Get ready to be inspired...
Hoopcamp 2012: Movin' and Groovin'
Get ready to pump up the skillz at Hoopcamp 2012
Our theme for 2012 revolves around movement, tricks and transitions. This is the year to get down and get funky while integrating a huge mix of new skills into your flow. Sharpen your hoop basics (or develop them in your opposite direction) to create a more seamless, polished flow. Immerse yourself in the emerging hybrids of hoop dance, yoga, and countless forms of contemporary dance and performance. Learn new moves and how to teach them to others. We will also explore and break down hoop movement as a pathway towards abundant health and fitness. Expand your awareness of hoop kinesiology, nutrition, strength training, and personal empowerment through the gifts of hooping. Expect more empowering and inspiring hoop workshops presented by our community’s most dynamic instructors; dazzling hoop performances; cool, interactive outdoor hoop spaces; and hot DJs to help you get your hoop ON. Join us, too, for our 5-year anniversary Movement Arts/HoopFest! This year we will celebrate five AMAZING years of Hoop Camp Retreats in the biggest way we can. Join our Facebook page for details and updates.
Photo: Kara Krone
Hoopcamp Workshops and Demos 2012
Abby Albaum
DRILLS THAT THRILL!: As a hoop dance instructor, we have most likely experienced the anxiety that comes with having a room full of students at different levels. What happens when a new student appears in the same class as a hooper who has been honing his or her hoop dance practice for years? In 
Abby's Drills that Thrill workshop, we will explore multi-dimensional exercises that appeal to hoopers of all levels. Here, we will guide our students through movement techniques that truly promote free-flowing, creative hoop dance expression. Students will be able to progress at their own pace, and we will layer‚ our exercises to ensure that each person, regardless of skill or ability level, is feeling fulfilled and satisfied. Both on-body and off-body drills will be explored, as we create a safe space for students to learn at their own pace. Oh yea, we're going to learn some cool trick combinations too.
Hoola Monster
www.hoolamonsters.com
St Petersburg, FL
BIO: Abby is President and Founder of Hoola Monsters, LLC ‚is a company that specializes in professional fitness hoops, hoop dance classes and performances. She is a full-time hoop dance instructor, hoop crafter and performer who has been teaching hoop dance since 2007. In August of 2010, Abby left an 8-year marketing and public relations career to pursue Hoola Monsters full-time. Her hoop dance troupe has performed at music festivals, fashion shows and events, nationwide, and the troupe‚Äôs impressive resume includes the Tampa Bay Rays Major League Baseball Team and the Hooping Life's World Premiere after party. Abby now travels all over the country teaching workshops and performing and has been featured as a hoop dance expert in media outlets such as Better Homes & Garden Magazine, the Washington Post and NBC‚Äôs nationally syndicated show, Daytime, to name a few. Abby teaches 7 hooping classes a week and has spent years developing and implementing her hoop dance curriculum, and her innovative approach to teaching hoop dance merges trick-based technique with flow practice. She is thrilled to unveil Hoola-Fit and describes the program as ‚mindful hoop movement combined with creative dance expression.
Ann Humphreys
THROUGH THE CONCEPTUAL FRAME: How Technique Can Deepen Your Dance. Because it is my experience, it is my belief that dancing with the hoop can become ever more subtle, nuanced, fascinating, and absorbing---not a flatter world where everything has already been discovered, but an ever-deepening engagement that integrates more and more dimensions of being. For we do not approach technique merely on the physical plane--as movement artists, we include the formidable powers of brain, heart, and spirit so that we may be most engaged in our art form, fully in the present with expressive effort that involves the whole self. This complete subordination of Self to Form, to Process, can be understood as the bliss state. Therefore, technique can be central--even crucial--to developing a movement meditation practice that through time and sustained effort continues to open doors of transformation.
In this class, we will build an interlocking conceptual and technical framework to guide you towards a process-based engagement with your hoop. Establishing this kind of approach can meaningfully broaden the range of choices within your dance, provide insight into how to sustain a practice through and beyond oft-lamented hoop “plateaus,” and reignite fading hoop passion. We will use the image of the Infinite Sphere--the conceptual space that represents all possible combinations between body and hoop, line and circle. With this image to ground us, we will explore more and more rarefied layers of technical effort and focus.
BIO: Ann Humphreys began her dance with the hoop in North Carolina in 2006, under the tutelage of master hoop teacher Jonathan Baxter of the HoopPath. Four years later, she began a solo hoop journey which evolved into her own curriculum, Line&Circle, a conceptual interpretation of hoopdance grounded in concrete terms and images. The thrilling emergence of hoopdance as an art form has gifted Ann with the opportunity to use her creative spark, capacious vocabulary, big voice, yoga background, and love of teaching all in the same effort--and, even more importantly, to make the transformative power of meditative movement accessible to women and men. No one could possibly feel luckier.
Amy Lam
FUN WITH FLAGS: Flagging generates a space where time stops and the eternal moment of joy exists. The rhythmic movements calm and relax your body. As you watch yourself spin the fabric you engage your mind. In class, Amy will break individual moves into easy-to-follow sections, coordinating mind and body.Learn how to spin colorful, weighted fabric in mesmerizing, rhythmic patterns as an extension of the music! This high-energy art form targets the arms and midsection, awakening forgotten muscles. Flagging has something for everyone - have FUN experiencing it for yourself!
http://www.meetup.com/flagging/
BIO: Flagging since 2007, Amy believes in the power of the Flow Arts to create a spiritual practice connecting mind, body and spirit. She is continually awed by the whole-hearted support of the Hooping and Flow Arts community, and is honored to by teaching at Hoopcamp. Known for her supportive and gently encouraging teaching style, she has taught flagging in Los Angeles for 3 years. Amy is also a KRI-certified Kundalini Yoga instructor.
