, learn and hang out.
“It’s important for people to have a practice space, plus a lot of the jams are free, which adds to the inclusiv- ity,” she said, adding hooping is a chance to be creative and express yourself. “It’s really about self discovery.”
Discovery is integral to hooping: discovering what your body is capable of, discovering a sense of play and whimsy and discovering new moves through classes or hoop jams.
When the lights came back on and the jam wrapped up, MacCutchan mentioned a fire hooping class — with hoops that have four to eight spokes attached with wicks that are lit on fire — that she was organizing through Hooper Sonic. The idea lit my curiosity. I left the studio buzzing with adrenalin, excited by the knowledge that when you’re an adult, it’s OK to play with fire.