Hoop de Do

Those few days up in Sayul1ta with the group were a time of renewal for me. And one thing that had the most impact on me was hooping. Amongst the many things that Corey the group leader is good at is hooping. Ok, I think I need to explain what I mean by this.

Everyone knows the Wham-O hula hoops of our youth (they were actually introduced in 1957). Those are light plastic hoops with beads in them that make a sound when you hoop. I was always good at hooping around my waist and could even do it on my knees and neck and arms. About 10 years ago, I bought some smaller hoops to see if I could simultaneously hoop on both arms and my waist at the same time. Tough in an NYC apartment but I could do it a bit.

In the past few years, hooping has become big in the Burning Man community which I've been involved with on its fringe in NYC. It's taken on a new form where it's combination of hula hooping, baton twirling, and dance (with some elements of belly dance). There are hooping class, hooping videos, hooping websites, and of course hooping tribes.

The great thing is that you can make your own hoop and in Mexxico, it's super cheap to do it (not much more than a dollar for the tubing and connector...or less than a dollar depending on...luck? The weather? Whims? Moods? Who knows?) because the manguera agricola (irrigation tubing/hose) is widely available at hardware stores.

So I've been practicing my moves/tricks. My latest idea is to get a little better, find out where to get colored tape to decorate hoops, and then approach a local orphanage about giving a hoop workshop for the kids. I love the idea of letting them create their own hoops to give them something personal to call their own. And bringing the joy of hooping to their lives.

It's all very exciting because I'm meeting people online with similar ideas (one woman is planning a trip to Haiti to bring hooping to orphanages there) and the community is very friendly and open. I'm thinking I could eventually try to teach hooping classes here as a little side "job".

I'm also thinking it can be a good way to meet fun people if I do it in public, like on the Malecon here. And by doing that, I might meet others who'd be interested in creating a Mermaid Parade here, a dream I had since before moving here and one I haven't given up on.