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2017 Halloween Parade

10/31/2017

Hooping in the Halloween Parade was so fun!

We had a beautiful group of talented hoopers in creative costumes! Excellent work, all! Big ups to Chris Fernando for the awesome photos. Be sure to check out the video below! We make an appearance around :43.

HALLELUJAH HALLOWEEN! xo

Dance Parade New York 2017: Dance For Peace

5/23/2017

Woooot! This is our 4th year bringing hoop dance to Dance Parade NY!
As always, it was great to see old friends and new ones - to feel inspired by community, and to Dance For Peace!

THANK YOU to all who came out! You are magic!
BIg love to the Dance Parade organization for giving us a platform to dance on
and a reason to hoop in the streets!

Big thanks, again to TOAD and his humans, Lolly, Boris, and DK for providing us with a
musical escort for the 3rd year in a row! We love you.

Photos, courtesy of Chris Fernando. You are so appreciated!

VIDEO COMING SOON!

All photos are copyrighted by the photographer and may not be used without consent from artists.

A Hoop Burlesque Debut!

1/14/2016

When I started hooping, (seven years ago this week! Happy Hoopiversary to me!) I was instantly inspired by the beautiful hoop/burlesque fusion work of Valentina Martin. Despite my desire to explore this sexy form of movement, I found myself making excuses of why I shouldn't (or couldn't) do it.

There were soooo many reasons why I felt I couldn't - I'm not in good enough shape, I've never done it before, I'm too old to start now, I don't have the right skills, I'd have to take my clothes off WHILE hooping (so much multitasking!! How is that even possible?!) WAIT...I HAVE TO TAKE MY CLOTHES OFF ON STAGE... (Oh, the horror!! This is burlesque! I am not brave enough!

Well, I finally had enough of the excuses, and I did it!! After all, I'll never again be as young as I am today! Despite all the negative chatter and all the excuses I came up with, I shut it down and put together my own hoop burlesque act.

With the help of some friends and the lovely ladies of the New York School of Burlesque, I took to the stage of the Lower East Side's legendary The Slipper Room. You can see the entire performance below and there's also a video vignette about my process, too!

It was totally a risk worth taking. I feel (like I knew I would, once I got out of my own way) accomplished and proud that I went for it. It wasn't perfect, but I feel great about it. And now that I've gotten the first performance out of the way, it will only get better. And easier!

Are you someone who wants to explore something new, but are standing in your own way? Are you interested in trying hoop dance, but are scared that you won't be good enough? No matter what it is you want, I encourage you to shut down the monkey mind and step up to the plate. Our souls yearn for new challenges! And, of course, if hoop dance is your new personal challenge this year, please consider joining us for classes at La Luz! The next six week series begins Tuesday, January 19th. More info can be found here. I hope you enjoy the videos!
xo Amy

The Hoop Movement featured on Univision's Despierta America!

5/12/2015

Damaris Diaz comes to our Foundations of Flow
hoop class and learns just how fun hooping is!
We come in around 1:10 in the video.
Happy Hooping!

Healin' and Dealin'!

1/4/2015

Happy New Year to each and every one of you sweet hoopers!

I know have been a little out of touch the last several months. You see, I was feeling on top of the world in the beginning of October… I had cut sugar and alcohol out of my life for three weeks and was reaping the benefits - I dropped 15 pounds (yess!!) and I felt vibrant and full of zest. I also began incorporating daily meditation into my life. Despite going through a heart wrenching break up, I felt supremely confident that I was on the right path and willing to take big risks... and I was learning to allow my heart to lead me in the direction that was right for me. My heart was absolutely beaming and my entire body felt sensationally bright!! (Here’s a clip of me fire hooping in the Hall of Flame at Gratitude*NYC, feelin’ all awesome. ;) )

...But then, just a few days later, I took a nasty tumble down a flight of concrete stairs and banged up my knee pretty badly. After over 10 long weeks of ice packs, elevation, Arnica, epsom salt baths, and absolute immobility, I felt I lost my sparkle. I was frustrated - I lost a lot of muscle, (I could hardly stand for longer than 45 seconds at a time at one point…) and I was feeling uninspired and totally down. I’m a firm believer that physical activity can help heal emotional pain - so all I wanted was to move and sweat out some of my break up & break down stress - but I couldn't! However, here we are a few weeks later, and I am finally feeling stronger and more confident than I have since my fall. More great news: Although I need to ease in, I've been cleared by my doctor to start moving again! (Oh, hoop dance, how I have missed thee!!)

