I’ve been in kind of a funk lately. While I want to attribute it to the cold February weather, I think there is a lot more to it than that.

I have always gone through phases where I can’t get enough hooping. Then it switches to poi, then juggling, then back to hooping again. I am a former dancer so anything that gets me moving usually makes me happy. But lately I don’t feel like doing any of that stuff and it’s making me sad.

I think it might be loneliness that’s bringing this on. I miss Colleen, my hooping partner in crime. That’s for sure. But I’ve also been missing the groups I’ve worked with in the past that introduced me to how fun and exciting the flow arts can be. My old juggling club had a festival a couple of weeks ago and I was stuck 600 miles away looking at pictures of how much fun everyone was having. My old fire troupe is going strong and making beautiful performance pieces. All this while I sit here in Vegas waiting for the wind to die down. Hmph!

What’s funny is I have recently started working with a group of wonderful people who I’ve really enjoyed collaborating with. They make me want to get up there and move. I guess I’ve just been nostalgic for the good old days when this was new and mysterious to me.

Well, there will always be new experiences to be had and mysterious fun to discover so maybe it is just the weather after all.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 16th, 2011 at 12:55 pm and is filed under Jennifer. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

I hate hooping with fire. There, I said it. I know I’m in the minority of hoopers and other connoisseurs of the spinning arts. I’m prepared to give up my hooping street cred if I must but I really hate hooping with fire.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s quite a rush and makes for some stunning performances. The sound of the flame and heat of the fire as the hoop spins around is quite intoxicating. It is definitely an exhilarating experience and audiences love to watch it.

But those pros, in my opinion, are outweighed by some hefty cons.

I’ll get the most obvious reason out of the way right off the bat: It can be dangerous! Where do you think the phrase “if you play with fire, prepare to get burned” came from? Granted, with proper safety precautions, the risks are minimal. But I cannot begin to count how many times I’ve lit up with people who thought even minor safety precautions were for the over-cautious, paranoid types who sit at home with foil hats on their heads.

Experienced fire performers know what they are doing and know the risks going into it. If they choose to slack on a safety precaution here or there, they are making an informed decision about it. What about the audience member who may want to get close to the action for a better view while wearing synthetic fabrics and lots of hairspray, and has a wandering toddler on their hip? What about the total beginner who is trying to look good in front of all the “cool kids”? They may not know the risks and are more likely to make a dangerous error because they don’t want to look silly by asking too many questions. I’ve seen each of these scenarios happen many times.

Along the lines of safety is making sure all the necessary safety precautions are in place. You need to make sure the place you are lighting up has a large area clear of flammable objects. If you are performing, you need to make sure all the proper permits have been obtained and all the necessary insurance requirements are met. When you are performing without fire, you show up, clear an area large enough to do your thing, and hoop to your heart’s content. The amount of preparation for a non-fire performance is minimal compared to a fire performance.

Then, that fire performance may not even happen because the fire department won’t even grant you the necessary permits. Spinning fire is great when the audience is excited for you. It can be a huge downer when authority figures are standing there with crossed arms and shaking heads.

All those reasons aren’t even the biggest reasons I hate fire. The biggest reason, for me, is how limiting it can be to hoop with a fire hoop. If chest hooping and isolations are your thing, great, you can put on a kick-ass fire performance. If chest rolls and shoulder hooping are your specialty then too bad for you. Did you want to wear a spectacular costume with fur and fringe? Better make sure it’s all made out of natural fibers or it’s been treated to withstand fire and is held securely in place. Wanna put on a small show in your backyard for your friends? No can do with the confined space and dry shrubs all around.

For me, hooping with fire can be a magical, breath-taking experience under the right circumstances. Unfortunately, those circumstances only show up about 10% of the time.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 27th, 2011 at 3:14 am and is filed under Jennifer. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

I had some down time while I was visiting family over the Christmas holidays. I had had enough “family togetherness” and needed something to get my mind off of the close confines I found myself in and the dreary weather outside. Luckily for me I found some old video footage I shot of Colleen and me since we began hooping. Particularly, I found some footage of Colleen and I hooping at Red Rock Casino in Las Vegas during the summer of 2009. Wow, did that ever bring back memories.

It was towards the beginning of summer in Las Vegas so it was hot. There was a free outdoor concert by the pool and Colleen and I thought it would be fun to bring our hoops and jam to the music. It was a little weird walking through the casino carrying our hoops over our shoulders in order to get to the pool area but the fun we had with our hoops during the concert that evening was worth any weirdness.

So, since I had time to kill and memories to relive, I edited this video of Colleen from that night. It’s been a year and a half since that video was taken. Time sure flies!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 11th, 2011 at 12:14 am and is filed under Jennifer. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

A couple of weeks ago I was talking with Colleen on the phone and asked her if she had seen Babz Robinson’s newest video. Of course she hadn’t because she was busy moving across the country, getting settled in a new home, and starting a new job.

I have to admit that a small part of me was crushed because, even though Colleen has been busy attending to real life, this is an amazing hooper we’re talking about. I mean, she puts out these kick-ass tutorials of these great hoop tricks. Watching her videos makes me want to learn every trick she does and emulate her style. She rocks! Moving-shmoving, there’s hooping to be done!

When I mentioned to Colleen how much I love watching her videos, it clicked with me that I really consider her to be a huge inspiration for me and that, although I’ve seen some beautiful hoopers, very few actually inspire me in the way she and a few others do. When I thought about the hoopers that really inspire me, it made me see what kind of hooper I am (or hope to become) and that made me happy to think that I may someday be able to hoop as well as they do.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 21st, 2010 at 11:42 pm and is filed under Jennifer. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

You may be one of the 279,000 or so people who’ve seen this video. What do you think of it?

I actually love it. I love the vibe and attitude. I love the hooping and how it flows with the music.

I really love that this girl can leg hoop in tights. How does she do that? I can leg hoop on bare skin or on worn jeans but if I’m wearing anything else on my legs, the hoop just slides right down to the ground. Is this performer super-human in her leg hooping skills or is there just some really grippy tape on the inside of her hoop. Finding the answer to this has become somewhat of an obsession for me.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 7th, 2010 at 2:42 pm and is filed under Jennifer. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

September 2010 has been quite the memorable month for me. Personally I’ve made some life changes that started to take effect this month. It’s really been quite the roller coaster ride of highs and lows. But, well, as they say “that’s life”.

On a sadder note, September 2010 was the first whole month that I’ve spent without having Colleen around to hoop with. Of course, “that’s life” and all but I miss my hooping partner in crime.

But, since I don’t want to end this post on a totally depressing note, I will also say that September 2010 was also the month that I learned this trick (courtesy of the amazing Babz Robinson):

This was so exciting for me that it almost made up for the fact that Colleen wasn’t here to share it.

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 25th, 2010 at 6:00 am and is filed under Jennifer. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.