Beth Lavinder
BREAKS, REVERSES, PADDLES: are an exciting and percussive way to bring a dynamic and exciting element of surprise into your hoopdance. Reversing the Current and integrating the technique of Paddling can be sharp and crisp as well as soft and gentle and allow for a full range of emotion and expression, both masculine and feminine. This workshop will explore 16 variations of Breaks and Reverses that can be incorporated into your hoopdance seamlessly and fluidly. On body, we will explore 2nd Tree Breaks, 1st Tree Breaks, One Tree Breaks, Samurai Breaks, Wrap Breaks, Pinch Breaks, a variety of Friction Breaks and Hook Breaks. Off body, we will look at several unique ways to Reverse the Current of the hoop on the vertical plane, the horizontal plane and through the technique of Folding. Handouts with descriptions and illustrations will be available so that you can take this information home and hone your skills
Carrboro, NC
BIO: Beth Lavinder has been hooping for nearly 10 years, ever since she was first handed a hoop by the woman who would later become known as Spiral. She's been a part of the Carrboro hooping scene ever since that first spin under the big oak tree on the Weaver Street Lawn and has been a longtime student of Jonathan Baxter of the HoopPath since he started classes 6 1/2 years ago. While Beth considers herself very lucky to have been able to travel far and wide, connecting to hoop communities at gatherings around the US, the UK and Japan both as a participant and an instructor, the HoopPath has always held her heart and is her homebase. The imagery and metaphor of the HoopPath approach both guide her interactions with the hoop and reflect similar dynamics in her interactions in the world in general. That being said, HoopPathers are also really just geeks at heart and find a lot of pleasure in the breaking down of moves and in the attention to the smallest detail and gesture. This technical aspect of hoopdance holds its own delights and discoveries and Beth looks forward to sharing some of her favorite hoop techniques with you.
Betty Lucas
HOOPCHI: A combination of dance and Tai Chi-inspired movements with a hoop. In HoopChi, rather than spinning the hoop around your waist, HoopChi moves the hoop off your body using the frame of the hoop to stretch and tone your muscles through a series of sequential movements. You can practice the movements in a slow, more meditative fashion, or speed the movements up and turn HoopChi into a dance. In addition to improving your posture and balance, practicing each movement also exercises your mind and keeps your joints fluid. For a computer focused, sedentary society, HoopChi is an energizing, toning experience not to be missed! HoopChi also provides hoop dancers new moves and pacing to incorporate into their dance
LucasHooping.com
Oakland CA
BIO: Betty Lucas draws on her background as a ballroom dance and Hula Hoop Dance instructor. She integrates her innovative use of Tai Chi-like movements with dance. The result is HoopChi. Lucas has taught HoopChi in Bali, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Japan. In March 2011 Lucas launched her U.S. tour in which she teaches HoopChi across the country. She also teaches a variety of Hoop routines and Hoop Line Dances.
Camille Smith-Ballon 
HOOP TO THE CORE: Challenges the hooper to work on 3 dimensional strength and conditioning. Working through various modalities such as unstable surfaces using the Bosu, mini trampolines, Airmats, FlexBalls, etc...playing with resistance and levity using weighted hula hoops, Body bars, yoga balls, ankle weights, Medicine Balls, etc...and exploring our sensory input to improve propreiception such as isolating visual or auditory input to balance, we will work to tap into our awareness of the 3 planes of the human body. The Sagittal/forward plane is our most comfortable, but in the world of hoop dance the Frontal/lateral plane and the Transverse/rotational plane are integral to every trick and transition. As we strengthen our planes of the body, so do we enhance the flow of our moves.
Santa Cruz, CA
BIO: Camille Smith-Ballon/Personal Trainer CPR, AED, and First Aid certified. Resistance Training: I. Cooper Clinic of Aerobic Research/ all 3 levels of Biomechanics Courses II. Reebok Rep and Reebok Core Board Instructor III. Body Pump Instructor IV. Bosu and Flex ball stability Training Cardio Training: I. Aquatic Exercise Association Certified Instructor II. Aerobics and Fitness Association of America Certified Aerobics and Step Instructor III. Cycling Instructor Certification. Deep Water Running certified by Doug Stern, Zumba Instructor Certification Stretching and Special Populations Training: I. Stott Pilates Mat II. Maternal Fitness Certification III. Aerobics and Fitness Association of America Mat Science Certification IV. Maximum Performance (Active-Isolated) Stretching Certification.
Danielle Odette
GRIP YOUR FLOW: Explore how to smoothly transition and connect your hoop movements with a variety of techniques and awareness brought to the hand grip and placement. Break down and play with the differences between static and dynamic hoop movement and hand control. Allow this workshop to empower and inspire as you explore all parts of your hand and flow in a polished and playful way, providing the ability to transition from flow to tech hooping with confidence and ease.
hoophorizon.com
Colorodo
BIO: Danielle has been hooping since 2008. She teaches, coordinates local and national workshops hosted in Boulder, co-coordinates a variety of spin jams in Boulder, Denver, and Golden, co-administers the Spin Summit, and is a forever student of movement arts. Her connection with the hoop has helped her through significant life transitions and empowered her to move forward with confidence, creativity, and happiness.
