Hoop Dancing

Yesterday I went to view the 16th Annual World Hoop Dancing Competition at the Heard Museum in Phoenix. While it says world, most of the competitors were from the U.S, with the exception of a few Canadian dancers. There were categories for youth, teen, adult and seniors. Since I went on the second day, I was only able to see the finalists in each category. Competitors create a routine with hoops (much like your childhood hula hoops- but much smaller in diameter) that lasts anywhere from 4 to 7 minutes. Some evoked butterflies, riding a horse, the sun and giant flying birds. They dance in and out of the hoops, as well as wear them at times. All of this is performed to the music of the large drum and multiple singers.

I have to say that the extremely young were inspiring. The performance from a 7 year old girl from Michigan (who won her category) raised goosebumps; she had so much energy and controlled her hoops so incredibly well. I wondered how old she was when she first started. The audience gave her the only standing ovation of the day. I was so electrified by her performance that I did not get a photo of her. The teens also worked hard, and the winner in this category incorporated a couple of skateboard moves, apparently another passion of his. This is him in the green regalia.



The adult competition had 6 finalists, two of which were Canadians and students of University of Calgary. They both had resplendent regalia- really eye catching and intricate. Both succesfully competed in the Calgary Stampede last summer- I can't remember if Lisa won, but Dallas won his category. On this past Sunday, Lisa came in fourth and Dallas won first. He now has the World Hoop Dancing title for 2006 and a prize of 2500 dollars.



There is apparently a very active community around hoop dancing. The announcer stated that this year alone, there were 45 contestants in the youth category. He also commented that it is revolutionary that the Museum participates in the continuation of culture, rather than just housing artifacts from the past and the occasional dry lecture. I think it was pretty marvelous entertainment for a Sunday afternoon.

The photo at the top is of the drummers and singers; I neglected to note their name, but they were unbelievably sturdy to be able to sing during the entire two days.
Photos of the dancers were hard to take; they were continously in motion except for the 30 seconds at the beginning where they carefully placed their hoops inside the performance circle.