My new hula-hoops what I made :)

Time to write about one of my other favourite things – Hoop dance! I went to a hoop dance workshop at the Folk House in Bristol today where I made these hoops to learn twin hooping. I spent so long carefully wrapping the tape around the hoops (it is waaaaay harder than you would think!) that I didn’t get to try many tricks but I am very excited to have two hoops specially made for me as they are exactly the right size. Plenty of time to learn tricks later. Anyone wonder what I mean by hoop dance? Check out my teacher Emma from Hooping Mad…she is AMAZING!

Feeling fed up because of all the budget stuff, library cuts, talk of volunteers taking over library services, England being rubbish in the football? WELL GET A HULA HOOP!!!!! You can’t be glum when hooping I promise. Five of our staff members at my library have taken up hooping since I started our little hooping group and we have loads of fun…and it is cheap fun! You gotta be in it to spin it! Yeah! wHoop!

Hula-Hooping and World Records

’nuff about libraries for now. I had a break from all that at the weekend and I am now a world record holder having taken part in the Hoopathon for Sports Relief in Bristol yesterday yay!!!!. 1388 of us,  at venues across the country, hooped at the same time for two minutes. Then I hula-hooped around the mile.  It was so much fun, the weather was amazing and I met loads of other hoop dancers (most of them waaaay better than me!) The great news is that I have found us a new hoop teacher and a network of hoop dancers that I had no idea exsisted….I thought it was all happening in London.
There is only so much you can learn from a DVD, which is what my hoop-group have had to rely on so far   and I had started to feel like I was in a bit of a rut so the timing of this couldn’t have been better.

There was a lady there who did a display of Belly Dance Hoop fusion, she was amazing! definitely want to try that next.

I started off the day with a stonking cold but as soon as I got hooping it miraculously went! you simply cannot be down when you hoop AND it has magical healing properties!

(Note to self: All of the best hula girls were wearing sparkly pants..must get me some sparkly pants)

Remember – it’s cooler to hula folks!

(all of that said…the mile route did take us past Bristol City Library and I couldn’t resist giving it a little nod on my way past!)