Gail O'Brien
BODY ROLLS AND BEYOND: Combining ideas from contact juggling and contact staff with the dynamic movement of hoopdance. Beginning with the basic techniques behind chest and back rolls, this workshop then explores the exciting new moves and combinations that develop from adding turns and changing your body position. We will then look at different ways in and out of rolls so you can find the best way of integrating them into your flow. This workshop is designed to give you strong technique for body rolls and loads of ways to play with them so you can come up with your own creative new ideas of how to move with the hoop.
HoopSpin
www.hoopspin.co.uk
Belfast, Northern Ireland
BIO: Gail is a dynamic and technical contempory hoopdancer who has been hooping since 2007 she has her own touring workshop programme and has taught extensively at hoop events and juggling conventions in the UK, Europe and America. Gail's unique and adaptable style is influenced by cross over from other flow toys and she is currently training at circus school in Belfast working on integrating acrobatic and circus techniques into her hooping. She is also working on new and exciting projects to add to her perfomance repetoire. Gail was this year honoured to receive a Hoopie for Female Hooper of the Year alongside the beautiful Shakti Sunfire.
Beginner Drop in Workshops
Hosted by Hoopcamp Heather and special guests.
FINE TUNE THE FOUNDATION: Get your moves broken down into the easy to master basics. Fine tune the foundation from which many moves originated. Bring your fascination and your questions and we'll get you groovin with the best of the basics.
Jo Mondy
FINDING YOUR FLOW: Finding your flow- how to unlock your hoop blocks and key into your creativity! Feel like you know loads of tricks but don't know how to connect them? Or that you are always doing the same moves in the same way? Or are you a hoop teacher looking for new ways to unlock the creative potential of your students? This workshop will lead you through a series of unique exercises that will help hoopers of all levels tap into their flow, create brand new moves and discover their own personal style of hoop dance. In this workshop you will: * create Flow Cards, use them to break down your set patterns and unlock your blocks * create your own unique moves by exploring infinite variations * expand on your creative variations with partners and groups These exercises will open up and expand your own practice as well as being a fantastic way for hoop teachers to inspire their students and help them find their flow.
www.livelovehoop.com
Brighton, England
BIO: Jo Mondy started hooping over 5 years ago in Sydney, Australia, and her love of the hoop encouraged her to pack in her day job, get her hoop teacher training certification and start her company Live Love Hoop. Since moving to the UK in 2010, she has built a strong and vibrant local hoop community in Brighton, England. In 2011, she taught over 40 Live Love Hoop courses (beginner to advanced and hoop dance/flow), inspiring hundreds of students to get into the spin. She is also at the forefront of the UK hoop scene, teaching at UK Hoop Gathering, Manchester Hoop Congress and other specialised workshops around the country. She also teaches online via popular Youtube tutorials. Jo is also an established performer, who has entertained crowds in the UK, Australia, US and Europe at festivals, clubs, weddings, corporate events and private parties (Check out her popular Marilyn Munroe routine here http://youtu.be/juMbthUoOxs) As a HoopCamp attendee in 2009 and 2010, she is very excited to share her knowledge this year as a workshop leader.
Jocelyn Gordon
HOOPYOGINI, HOLISTIC FITNESS WITH A SPIN: Develop your core, discover your strengths and massage your body with the hoop. HoopYogini‚ is a Holistic Conditioning experience developed by Jocelyn Gordon, Ecstatic Embodiment Expert and Coach, that utilizes the modern adult size hula hoop for flow, self-awareness and as a functional fitness tool to strengthen and stretch the body HoopYogini‚ is designed to explore the organic relationship between the spontaneous spiral experience of hoop dance and the more linear and direct technology of hatha yoga. The circular nature of the hoop gently encourages movement, freedom of expression, conscious daydreaming (a lost art for most adults!) and improved range of motion. Stretching with the hoop in familiar hatha yoga patterns releases mental and physical tension, develops present-moment awareness, and affirms the practitioner's ability to clear unhealthy beliefs and actions. Inclusive by design, the hoop welcomes all philosophies and none at all if you so choose. No previous hoop or yoga experience is required. What you will experience in HoopYogini: Core & Off Body Hooping Transformational breath work Hoop sun salutations Guided hoop meditations & body-centered coaching Jocelyn's Pele Hoop Flow which builds heat and endurance. Integrative language to help you refine your focus and define your body
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LoveMovement Healing Arts
www.jocelyngordon.com
Big Sur, CA
BIO: Jocelyn Gordon is an Ecstatic Embodiment Expert and the creator of Bhakti Boogie, HoopYogini, and Lovers Rock, Sensuous Partner Yoga & Massage for Couples in Love. She offers coaching programs and retreats facilitating transformational and fun dance experiences that inspire women out of procrastination and into a passionate and embodied life. A lover of holistic fitness and authentic self-expression, Jocelyn is excited for the release of her HoopYogini‚ DVD (available Spring 2012) and Daily Allowance & Abundance Cards.
Mary Jane Schroeder
Funky Feet: Come awaken your ninja feet! Foot spinning allows our hoop dance to gain exciting, toe-powered momentum that moves our groove to another level. Foundational foot spinning moves will be introduced for
beginners as well as more advanced variations for those who have the
basics down. We will also cover transitions to get the hoop on and off
our feet and learn moves both standing up and on the ground. Bring
more than one hoop if you feel like a super ninja! Be prepared to get
well acquainted with the grass, have a good, solid laugh, and find
flow with your feet!
