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That twirling groove

Hoop dancing is helping people get their twirling groove back. More and more adults are returning to the Hula Hoop from their childhood years so they can have some fun and exercise at the same time.
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Jodie Seymour


Hoop dancing is helping people get their twirling groove back.

More and more adults are returning to the Hula Hoop from their childhood years so they can have some fun and exercise at the same time.

Red Deer Hula Hoopers meet the first and third Saturday of each month on a grassy area above Rotary Park playground.

It’s an informal free gathering of anyone who wants to show up between 2-3:30 p.m. Club organizer Jodie Seymour brings more than a dozen hoops for people to try out.

She started the group last May, but began hooping herself seven years ago after seeing some individuals hoop dance at a New Brunswick music festival.

She wanted to take a turn and hasn’t stopped since.

“At this point, it’s almost meditative,” said Seymour, a 30-year-old mother of two young sons. “As someone put it, it’s something to give the monkeys to do in your brain while you really think about something.”

Most people who are twirling hoops are doing it for the exercise. It’s good for core strength and gets the heart pumping too.

Seymour said her only form of exercise is hooping.

“It’s great for artsy people who normally wouldn’t go out and do physical activity with people,” she said.

People playing with hoops dates several thousand years ago. In ancient Egypt, children would fashion circles from dried grape vines and swing them around their waists.

In 1958, the founders of Wham-O products released the first plastic hoop and trademarked it under the name “Hula Hoop.”

Twenty-five million were sold in four months, igniting an international Hula Hoop craze.

Popularity in the hoop re-emerged about 10 years ago when The String Cheese Incident jam band from Colorado began tossing hoops into the audience during shows.

“It’s really only about 10 years old that the art form of hoop dancing began,” Seymour said.

“Even if you get really good at it, it’s still challenging because there’s still a new move, or you can get smoother.”

She makes hoops and sells them at the Red Deer Public Market every Saturday, and also through Play It Again Sports shop in town.

Seymour buys tubing as well as inserts to hold the hoop together. Seymour then find special, often glittery, tape online to wrap the hoop.

The hoops sell for $50 for adults. The bigger heavier ones are good for beginners because the hoops will move more slowly, she said.

One weekend, about 30 people swere twirling on the grass.

Among the regulars are 28-year-old seamstress Val Turbak, who enjoys hooping because it’s a challenging exercise.

“You just sort of try and figure out how to do the tricks and it’s satisfying, plus you’re outside,” said Turbak, who tried Hula Hooping as a child.

“I’m a huge music lover, so I love that you can dance around with your hoop, and get your groove on.”

Emily Grant, 30, likes that hooping gives “you a different way of feeling the music, rather than just bopping your head.” Each time she picks up a hoop, she gets better at it. “You don’t have to retrain yourself, it’s like riding a bike,” she said.

Seymour hopes to find an indoor venue for the winter.

Red Deer Hula Hoopers can be found online through hulahoopers.ca

Contact Laura Tester at ltester@www.reddeeradvocate.com