Join me in taking advantage of our beautiful bodies - no matter the shape they are in today, let us honor where we are and use them to express what is in our hearts!

I CANNOT WAIT to begin our first hoop class series of the new year - we begin again on Tuesday, January 6th and I wanted to be sure you had the invitation. Join us for Foundations of Flow, where you will learn tricks and transitions that can start you at the very beginning of hoop dance - or - step up your game and smooth out your already existing flow! Click here to sign up or check out the details.

It is with the deepest gratitude for my body and for my healing that I step into 2015 - ready to move, inspire, and shake a tailfeather! We have a lot of exciting things planned for this year - Won’t you come join us?

Dancing into 2015,

P.S. As always, space is limited, so don’t miss out - here’s that link again to register now!
So much love, hoopers! xo

The Hoop Movement hosts Rachael Lust in NYC

9/24/2014

Internet sensation Rachael Lust comes to the Big City for her
Breaks & Paddles workshop! <----Click here for FACEBOOK
EVENT PAGE with full details.
We are excited to host her in Brooklyn! WOOOT!
Oct. 11, 1 - 4 pm

PURCHASE tickets now

Hoopers in the 8th annual Dance Parade New York!

5/24/2014

"To touch, to move, to inspire. This is the true gift of dance."
- Aubrey Lynch

Hi... Amy here! My co-organizer, Meggi Connor of Return to Roots, and I are both bursting with gratitude, knowing that our NYC and Philadelphia communities came together to make the Dance Parade such a memorable experience!!

It was our pleasure to represent HOOP DANCE in the 8th annual Dance Parade New York! We joined 10,000 dancers in 142 dance groups, representing 77 different styles of dance as we bounced down Broadway with our hoops! To the organizers - thank you for having such a wonderful vision of celebrating dance through diversity. The Parade was a cultural rainbow - a global representation of dance around the world!

To the participants who showed up to get down - who came from Long Island, Philadelphia, Connecticut, the Five Boroughs, and beyond - thank you for coming!! You represented hoop dance and our beautiful community so well on that perfect Spring day in Manhattan!!

To the talented men who created the container for us to dance in - our DJs - SmallChange, Tektite, & Tim the Enchanter - and to our big sound with big muscles, Coyoti and The Blackbird Squadron -- BIG LOVE & MANY, MANY THANKS!!

And of course, we tip our tiny top hats to our incredible photographer, Chris Fernando, for capturing the color and glory of the day so beautifully. Please enjoy some of his photos below. :)

We can't wait for next year!

video: Oren Davidson

Big Time Big-Top Fun: Hooping for Cirque du Soleil!

4/8/2014

Pictured above: Amy with the beautiful and talented Christine Geiger

Hoopers and stilt walkers added sparkly, ambient entertainment to the biggest big-top party EVER, the NYC premiere party for Cirque du Soleil's newest show, Amaluna!

What a memorable night! The crowd funneled into our beautiful circus tent at Citifield after catching the show-stopping spectacle of Amaluna. We had so much fun spinning for the crowd of this luxe party... We hooped our hearts out that night, which wasn't hard to do because the DJ was amazing! JoniSue and I managed to capture a tiny taste on video, which you can view below.

Global Compilation Video: World Hoop Day!

10/25/2013

NYC is represented TWICE in the World Hoop Day Global Compilation Video,
including our high kicks and hula hoops section, closing out the video at Radio City Music Hall!
We had a great time contributing to this global project! If you have any ideas for next year's
(our wheels are already spinning!) leave a comment below and tell us about it!

Video: World Hoop Day in NYC!

10/15/2013

Hooray for World Hoop Day! With a roving performance troupe, we made our way through two boroughs to perform in five locations! Along the way, we inspired smiles, gifted hoops, and even hooped on the F train!

Of course, we absolutely *had to* record it, and I wanted to share with you NYC's first WHD choreographed performance! This dance was performed by hoopers all over the globe last weekend, and we will represent NYC in the worldwide compilation video, coming soon.

The hoopers and crew were super troopers. We had participating performers from far and wide; a few hoopers traveled from other states to join us...we even had hoopers from Paris and Berlin come play with us! They worked hard to make this project happen and for that, my co-leader Allisun and I are over-the-top thankful! We're hoping you agree that it was all worth it when you watch it!

Please remember, too, we did this all for charity! Put some love in our online tip jar and your donation will be sent to the World Hoop Day Organization.

We had a great time spreading the hoop love... How did you celebrate World Hoop Day? Tell us in the comments below! Happy Hooping!