Philo Hagen
Legs! Legs! Legs! : When it comes to hoop dance a lot of hoopers only move and groove from the waist up when our whole body wants to participate! Listen. Can you hear it? It's your legs. They want to dance and hoop too. In this workshop we shift our attention down to the lower half of our bodies, bringing greater awareness to these other major appendages and how to bring them into the dance. We'll spin up various forms of leg hooping with a focus not only on technique, but on bringing our own individual move and groove to them utilizing our thighs, knees, calves and ankles. Our legs are dynamic not only in our hoop dance, but in getting that hoop up off the ground and back on our bodies in a variety of ways without the need to ever utilize our hands.
BIO: Philo Hagen has been hooping it up since April 2003. As co-founder and Managing Editor of Hooping.org for the past nine years, Philo has been instrumental in building and educating our hooping community - online, as well as off. Co-founder of Bay Area Hoopers in San Francisco and LA Hoopers in Los Angeles, he's well known for bringing hoopers together. He's also a dynamic hoop dancer, performer and instructor in his own right. A two-time Hoopie Award winner, Philo has been honored with Video of the Year (for "Gotta Hoop") and Male Hooper of the Year Hoopie Award titles and he has taught and performed in numerous cities across the U.S.
Marjorie Schwartz-Scott
BOOT CAMP HOOP FITNESS: My workshop will incorporate the hoop in an interval training format. It is designed to utilize the principles of a total body fitness class to enhance each movement. It will involve cardiovascular exercises to strengthen the heart rate, core balance to achieve stability, muscle resistance to encourage control and flexibility to enhance coordination This will be a dynamic workout designed to make you sweat and have fun at the same time. If you are are looking for a fast paced concise class, this is it. Handouts will be given describing the choreography.
San Francisco, CA
BIO: I have been hooping for 7 years and and a fitness instructor for over 25 years. I have taught hoop fitness classes, body sculpting, strength training, cycling, and various aerobics classes through out the Bay Area. I am ACE certified thru The American Counsel on Exercise and have been a member for the past 25 years with IDEA a professional Health and Fitness organization. It has been my passion to incorporate fun activities with the hoop for all levels of fitness participants. My goal is to become healthier and stronger through movement. As a fitness professional and hooper I would love to share that energy with others.
Michelle Hazzard
MINI HOOP TRICKS AND TRANSITIONS: Mini Hoop Tricks & Transitions: The Next Level What could be better than one hoop? Two hoops! If you've already conquered moves such as the 2-beat weave and 3-beat weave you're ready to move on in your mini hoop journey! In this class we will analyze poi-inspired mini moves such as waist wraps, the pendulum "1.5" weave and the 3-beat fountain. We will also explore connecting the dots and linking moves together to create beautiful, continuous flow.
http://www.facebook.com/mhazzard
Seattle
BIO: Michelle Hazzard has been mini hooping since 2008. She was a recent finalist in the Amazing Hoop Race and received nominations in both the Video of the Year and Tutorial of the Year categories for the 2012 Hoopie Awards. She hoops professionally in Seattle with her partner, Taylor Daynes, and when not making new videos, she spends as much time as possible hanging out with poi spinners and other prop manipulators so that she can steal their moves.
Miss Saturn/Jenny McGowen
PLAYING WITH SEPARATION: A multi-hoop workshop Working with more than one hula hoop on the core can be a exhilarting and FUN! This is a technique based workshop where we will explore some of the MANY ways of guiding the hoops to separate from each other on the core, as well as transitioning from separation to separation all the while maintaining a flow/dance. Conditioning for moving the hula hoops up and down the entire body with and with out the use of the hands and arms will be covered as well as group and partner hooping. As long as you are comfortable with hooping on your body than you are ready to play with chaos of multiples. We will look at what types of hula hoops are ideal for separation.
New York City
BIO: Miss Saturn (also known as Jenny McGowan) is super proud and honored that the hoop has been an integral part of her life for 14 years. She brought the hoop to the burlesque stages of New York City and the east coast in 2000. Her full length shows and variety acts have left people in laughter and awe across the world. She has performed her solo outdoor show at the World Busker's Festival in New Zealand and continues to enjoy having a weekly run at Coney Island's Luna Park. She has been a Coney Island fixture working for historical Astroland (owners of the Cyclone Rollar Coaster) on the boardwalk since 2004. She has wowed audiences across the city and the USA--opening up for the bands Modest Mouse, Reverend Horton Heat, The Faint, The Walkman, The Dresdon Dolls, The Straight Jackets, and Velvet Revolver. She has graced the stages of The Famous Speigel Tent, The Box, PS 122, the Bard Speigel Tent, the Bergen Music Festival, and has recently performed with Moby in the Jonathan Ames and Moby Show. She also has toured extensively with the Bindlestiff Family Circus, the World Famous Pontani Sisters, and BFG Productions. You may have seen her in the new HBO series Bored to Death. She is the creator and producer of "Hula Pa Looza", an all hula hoop cabaret, co-creator of the hit comedy and dance troupe Animal Crackers and co creator of "Hula Wars." Jenny was trained in acting at Otterbein College and has studied clown with David Shiner, Sue Morrison, Giovanni Fusetti, Matt Chapman, Avner Eisenberg and Julie Goella.
Mona Qaddoumi
MOVES AND MORE MOVES: ShpongledHoop's Stash Bag Sesh! No Handed Step Through, every shoulder Duck Out you can think of, Combination Transitions and super cool Tosses! This will be a workshop of amazing tricks and combinations for ALL LEVELS! I will break down each move to a step by step process that will make learning these difficult tricks easy and fun! Bring a couple different sized hoops and a water bottle.
