Hulahoopla: A Podcast For Hoopers

Episode 16 - Bex Burton: Tuning in to the Universe Lucky, lucky me! I got to sit down with Bex at Hoopcamp this year and have an incredible talk. This amazing woman is so in tune with the Universe. It gives her a sign and she runs with it with so much passion and love and appreciation. She’s a dancer, a hooper, a Pilates instructor, a masseuse, a life and love coach. Movement is her muse. We met a couple years ago at Hoopcamp and although I can’t remember the circumstances, I remember that we made eye contact and I felt this incredible warmth. I felt like I knew her. And funny thing, she said the same thing about me. But it took a couple years to actually spend some time getting to know each other and holy crap! I am so glad I did. In this interview, Bex shares her fascinating life and honestly, something happened to me. I’m still digesting it. She moved my heart in a way that made me see how I’ve been looking at myself and at my life. I’ve been looking inward, but not in the good way. I’ve been stuck em

Love this man! I snagged Philo at Hoopcamp this year for a chat and I’m still giddy about it. There is a lot of history in this conversation. Last year at Hoopcamp we had a little early morning bonding because he had been rained out of his tent and I needed coffee. We sat on the front porch of the dining hall in the rain and just talked. I definitely felt a bit like a fan girl around him. And why not?! But he is warm and sweet and funny as hell. My favorite MC hands down! He was the very first hooper I met while walking toward my first hooping experience - The Northwest Hoop Gathering in Bend, Oregon in 2009. We walked side by side and I asked him if he’d ever been to something like this before and he said he hadn’t been to that one. I was brand new to the hooping world and didn’t know who he was or what I was about to experience when I walked into that gymnasium full of hoopers. Mind blown. Life changed forever. Philo was there at the beginning of my hoop journey. I’m not the only one. He told me the

Recorded in March 2015 in San Francisco before her performance at the DNA Lounge, Valentina Martin caught me up on her life - a fusion of her talents and passions. I happened to be in town spending time with my husband (we eloped in January 2015!). I timed it just right so I could take Valentina’s Belly Fusion workshop that combines belly dancing and hooping. She’s an amazing teacher and I continue to say that I want to be her when I grow up.   Imitation is supposedly the sincerest form of flattery. I made a run at imitating Valentina when I went to the Rose City School of Burlesque and combined my hooping with a couple of acts. That lasted about 6 months basically because 1) I accomplished my goal and 2) it’s hard to come up with a new act and costume every couple of weeks! My hat - and bra! - off to this lady. She has created spectacular performances and shows with her hoop troupe, The Hoop Unit, her belly dancing and burlesque talents and now in Twisted Orbit, her partnership with her husband, Steve B

Hello and welcome to the blog and podcast! I love this woman so much! Carolyn Mabry, aka Caroleeena (with 3 E’s!), is a pioneer in the hooping community. She was one of the first hoopers to put tutorials up on YouTube. Can you imagine? Have you searched on hooping tutorials lately? She taught and performed at Hoopcamp this year and there was NO WAY I was going to miss her. Her chest hooping video is how I learned to chest hoop and I share that video with all of my students. This lady is also helping hoopers put dance into their hoopdance through a Facebook group called "Putting the Dance in Hoopdance." The goal is to dance first, hoop second. Every week she encourages members to explore a different aspect of dance and create and share a video. The results are very fun and inspiring. Definitely check it out. After listening to this interview, please check out all the links I've provided on the blog. There's tons of good information on Caroleeena, how to subscribe to her YouTube Channel, witness some of

The whole reason I started doing this was because I like talking to fellow hoopers. I want to know how they got into hooping, where they’re from, what has been their journey so far. Karma is, for me, one of those people you just instantly like. She has a giant smile that will melt your heart. We met and hit it off on the set of NBC’s Grimm which is shot in Portland. We were both extras for Season 3, Episode 16 “The Show Must Go On” in which we were Steampunk Carnies. She had a featured part as an LED hooper at night at the carnival. It was so fun! Very cold on those days too so we huddled under coats together between takes.   I met a lot of awesome and talented people in that short time on set including performers from Cloud City Circus. A few of us extras met up a while later to see a show and had ourselves a little Grimm reunion. Karma shares her passion for circles - I can relate! - having recently become obsessed with the aerial lyra. As a member of the Cloud City Circus, she performs regularly

