Think hula-hooping is just for 5-year-old girls in pigtails and floral-print jumpers? Think again. Hoop dancing, the adult version of the ultimate throwback childhood activity, has gained popularity across the country and among celebrities like Marisa Tomei and Beyonce.
Certified Hoopnotica instructor Rebecca DeShon has brought her class and love of hoop dancing to The Goddess Hour in Brighton and Absolute Yoga in Rochester and Perinton. She was introduced to the fitness craze when a friend gave her a handmade hoop as a gift last summer.
"I became somewhat healthily obsessed with practicing as the inches began to fall off my body, and I began turning exercise into an art form," she says. "I moved all the furniture out of my living room as a dedicated hoop-dance practice space and practiced hour after hour each day ... I wanted to share my love for hooping with everyone."
Now she's doing just that. DeShon started teaching her classes at The Goddess Hour in early January and also holds private hoop-dancing parties. But don't expect to get more than a handful of people hooping in the studio or in your living room at the same time. Hoop dancing doesn't use the same plastic hula hoops you played with in your driveway 20 years ago. Measuring 44 inches in diameter and weighing about 1½ pounds, the hoops are larger and heavier. So they're tailored for a woman's body and, once in motion, have greater momentum.
I joined DeShon's class one recent Sunday afternoon. Most of the women were pros compared to me. They were able to spin the hoops around their waists for minutes on end, while mine kept dropping to the ground every 10 seconds. Growing up, I was never good at hula-hooping, and it seemed that nothing had changed.
After 30 minutes of trying and watching everyone else master the skill, I became frustrated. But DeShon was there to help. She showed me how to use my legs, not just my hips, to keep the hoop moving. Once I got the hang of it, I realized how women can easily get hooked.
"I call hoop dancing 'exercise in disguise,' because it is just that," DeShon says. In fact, I couldn't remember the last time I laughed during a workout, but hoop dancing was different, even if I was laughing at myself.
But when DeShon introduced new techniques to the class, we were all on the same playing field, laughing as hoops flew across the room. During the class she introduced the halo technique, which involves spinning the hoop on your hand.
"Each move will be difficult in the beginning as you open up your body in ways you may not have moved before," DeShon says. "As with most things in life, practice makes perfect."
Even if some of us were struggling, we kept practicing until we got it. And not once did it ever feel like a workout. But the next morning I knew just how beneficial it was. My core was sore in spots no crunches had ever made sore before.
DeShon felt the same way when she first started. "I didn't even realize how many calories I was burning as I sweated off pound after pound, all with a smile on my face," she says.
Since then, she's lost 40 pounds through hoop dancing and following a healthy diet. But hoop dancing also is a workout for your mind. DeShon says some of the mental benefits include clearing and quieting your thoughts, reducing stress, improving self-confidence and opening up your creative self-expression.
"My goal for each student is a smile on their face and sweat on the brow," she says. "I hope to have opened them up to a whole new world of exercise, dance, self-expression and self-worth."
For more on Hoop Dancing, visit www.hoopnotica.com