ShpongledHoops
Portland, OR
BIO: Originally inspired by trying to keep physically fit, (for me) hoop dancing has transformed itself into a dramatic form of art. I am a self taught & have been dancing since I can remember, with a heavy influence on belly dancing due to my heritage. Hoop dancing has only been a part of my life for the last 4 1/2years, but it has quickly evolved into part of my identity. As I have mastered certain skill sets I have taken on a variety of characters. As a performer I take on one of (currently) 4 characters: The Jester, Cosmic Formations, The Nymph and The Empyrean Lady. Each character is identified by handmade masks and custom crafted costumes made by Ziggy. This year, in 2012, my goal is to teach others the skill sets I have learned. I look to share advanced techniques and difficult tricks to help others reach their limitless potentials!
Nick Broyd
JUMPS: In this workshop you will work with a series of jumps, developing an awareness of how the momentum gained in jumping can be used to create a more dynamic and creative approach to hoop. Working predominately with jumps in the vertical plane, this workshop will help you find ways of moving through the hoop, including: headfirst, legfirst, turning, with the hoop falling, forward and backward. You will analyse grip positions and grip switching at various stages of a jump. Using these jumps and grip switches you will learn to use your momentum to find new combinations, improve transitions and develop confident footwork. This workshops is accessible to all and is as low impact as you wish to make it. Jumping is amazingly good fun, however you approach it!.
Bristol, UK
BIO: Nick Broyd is a fast paced, rhythmic hoopdancer from Bristol, UK. His focus is on using powerful tricks and movement to create a dynamic style. Nick started hooping in 2010 after feeling a little left out at Burning Man! He got the hooping bug and received fast tracked tuition at Bristol based Hooping Mad. In 2011 he won hooping.org's Hooping Idol and received three nominations in the 2012 hoopies, including Male Hooper of the Year.In 2012 he crossed over into performance work, including a solo performance in the 2012 Indian Juggling Convention Gala Show (www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVxUSO6WV9k). He has a particular interest in jumps, duckouts, throws and footwork.
Nick and Kit - Nick Guzzardo & Veronika Goodnight
HOOPING FOR YOUR HEAD: Nick and KiT~ have teamed up for Hoopcamp 2012! We've shared techniques and have put together a workshop to inspire, expand and revamp your hooping skills! We'll be taking on an area of our bodies that is mostly forgotten when we hoop... Thats right, our heads. Nick will teach the basics of head hooping and how it lifts the barrier of our hoops up and out of the way so our body can move in new ways. We will go over dance techniques while fine tuning our angles, learn the momentum of rolls and currents and learn tricky wraps that can become connections to other movements and tricks. KiT~ will help guide you through movement and techniques, ending with a manifestation 3rd eye recharge :)When our time is over you'll have new skills to practice and an inspiring way of looking at your hoop dance!
Colorado and Santa Barbara, CA
BIOS:
Nick Guzzardo, winner of the 2011 Hoopie Awards is a trained gymnast & diver from Colorado. With a background in underground dance culture he's current focus in the hoop is to be able to dance as he would without the boundaries of hoop. Still somewhat of a Newbie Hooper in the scene, his unique style of "head hooping" and innovative precise movement will be sure to inspire and expand your knowledge of "hoop dance." This last year Nick performed in the Electric Forest Hoop Troop and taught at multiple hoop events such as Spin Summit, Return to Roots, and Florida Flow Fest. Look out for Nick in 2012, his workshops you don't want to miss.
KiT~ is a trained, dedicated and world renowned circus performer with a wide range of skills and abilities, KiT~ is an internationally acclaimed Hula Hoop Dancer and Fire Performer. She is 2008‚ as Fire Hooper of the Year and well known in the TV/Movie world. She has worked with such names as Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, TPain, Ludacris, Jessica Biel, and appeared on CSI NY, Budweiser Superbowl commercial, & the Jimmy Kimmel show. KiT~ is an inspiration in both the fire spinning and hula hoop dancing communities as both an educator and performer. Most recognized within the company of Zen Arts, her inspiring performances and workshops will captivate any audience.
Nicole Wong and Sarah Starlight 
THE HOOPERS' PLAYGROUND:
A PARTNER HOOPING EXTRAVAGANZA: You are invited to a playdate with Sarah Starlight and Nicole Wong at The Hoopers' Playground. This beginner-friendly workshop will introduce participants to an interactive hoop style that encourages cooperation, collaboration, and outright silliness. You will learn how to transform basic single-hooper moves into fun and dazzling partner hooping feats. We will explore the world of weaves, rolls, breaks, and tosses for pairs, groups, and mobs! Our goal is to transform the landscape of hoop gatherings across the world by showing how fun it is to play TOGETHER instead of just side-by-side. Our graduating class is going to lead the way in taking the isolation out of isolations, so grab your friends and prepare to make new ones at The Hoopers' Playground. (P.S. There have been rumors of a top-secret "hoopers' handshake," so don't miss out!)
cherryhoops.com
San Francisco, CA
starlighthoops.com
East Bay, CA
BIOS:
Nicole Wong is the founder of Cherry Hoops, a leading San Francisco-based hoopdance company that specializes in first-class technical instruction and dynamic performances. As a much-loved instructor with a Ph.D. in education, Nicole creates fun, positive experiences where learners of all levels feel supported in their exploration of movement. Since 2008, Nicole has shared her unparalleled ability to explain moves with thousands of students including those at Hoopcamp, Google, Yelp, and UC Berkeley. Nicole teaches hooping fundamentals, multi-hooping, poi-style twin hooping, and partner hooping. Nicole is also a daring-yet-disciplined performance artist whose performance collaborations push the boundaries of hoopdance partnering with creative storytelling, unconventional choreography, inventive props, and humor. "Thriller," Nicole's recent collaboration with Sarah Starlight, earned the duo an enthusiastic standing ovation during Hoopcamp 2011's performance showcase, and the subsequent video was recognized as "Video of the Year" in Hooping.org's 2012 Hoopies.