This interview took place a little over a year ago around Christmas of 2013 when Caterina was in Portland teaching her workshop, “Breathing Breaks.” She was on the verge of setting up her Etsy shop and website for her stunning jewelry and was rehearsing for performance at The Flow Show in New York. We were blessed with a sneak peek of that performance in the workshop and then earlier this year I saw the whole performance in person at Hoopcamp. Beautiful! And at the renegade show, she was a pretty convincing trucker-hat-wearing dude. :)         I also saved up a little extra cash to treat myself to one of her Incandescent Coils pendants. This incredible lady has such an amazing life story about finding inspiration, creating, performing, traveling, the hoop community and her dream of living in South America. Get inspired to create something, anything! And happy hooping!     Caterina’s performance at The Flow Show NYC 2013 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4BzuDrQ5X8 The Red Dress at Hoopcamp Prese

Hello hoopers, hoopers in the making and hooper lovers! I met my goal!!! I got my tenth episode done before the new year!! My next goal is to make this podcast professional. What does that mean? It means a simple and redesigned website, sponsors, advertisers, maybe even some fun prizes. I want to bring hoopers from around the world to your ears and hearts. If you’re interested in helping me make this a reality and bring it to the masses in a more polished formed, you can reach me at hoopanista (at) hulahoopla (dot) com. Thanks! On this episode - EPISODE 10!! - I talk with Antonio Gomez of the San Francisco Bay Area Hoopers, or BAH. And I saved this one, my 10th episode to honor BAH’s 10th Anniversary! So cool. I haven’t even known about hooping, as I’ve come to know it, for 10 years!!   I met Antonio when I came to my first BAH hoop jam in December of 2012 and felt an immediate connection. I had just started coming down to the Bay Area to visit my long-distance fella and wanted to meet hoopers in area.

Hello hoopers, hoopers in the making and hooper lovers! OK. I have got to stop bitching about my voice recorder. It's actually pretty cool. It's operator error - it's all me. So a big thank you goes out to my friend Joel again for loaning it to me! This is Episode 9. I had a fortuitous meeting with Beth Lavinder, of all places, at the last indoor hoop jam of the season for the Bay Area Hoopers in San Francisco! I was visiting the Bay Area and she was on her way to teach at Jaguar Mary's Sacred Circularities in Bali. She told me she's not really comfortable about talking about herself. I feel pretty lucky. She opened up and shared so much about herself and her hoop journey starting out in Carrboro, North Carolina seeing Vivian (Spiral) for the first time, hooping with Julia Hartsell and Baxter and her experience with The Hoop Path.   Beth is part of my hoop journey.  The first time I saw her was at the Northwest Hoop Gathering in Bend, Oregon, April 2009.  I walked into the big gym where the event was

Hello hoopers, hoopers in the making and hooper lovers! I’m a lucky, lucky hooper!  I love doing this podcast but it has been become difficult to put together due to the old age of my computer.  But out of the blue, a brand new computer arrived on my doorstep a few weeks back.  A gift from the wonderful man in my life.  *happy sigh* So what does that mean?!!!  Well, I’ve had 4 interviews in limbo and it’s been driving me crazy!  I want to share these with you so badly. I’ve been a hooper officially since April 2009 and I feel I’m immersed in the hooping culture enough to be wonderfully geeky about the hoops, the performers, the instructors, the clothes, the retreats, all of it!  And I want to share it as experienced by other hoopers. This episode is the “tease” episode.  I started an interview with Valentina of Unity Hoops and Twisted Orbit in February in San Francisco…so long ago!!  She was THEE reason I started taking Burlesque classes which in itself is the art of teasing.  I wish I could take all of h

Hello hoopers, hoopers in the making and hooper lovers! Ooops! I was hoping to have this up before New Year's Eve. Oh well... Long time no podcast! Sorry about that. I have an 8-year-old computer and it was full of photos, music and other podcasts. It's not like I haven't been doing hoop stuff...quite the contrary. I had this interview sitting on the recording device that I'm still borrowing from my friend, Joel. Thank you, Joel! Anyway, I interviewed Dustin Hubel and his lovely wife, Kay, on their honeymoon tour back in May - MAY!!! - of 2012. How embarrassing. His workshop on isolations and hooping with twins/doubles was amazing and so challenging. My brain definitely shorted out a few times! Despite that, he was a delight.  :-) Listen for yourselves! Thank you, Dustin & Kay! Dustin Hubel http://youtu.be/PF6UuPsw2i4 Dustin's Facebook Page Revolva Hoopdance Article about Dustin & Kay's Wedding Dudes of Hooping Calendar