Flow is about surrendering your mind and your ego to the hoop and allowing your body to control your movement automatically. This workshop explores some of the barriers to flow and help you find ways to overcome them.
Smooth Transitions
Transitions are key to flow. Your mind (and the evil Inner Critic) turns back on instantly when you get stuck in a trick and don’t know how to flow into another move. “Hey, I’m doing this reverse weave thing really well…but, um, now what? Right, I suck.” In this workshop we’ll explore a variety of transitions, hand grips and sequences that you can play with. Train your muscles to do them without thinking and your flow will expand. We’ll tell the Inner Critic to shut up, too!
Connecting to Music
I like dubstep but it doesn’t induce good flow for me. I love to sing along with the latest pop tunes, but they don’t put me into a state of bliss while I’m hooping. Sometimes the music you like and the music you flow with are very different. In this workshop we’ll get a chance to dance to a wide range of musical styles – slow, fast, vocal,instrumental – and discover which ones you connect with. We’ll also play with dance moves to inspire your flow.
Letting Go for Flow
To connect to the body, we must learn to quiet our minds and our egos. This session borrows some meditative techniques from hoopers and others around the world, including visualizations (Caroleeena), blindfolded hooping (Baxter/Hoop Path), ecstatic dance (OSHO), and dervish whirling (Sufis). We’ll also hoop while pretending to be drunk (Brecken) which will put your ego in its place and get you laughing.
The workshop includes a 30 minute opening jam, warm up and cool down as well as the main topics. The workshop will be held in two locations:
Tokyo
Wednesday, July 27
7-9:30 pm. Yoyogi Park.
“Doors open” at 7 pm with music; workshop begins at 7:30. RSVP to info@spinmatsuri.com or on the Facebook event page. Please bring a hoop, if you can. Water to drink and bug spray recommended for the sultry summer nights.
Pennsylvania
Saturday, August 13
9:30 – noon. Ephrata Performing Arts Center.
Doors open at 9:30; workshop begins at 10. Hoop jam in the park afterward, weather permitting. Details and registration at http://whirligighoopers.com/?page_id=127
(P.S. Please ignore the dates on the flyer above; the series has been consolidated into one intensive session.)