Sarah Stolar, aka Sarah Starlight, is a an interdisciplinary artist, hoop and fire dancer, aerialist, and dedicated yoga practitioner. She has been exhibiting and performing for over 16 years and currently teaches art, dance, and yoga throughout the Bay Area. Daughter of an accomplished artist mother, Sarah grew up in art studios and ultimately received a MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. Working in a variety of media, from film to painting to performance art, Sarah draws upon all of these disciplines when teaching hoop dance. Her fun, you-can-do-it attitude has inspired many of her students to accomplish creative feats beyond their expectations. Notable exhibition venues, collaborations, and accolades include: Best Video of the Year Hoopie 2012, 53rd Venice Biennale, Currents 2011 Santa Fe, Sea of Dreams, Google, HoopCamp 2011, Temple of Poi Fire Expo, Nicole Wong/Cherry Hoops, HoopGirl AllStars and many others.
Olive Oyl
ON-BODY TRANSITIONS: Have you ever seen the Cirque Du Soleil performers flawlessly get the hoop from the ground up to their chest without even touching it, and wonder, ‚ how do they do that?! This workshop will focus on just that, moving the hoop up and down our body. Learn how to get the hoop from our knees up to our chest without using our arms or taking the hoop off our body! We will begin by learning how to isolate and shimmy different parts of the body by working our core and major muscle groups. The basics for hooping on our legs, hips, waist, and chest will be explained, as well as transitioning from each of these points to the next. Then, we will see how these movements and transitions are useful in bringing that hoop up and down!
Harmonic Hoops
Oakland, CA
BIO: Olive is a circus and fire performer that found her place within the hoop 4 years ago at a festival in her hometown of Detroit. Since then, she has expanded into other flow disciplines, including roue cyr and various fire and sideshow acts. She has performed across the country as a hoop dancer for Shpongle 2011 US Tour and at various music festivals. She is a member of the Detroit Fire Guild and Cirque Du Womp circus troupe. On top of being a performer, Olive is also a certified group and hoop fitness instructor, providing classes and workshops to all ages and hoop dance levels.
Rebecca Halls, Beka Hoop
FANCY FOOTWORK: A DANCE FOCUSED HOOPING WORKSHOP:Similar to contact improvisation Hoop Dance has evolved as a non-codified movement form based primarily on improvisation, with initial development happening in a Jam context. As the art form evolves, and people gather together to trade tricks and moves, material becomes more complex and styles more distinct. In this workshop we will be focusing primarily on the dance within the hoop. We will be examining a choreographic sequence, dissecting the steps, understanding where to put your hands, your feet & your hoop, and learning how to count to make your hoop dance and your body truly shine through the music. This workshop is your stepping-stone to becoming a true dancer inside the hoop. You will learn the technical dance elements relevant to hooping including turning, jumping, stepping, sliding, pointing, flexing, spinning, and much more that I have compiled together for you over the course of a lifetime of dance training!
ihoopu.com
www.rebecca-halls.com
Berlin
BIO: Berlin based choreographer and dancer Rebecca Halls trained from a young age in classical and contemporary dance and is a graduate of the Bachelors of Fine Arts dance & choreography program at Concordia University. Rebecca has been doing choreographic research with hula hoops since 2003. She has taught workshops across Canada, the USA, the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, and Taiwan. She has been a panelist, featured instructor and performer at four international hoop conferences including Hoop Convergence (North Carolina, USA), Hoop Camp (California USA), Manchester Hoop Congress (UK) and The European Hoop Conference (Germany). She is continually pushing the boundaries of this art form in her work as a performer, choreographer and teacher by translating concepts and ideas through movement research and exploration. She has starred in several dance for camera / music video pieces including HOOP (Marites Carino), Delusional (Human Woman / Snorricuts), Special (Tracey K / Snorricuts), & is currently co-choreographing the new Basement Jaxx music video -Hoop High- with Malcolm Stuart.
Sam Tribble
ACRO HOOPING/HOOP-ADAGIO: Learn to integrate your core agility and balance with a partner to create a unique flow. The best of both worlds are brought together as we learn to combine the fun and elegant art of partner balances while hooping. In this course we will learn basic to advanced adagio skills that can be combined with your unique hoop style.
ROUE SIMPLE aka CYR WHEEL: Learn to flow in the amazing Roue Simple. Working with the large hoop becomes a dance as you learn to fuse your energy with the wheels momentum. Basic technique for spinning will be taught in this course in addition to wheel manipulation. This performance exercise is not only a wonderful overall body workout you but an intriguing way to experience and further your understanding for developing your center of balance.
Spinnovation/ Tribbs Sport
Spinnovate.me
Corona del mar, CA
BIO: Sam is a five time National competitor in gymnastics at the elite level. He was awarded MVP and received All American honors in addition to being inducted into the Sacramento Hall of Fame, in recognition of outstanding athletes, while attending UC Davis. He transferred to Cal State Fullerton where he was nominated team captain and again qualified twice to NCAA National Championships. Sam currently enjoys performing and teaching circus arts such as Acro Adagio or hand to hand partner balancing. Sam is also the founder of Spinnovation a Roue Simple performing arts group dedicated to teaching and performing in the art of Roue Simple. His company Tribbs Sports also manufactures Traveling Rings and Simple Wheels along with unique or custom cirque equipment.
