kahunahula
i love to fucking hoop
seriously. it is a blast. i never had a clue.
i enjoy tucking an ipod into my hat, dimming the lights, and practicing downstairs late at night at my place. i enjoy getting decked out in faux fur and rocking it on the dance floor at one of the bay’s venues. i enjoy hoop fighting with the other crazy fuckers in my group in the living room with a dj on the decks and the glassware tucked away. i enjoy hooping out in the sunshine for the barbecue crowd at dolores park with bah. i enjoy playing with fire in the cold night. i enjoy being a hoop minstrel on the playa. i enjoy showing yet another drunk person that, yes, they can actually hoop. i enjoy.
i would have never expected it to be hooping. like many newbies, i was hesitant at the beginning. all my natural clumsiness got in the way. but i was encouraged to learn my chops, to build that muscle memory via relentless practice.
one night, it all started to click. i could finally pull the hoop off the body. i slowed down, sinking deeper into the music, letting my body figure it out. i set aside temporal space to devote to hooping in my barn in washington. learning to destress with an hour under dimmed lights and favorite playlists. then tricks i saw on youtube and tribe became accessible. my movement catalog expanded. i started to be able to groove with it more. i made the playa a personal hoop camp. i began to meet other hoopers.
then i moved to the bay, plugging into bay area hoopers immediately. taking every chance i could to practice, learn, perform. in the sunshine, inside, in clubs. wherever. i learned to bring my hoop to most places. i connected with like-minded hoopaholics.
and, lo and behold, this band of hoop misfits was born. we consistently have a blast. my hooping has never been better.
ok. but i still don’t get what hooppain is…
well,
we hoop like motherfuckers. we party like motherfuckers. we don’t take ourselves too seriously. we enjoy interfering with one another’s hooping.
it is not about competition, it is about self expression, hanging with good peeps, cutting loose from the nonsense, rocking the hoop in your own way.
my advice? break from the herd. get inspiration from others, but don’t get lost in trying to be someone else. i want to see you do your thing; you are the only one who can do it.
and now, since you love me, hire me
want a performer that won’t bore your guests out of their mind? want something different? i will hoop my ass off at your next shindig. your guests will actually have fun.
or, i will show you how to unleash your inner hooppainer. you think you know how to move your hips? wait till i’m done with you.
contact me for rates and booking information 415.722.5570
throwing down at an early HooppaiN session
spinning fire at the palace, san francisco, 2007.
hooping in support of pride, 2007.
take the burgeoning pain to task
make it sleep, why you ask
so days ahead will feel the wrath
the full unleash-ed boiling path
of mayhem, wounds, and bruis-ed hand
while worshipping a la dastardly dan.conserve thy energy
oh favored peeps
ignore the silly squirrel squeeks
for in few days of setting sun
the screaming, bruising, hoop pain come.
