Events

Hoop for a better Tomorrow is having an event at Hyde Park Roller Magic, Monday, February 29th from 6-7:30pm. To learn more about the event and sign up click Hula Hoop Dance Girls Night Out! If you sign up before February 22nd it’s $20.00 otherwise it’s $25.00 at the door the evening of the event. This event upon request, is for girls and ladies of all ages. So ladies, call your friends or bring your kids because it’s a way to have some fun and beat your cabin fever!

“Hula Hoop Dancing” also known as Hooping is  a combination of dancing  and hula hooping, where the dancer rotates the hoop on all parts of their body, not just the waist like with traditional hula hooping. The above event will also teach how to do many on and off body hoop moves and how to transition them together into a dance sequence.

Ashley Gannon is a certified hula hoop instructor and founder of Hoop for a Better Tomorrow. She first saw hooping at Mountain Jam an annual event at Hunter Mountain in 2009. Feeling inspired and mesmerized, she taught herself how to hula hoop by watching YouTube videos. Friends started asking her to teach them! That’s where everything came full circle, you could say!

Her passion was fueled by her love for breaking down the tricks and teaching them. It all came very natural to her. That’s when friends told her “you must do this for a living” and “you have to teach hoop classes”. So hoop away is what she did and became certified in 2013.

Ashley loves how hooping makes her feel empowered, strong, confident and loving everything about herself. It helped her discover the true meaning of self=love and become the person she was meant to be! She also loves doing the same for other women. Hooping allows them the space and time to delve into self-love, practice, have fun with friends and meet new ones. It teaches love by moving their bodies again.  This is not boring exercise, but fun and exciting, plus everyone feels welcome! All ages, all sizes and no experience necessary.

 Who Loves to Hoop

Women in their 50’s are HFABT biggest clients. They come from Dutchess, Orange, Ulster and even Columbia County. Classes are also offered at Arlington High School Continuing Education with women 22-62. The next 8-week session runs April 20th – June 8th. The cost is $96 and you can register on Arlington High School

HFABT also offers workshops and birthday parties that have included children as young as 5. This is a great idea for kids birthday parties as she taught a 45 minute hoop class for twenty 4 to 5 year olds and the kids stayed engaged and excited the whole time.

Did You Know?

You can burn up to 600 calories an hour and gain strength and tone every muscle in your body; especially  your core. Similar benefits are found to an acupressure message and detoxifying your body by creating movement on your lymph system. It’s a moving meditation that helps to de-stress and clear the mind, connect the mind, body and spirit and allows you to achieve a “flow” state of mind and body.

You don’t need to be able to hoop with your child’s hoop. They are not meant for you! HFABT makes hand-crafted adult size hula hoops with a larger diameter and weight so they move much slower, making it easier for you to hoop with! Ashley designs hoops for all sizes and all ages and notes the T-shirts are coming soon!

You don’t need to be skinny, young, athletic of have rhythm to hula hoop. Ashley has taught women of all ages and sizes how to hoop and almost all are able to successfully waist hoop with her during the first class!

History of Hula Hooping

Hoops of willow, rattan grapevines and stiff grass date back to 500 BC in Egypt where children hooped as a form of exercise. Hoops were popular as a form of recreation and religious ceremonies in Great Britain dating back to the 14th century.

The term “hula hoop” comes from British sailors who had seen hula dancers in the Hawaiian Islands. Native American Indians dating back to the 1400’s hoop danced as a form of storytelling.

During the late 1950’s hooping became popular and traced to Australia where children twirled hoops made out of bamboo. When demand for production could not be met, Toltoys made plastic hoops and sold 400,00 in 1957. Wham-O sold over 100 million hoops in 1959. There is even a reference to it in Billy Joel’s song “We Didn’t Start The Fire”

Today

Children still love them to play and exercise and adults use stronger heavier hoops for fitness and fun! contests and classes are being offered across the country!

Photos by Melissa Tyler. Fashions by The Groovy Blueberry Clothing Company, New Paltz.