To find out more about this unique circus apparatus visit: YouTube.com/artofspin
Recent Projects and performances. Roue Simpe and Acro Adagio Dec. 2011 Established Roue Simple program for Milton High Cirque program in Georgia. Nov. 2011 Entertainment Partners. Venetian hotel Las Vegas Nov. 2011. Yost theater. Oct. 2011 Chain Reaction - Discovery channel. Sept. 2011 Million dollar listing - Cable TV. July. 2011 Feature for The Discovery channel 3D. Imax/Sony Sept. 2010. NBC‚ pilot for new 1 hour drama, The Cape.
Satise Dizon
BALL-i-HOOP: Exploring the hoop's ball like qualities through rolls, bounces, catches and carries.
This hoop workshop is an opportunity to move with your hoop in a fresh new way. We will explore the aspect of‚ letting go‚ in relation to hooping. The focus will be on creative ways to let go of the hoop and bring it back to you through bounces, rolls, catches, and carries. We will bounce the hoop off of various parts of our body, including feet, knees, and shoulders similar to how you might juggle a soccer ball. The workshop will use hoops with a smaller diameter and lighter tubing, which are great for their bounciness. We will then combine these bounce techniques with exciting ways to bring the hoop back onto the body. Further exploration of the hoop, as ball like characteristics will be done by rolling or tossing the hoop and then catching and/or carrying it on your foot, knee or elbow. Some techniques will include: floor rolls to foot bounce catches, foot carries onto body hooping, shoulder hooping to a duck out foot carry, behind the back passes to foot or elbow catches, and an exciting elbow hooping kick star.
Oakland, Ca
BIO: I have been hooping in the San Francisco Bay Area for seven years now. I started hooping after being awe struck and dazzled by a performance by the Good Vibe Hoop Tribe. I approached Anah Hoopalicious Reichenbach with my husband's urging to find out where I could learn such awesomeness! She pointed me in the direction of the Bay Area Hoopers that meet regularly every week to have hoop jams in local parks. Philo and Vera of Bay Area Hoopers and Hooping.org were the first other hoopers I met and they graciously welcomed me into a wonderful new hoop world. I then began attending classes from Christabel of Hoopgirl and became a certified Hoopgirl instructor. I taught classes and joined the Hoopgirl Allstars performance hoop troupe. I have performed at music festivals, for non-profit organizations, corporate parties, birthday parties and at San Francisco night clubs. I currently teach beginner and intermediate fire hoop classes at the Crucible in West Oakland, which is an amazing fire arts collective that is very involved in the community and with Burning Man.I attended Hoop Camp for the third time this past year. The biggest take away for me that I learned at Hoop Camp last year was to follow your heart and intuition, be inspired by others without needing to emulate their every move. I was reminded to stretch my boundaries, deepen my own personal practice and value my uniqueness when hooping. When teaching a hoop workshop or class I love the ah-ha! moment that students get when they have been working on a movement or technique that finally clicks with them. I hope to challenge students in fun and creative ways to push past their doubts and embrace the possibilities that practice, belief and persistence bring.
Steve Bags
POI HOOP MADNESS: Do you find it difficult to double hoop with the same freedom you have with one? Well poi-style hooping is the answer. In this workshop you'll learn a host of achievable two hoop moves that will allow you to move around and explore your twin hoops while looking amazing. This workshops will include z-spins, reels, weaves and hugs. Beginners will be challenged but with learn plenty of new tricks and competent poi hoop spinners will learn advanced variations
thehoophub.co.uk
Bristol, UK
BIO: Steve Bags is a professional teacher and performer from the UK who has been formally trained at Circomedia‚ Europe's leading centre for contemporary circus and physical theatre. Bags‚ recent achievements include: winning the 2011 Hoopie for Tutorial of the Year; being nominated for Male Hooper and Instructor of the Year 2012; winning four Revolvies; founding the Bristol Hoop Massive; and becoming a teacher on Hooping University. He is an innovative and multi-disciplined performer who has a strong passion for circus in all its forms, but just at the moment you are unlikely to find him anywhere other than inside a hoop! (Youtube channel: Steve2bags, Facebook: Steve Bags)
Tracey Mantha
CIRCLE GAMES: Original and creative hoop games to activate and captivate! GAMES, GAMES, GAMES! This is a deeply fun workshop that explores games, their benefits and how to have an amazing impact on your community through play! I have used my creative mind to develop original, imaginative hoop games that will activate and captivate all ages and skill levels! When you're teaching groups of kids, a fast-paced lesson with lots of moving and grooving games is a must. And a sprinkling of fun during an adult lesson or hoopjam never hurts, either. The majority of the session will be spent playing games, with an in-depth exploration of the whats, hows, and whys of play. Each game can be played just for fun, or with a deeper purpose and goal (ice breakers, personal/group development, flexibility, balance, strength and endurance). I will share some Group Management tips I have learned from facilitating lessons: How to get and keep a group's attention, manage distracted or rude participants, inspire unmotivated students and dissolve bad attitudes, all in a positive way. Find out why everyone's smiling with Circle Games!
islandhulahoopla.blogspot.com
Vancouver Island, BC
BIO: About Tracey Mantha: Creative Visionary:: Performer:: Costume Designer:: Hoop Instructor: Hooping passionately since 2001, performing authentic hoopdance with love since 2002 and teaching hooping with joy since 2005.I am a founding member of NOVA Firespun Performance Arts (together since 2004), a seasoned instructor, and the creatrix behind Island Hula Hoopla.
