Guest Post
On a recent Sunday afternoon, an eclectic group of hoopers
assembled at a Pilates studio on a side street in Bar Harbor, eager for the
opportunity to Hoop The World™ in a special workshop led by nationally
acclaimed dance adventurer Jaycee Gossett.
Over the
years Jaycee has studied the roots of movement and how it makes us who we
are. Her studies and travels have taken
her through North America, South America, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia, the
Caribbean and the South Pacific. In each
new environment she has researched native dances to understand how they reflect
the cultural values and incorporate societal traditions. Chapters from Jaycee’s “Dance The World”
anthology that aired on the Travel Channel can still be seen on her YouTube page
Hoop The
World™ is based on the same premise as Dance The World, and on this particular
occasion, we were transported during the afternoon’s activities to Cuba, Spain
and Jamaica. (A previous HTW™ workshop
focused on rhythms from the Dominican Republic, Africa and the Middle East.)
Before
embarking on our “journey”, however, Jaycee invited us to start by exploring
basic movements and kin-esthetic awareness, literally from the ground up. She suggested we envision our body as an
orchestra, where each section, joint or limb plays a distinct role. Beginning with our feet (the percussion
section of our orchestra), she encouraged us to try moving in all directions, creating
patterns and concentrating on our how feet interact with the ground below and
how they support the rest of our body, as we continually varied our steps in
every possible way: large, small, high, low, rhythmic, syncopated, smooth,
staccato, gliding, abrupt, straight, curving, etc. (you get the idea!)
“Now
transfer 10% of your attention to your knees.
How can they move? How do they
help the feet in their role? What do they add to the orchestra?” Jaycee asked -
and our bodies responded. On we went, through the hips, spine, chest,
shoulders, arms, hands and head, each time adding a new “instrument” to the
“orchestra” and feeling the nuances and complexities of movement that ensued.
“What’s
your ‘home base’? Your ‘go-to’ move, the one you always rely on and return to? Whatever it is, when you find yourself
getting stuck there, move on. Try something different – change what you are
doing!” That was Jaycee’s advice as we continued to warm up and to open
up our bodies to the full range of our inherent kin-esthetic
possibilities.
Jaycee’s
passion is to make dance accessible to everyone. With her vibrant personality, engaging
teaching style and positive energy, she encourages and guides us toward this
goal from the very first moments of the workshop. Following her lead, we soon start to sense
that YES, we all really can be dancers (as well as hoopers)!
First
stop on the afternoon’s Hoop The World ™ excursion was Cuba, homeland of the
cha cha rhythm. Working initially
without our hoops, we learned some basic foot patterns of this dance (front-,
side-, cross-, and travel steps). Then we
added sass and flair with fun, flirty hip and hand motions, mindful that our
hoops would eventually limit where our hands and arms could move in any
expressive gestures. We worked on the basics
at several tempos and soon had the chance to apply the ballroom moves to
hooping. As “Love is Strange” played on
Jaycee’s iPod, we gradually developed ways to incorporate these newly gained cha
cha skills into our hooping routines, whether on-body, off-body, or a
combination of both.
Flamenco
was the next rhythm Jaycee introduced, again teaching us a bit about the
overall dance style, including typical wrist/hand/arm and foot/traveling
patterns. We practiced these movements without the hoop at first and later with
the familiar flamenco melody “Volare” urging us on. Posture is key in flamenco
and much of the flavor comes from actions above the waist, but I think most of
us found the elements of this dance a bit harder than the cha cha to execute
while hooping. So Jaycee suggested that
we focus instead on just adding bits and pieces of flamenco flair, and
eventually everyone found some element of this classic Spanish dance that could
be used to embellish our future hoop dance freestyling.
The
third leg of our itinerary took us to Jamaica and the reggae origins of Dutty
Wine, a/k/a Dirty Wind – pronounced “w-eye-nd”
with a long “I”, meaning to coil,
circle, rotate, or spiral – how
completely appropriate for hoopers! This sensual, free-flowing club
dance is a whirlwind of hips, legs and torso, a definite contrast to the upright,
stylized movements of the ballroom genre.
In Dutty Wine the entire “orchestra” pulsates to a strong West Indian
drumbeat, making it really fun (and challenging) to keep the hoop spinning with
the whole body gyrating so continuously!
As a
wrap-up, Jaycee set us loose hooping to music by Bole 2 Harlem, a true African-American
fusion sound easily adaptable to many styles of movement. It was the perfect opportunity to practice whatever
we wanted from the class and to integrate it into our own basic hoop dance
repertoire. After a very full two-hour
workshop, I left exhausted but exhilarated, feeling I’d traveled very far from
Maine for the afternoon – and I’m hoping the high will last until Jaycee returns
to lead us on another Hoop The World™ adventure later this year!
For
additional information about Jaycee Gossett as well as Hoop The World™ classes
and workshops, you may visit the following pages on Facebook and the web:
Marlene Hubbard is a Hoopnotica Certified Instructor from Bar Harbor, Maine. She stays active in the Hoop Community by teaching hula hooping as a total body, full fitness workout. A big thanks from Hippy Go Lucky Hoops to Marlene for this wonderful write up about Hoop The World!
Are you interested in doing a guest post for Hippy Go Lucky Hoops? Send an email to start the process! I would love to hear from you, hoop related or otherwise!
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