The past two weeks, I had the privilege to rock out with a hula hoop at the Intro to Hoop Dance class at Canalside! Here's what I thought:
Week 2 of the class had a lot more participants than the first week!
Where they are located - Canalside in Buffalo near the wooden boardwalk (right after Zumba)
What it cost - FREE! (can't get better than that!)
Level of difficulty - Low to start, but you can learn some pretty complex tricks!
Review -
As someone who, like most people, has very little experience with hula hoops (just tooling around with the toy ones with the beads in them as a little kid), I wasn't really sure what to expect going into this class. From the hoop dance wikipedia page, I found that it is similar to rhythmic gymnastics (something I've only seen on TV during the olympics). So I went into this class flying a little blind.
Week 1 of the class was a little smaller and windier than week 2, but still fun
First of all, let me say, "hooping" (as some call it) is a fully body experience. Not as hardcore as, say, a bootcamp class, or doing a bunch of burpees, but it really calls on your core, legs, and arms for many of the moves. It also requires a good sense of timing, rhythm, and balance in order to keep the hoop in the air or on your body while doing transitions.
Hooping is more than just your typical "hula hooping" in which you spin the hoop around your waist and hips (although that was a major component of the first two weeks of lessons - also, I found out that running the hula hoop around your waist, and running it around your hips actually takes different technique... who knew?). It involves keeping the hoop in motion while moving it, spinning it, twisting it, flicking it, and rolling it around and over various parts of your body.
Right now, we are laying down the fundamentals - learning how to move the hoop up and down, over the head, around the body (spinning both clockwise and counter clockwise! Definitely learn both directions!) This class is for all ages, and last week there were some cute kids showing off their moves while their parents took the class.
The instructor for this class, Denise Cervola of Shadow Hoops, has been teaching people how to move with a hoop for over 5 years now, and she does a good job of articulating what you should be doing with your body to produce the results that you are looking for. This class is taught with instruction at the front, and with a mic on the instructor so that she can verbally call out what you should be doing. Her teaching method is clear and concise, and most people seem to pick it up pretty well.
While she started out as a nurse, Denise found a passion for teaching hoop dance, and has taught roughly 400-500 students in the Buffalo/Western NY region. She does not have a studio, but instead teaches at community ed classes and schools, and also brings her hoops to local concerts so that people can enjoy them while listening to live music.
In addition to teaching, she also makes hoops - her company (Shadow Hoops) is based out of Angola, and she makes hoops of all diameters, thicknesses, and colors (made to order per your specifications). Hoops can be ordered and are $25. She also has a huge selection of sizes of hoops at the class for you to try and use.
This class is a blast and, while there are no events at Canalside on Tuesday of this week, I high encourage you to take this class on the 28th!
Check out the video to see the repertoire of tricks that I learned during the first two weeks!
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