HOOPCAMP DEMOS
Demos are shorter workshops offered throughout the event at various times.
Drop-in and try something new!
Earlene Cuelho Alexiou 
HOOPSUP: Wonder how it would feel to hoop on water? Come join the FUN on standup paddle boards (SUP) and feel the motion of the ocean, pool, river, lake...the possibilities are endless. I will teach you the basics of SUP and cross train those fundamentals with hooping on a SUP. You will find in just a short period of time, your entire body engaged. HoopSUP builds whole body strength, increasing stability and balance. It refines even the basics of hoop skills because of your stationary position. It really LOOKS harder than it is, but mostly it is just SEXY! So come HoopSup with me or at the very least, get your picture taken on one.
Santa Cruz, CA
BIO: Earlene is native Hawaiian, born and raised in its' culture. Hula and Polynesian dancing have been her heritage for the past 40+ years when she retired from performing 2 years ago. After that time, she sought other forms of dance expression. None would come close to that fateful night in Santa Cruz, CA at the premiere of the Hooping Life movie. As the saying goes, the rest is history and she now spends her days enjoying this new movement while also combining it with her other passions, one in being standup paddle boarding (SUP). She enjoys and teaches HoopSUP (combination hooping and SUP) in Santa Cruz, CA where she now lives. She is a mother of two and loving life.
Kristen McQuillin
WORLD HOOP DAY CHOREOGRAPHY: The WHD Dance gets hoopers dancing together for World Hoop Day. In 2011, 317 dancers in 11 countries participated in the project. You may recognise some of the hoopers in the final compilation video: http://youtu.be/eAoAhX7gjx0 This workshop will teach you the choreography for 12/12/12 and also incorporates teaching tips, choreography pointers, and ideas to customize the dance to your needs, whether you are in a professional fire troupe or just picking up the hoop for the first time.
Tink in Tokyo
BIO: Kristen McQuillin is better known in hoop circles as Tink in Tokyo. She started hoop dancing in 2008 and was soon running events such as Spin Matsuri and Guru Guru Camp, as well as organising the WHD Dance project. She has taught workshops and performed in Japan, Australia, and the US. Tink is passionate about sharing the delight of hula hooping with people young and old. Her favorite shape is a torus.
Laura Scarborough
MAGHOOPS: Maghoops were invented in Spring 2011 : brainchild of Laura Scarborough in Austin TX : who thought - “Wouldn’t it be cool if hoops could stick together?” - Maghoops are a magnetic hoop design that add new possibility, dimension, and challenge to hoop play. Manipulation with three mini hoops (Maghoop Trio Set) creates a new way to isolate rings and move within 2 and 3 dimensional planes. Miss Laura’s 2012 workshop will present updated designs of these hoops and will teach helpful drills and sequences that will allow you to connect Maghoop movements together. She will also debut new core hoop sizes (the Anti-Twins and other combos) that allow hoops to stick together as well as spin inside each other. The workshop will help one better understand these hoops, as well as provide the opportunity for exchange, free play, exploration, and finding flow. Demo hoops will be available and special pricing and Maghoop product deals will be offered to Hoopcampers!
hoopcircle.com
Maghoop store: http://hoopcircle.bigcartel.com/category/maghoops.
Maghoops on fB for links/updates: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Maghoops/131357340277877?ref=ts
BIO: Laura Scarborough is multi-faceted artist, musician, hoop geek, and inventor. Current vocalist/keyboardist/ composer for performing arts group Quixotic http://www.quixoticfusion.com/ , she has also lived and transformed within the hoop since 2004, written hoop songs, and been a catalyst in the Austin hoop community.Through teaching, performing, creating hoop accessibility and hoopmaking to newbiees, hosting public hoop events in partnership with Whole Foods, assisting and promoting guest hoop instructors from around the country, she has brought many folks into her Hoopcircle.
In 2011, she began developing Maghoops - a magnetic hoop design - that created exciting buzz in the hoop community and won her a Revolvie for 2011 Debut Hoop Prop. She was invited to Hooping Idol 2011 as a guest judge and created a fun remix of her song “Circle” specifically for the 2011’s Hooping Idol Performance week (download HERE for FREE http://soundcloud.com/scarbiedoll/circle-remix-for-hooping-idol !)
She looks forward to sharing and exploring Maghoops w/ 2012 Hoopcampers:
Pamela Crawford 
DRESS YOUR HOOP: Find true inspiration, tips and the best techniques on how to "dress up" your dance partner, or as we commonly call it "our hoop". Join Pamela Crawford in her Hoop Decorating workshop where she will share her experiences of wrapping thousands of hoops over the past 6 years. Perk up your practice, routine or costume with secrets on wrapping your hoop evenly, finding ways to keep your tape from crinkling or folding over on itself, working with different types of tape, speeding up your time, and much more. Several designs will be covered and all hoops made in this class will be donated to World Hoop Day!
pamelahoops.com
Los Angeles, CA
BIO: Since early childhood Pamela has loved watching how beautiful the human body is in movement. When the hoop crossed her path in 2005, to her surprise, this passion was fully ignited with a simple but elegantly modified child's toy and the art known as hoopdance. Her daily practices has led her to teach hundreds, make hoops for thousands, as well as being able to perform across the US. Based in Los Angeles, CA , she now trains hoop enthusiasts and fitness experts to become certified hoop teachers a Master Trainer for Hoopnotica. With her down time she practices in her private studio and puts these recordings on Youtube, so that she can share this amazing form of movement/exercise with others around the world. Her long time love of dance has allowed her to express the uniqueness of her soul through hooping.
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