Category: WHD Dance

On the surface, it must seem as though nothing is happening on the WHD Dance project. No updates, no new videos…what’s going on? Behind the scenes, things are busy and progressing quickly.

On Friday, while waiting for a computer repair, I finally dove into one of the sticky problems in this dance choreography – formations for different numbers of dancers. The staging isn’t the same for a pair of dancers as it is for six. Now I have little drawings to guide us. And at the same time, I resolved a niggling little problem with the end of one section, much to my relief. So the choreography is officially finished.

This morning, I have stencilled the dance structure onto t-shirts. I woke up from a dream knowing that this would be a useful teaching aid. You’ll see them in the WHD Dance tutorials, and if you come to a workshop on the tour, you’ll see one in person, too.

And in a few hours from now, the tutorials filming begins. Ayumi, Kana, and Bekah cleared their Monday calendars to help out and I am supremely grateful. With the footage in hand, I will edit like crazy and  have the tutorials online at the end of the week.  Stay tuned!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uM4TXf5v-4I]

Hoop Tokyo and I collaborated to present a sneak preview (and technically, to premiere) of the WHD Dance at Kamakura beach on August 14th. Ayumi, Mina, and Mana learned the dance with just few hours rehearsal two days before the performance; they are true troupers.

Here’s a snippet of the choreography. This segment is my favorite bit because it’s the first time I’ve seen it danced as a group outside the visions in my head and it moved more beautifully than I imagined. The crowd cheered; how encouraging is that?

I’m looking forward to polishing up the choreo and teaching you the dance through video tutorials and in person over the coming months. World Hoop Day is 12/12/12, so you will have lots of time to practice and prepare.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXmXS_2ljnk]

Here’s a short tutorial on a move that’s in this year’s dance. It’s called Sidekick. Get ready to balance! This 8 count kick will work your core and your obliques. Who needs a gym when you can hoopdance?

I adapted it from a rhythmic gymnastics move. The gymnasts did it in 4 counts while running across stage. I slowed it right down and stilled it. Not as dynamic, but definitely more possible for most hoopers.

For me, choreography is a multi-phase project that I both love and dread.

Every time I create a new dance, I start in my head. I get my brain wrapped around the music, find the structure of the dance, decide on a story. Then I make notes about what sorts of movement I want to incorporate. I visualise the dance, sometimes drawing pictures with sweeping arrows and little hoops.

And then I get out of my head and into my body as I try dancing what I visualised and seeing if it fits together. Often it doesn’t. Videos monitor my progress and show me what works and what needs to be changed. Once I think I have a section, I make sure I can dance it without my brain at all. If it feels good, it’s a keeper. Otherwise, back to the drawings.

I started the WHD Dance choreography yesterday.

I spent the sweltering afternoon in the park with my choreography tools: iPod, iPad, notebook and colored pens. I put the song on repeat and did the breakdown of the music: verse, chorus, bridge, four 8-counts, eight 8-counts, an accent, a break. 110 measures in total. Then I watched some favorite dance videos with my dance music playing – this always unlocks some ideas and yesterday was no exception.

Today I’m off to a mirrored studio to see if my ideas are going to work. Starting next weekend, I am gathering a group of hoopers to start filming the tutorials. Once I get started, it goes quickly.

You will see some interesting new concepts in this year’s WHD Dance: group work, formations, more real dance moves. Your feet are going to get fancy and you are going to love the rehearsals! It’s going to be spectacular performance for your World Hoop Day event on 12/12/12.

I am excited to be choreographing another year of the WHD Dance. The creation of dance is something I had no idea I could do four years ago. But I can and it’s so satisfying. And at the same time quite afraid that I am going to fail – my ego reminds me that I am neither a dancer nor trained in choreography. What will real hoop dancers think of this? What if it is too hard for most people? Too easy for others? Boring? What if everyone hates the music?  Yikes! (OK, calm down now. Ignore yourself, Kristen; you can do this and it will be just fine.)

I guess that desire to go outside my comfort zone is what keeps me doing hoop choreography.  That, and the chocolate I bribe myself with. There’s a bar of Toblerone waiting for me after today’s studio session.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAoAhX7gjx0]

11 countries. 41 groups. 317 dancers.

The WHD Dance 2011 video is so full of life, enthusiasm,  groovy moves and cool costumes that I am entirely overwhelmed. It was thrilling to see so many hoop dancers – some who I know in person, some who I worship from afar, and plenty of new faces – enjoying themselves with a project I coordinated. Thank you for dedicating time to learn the dance, for performing on World Hoop Day and for sending in your video.

Editing the video was an interesting challenge. The song is only 34 measures, and I received 41 videos. I decided to create an “extended mix” to accomodate each group for a full eight counts on the screen. Even so, I had to make some difficult choices about what section of each dance to use. In too many cases, I had to miss a wonderful moment, a sweet move, or I couldn’t fit an entire group on the screen at once. If you danced but can’t find yourself in the compilation video, accept my sincere apologies. Compromises are never ideal.

I learned a lot during this year’s project, especially relating to teaching dance and to music selection and choreographing for easy editing. I hope to put my new knowledge into practice for our WHD Dance 2012. Your comments and suggestions are always welcome. See you for a new dance next year!

For more information about World Hoop Day, visit worldhoopday.org

CREDITS
Choreography: Tomomi Ara & Tink (Kristen McQuillin)
Music: Safety Dance by Men Without Hats
Editing: Tink

LOCATIONS
::: Australia: Melbourne, Mystery Bay, Sydney
::: Brazil: Porte Allegro
::: Canada : Lake Ida Ann, Ottawa
::: Finland: Helsinki, Tampere
::: France: Paris
::: Japan : Tokyo (Fab), Tokyo (JHIC), Tokyo (Spin Matsuri), Tottori
::: Mexico : Mexico City
::: Netherlands: Amsterdam
::: New Zealand: Dunedin
::: UK: Brighton, London
::: USA : Bath, ME; Carrboro, NC; Hillsborough, NJ; Lynn, MA; Madison, WI (Team Wisconsin); Madison, WI (HulaHoopla); Marietta, GA (Alphabet Hoops); Marietta, GA (MCAA Rockets); Mississippi Gulf Coast; Oakland, CA; Ohio; Old Town Spring, TX; Portland, OR; Raleigh, NC; Reno, NV; Salem, MA; Salt Lake City, UT; San Francisco, CA; Santa Cruz, CA; Seattle, OR; Springfield, NJ

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkI4hkk6rZY]

Here’s the Tokyo version of the WHD Dance. It is one of 32 videos that I’ve received so far for the WHD Dance compilation video.

Our World Hoop Day event on Saturday raised over 55,000 yen (about $720) to send hoops to kids in Tohoku and on the Peace Boat, and we also decorated and donated 25 hoops that day. I wil be shipping those hoops up to our partners in Tohoku later this week. Thank you everyone for your generosity!

Some highlights of the day, from my perspective:

• Hooping with a blind woman and her guide
• Surprise appearance by John Politowski
• Naomi’s beautiful sign explaining our charity project
• The park cops shutting us down for having a sign and an amp (stupid rules!); sad faces and no music for ten minutes, then it was back to normal…without the sign.
• Flowers from my “video crew” from the Welcome to Tokyo video
• Giving a club of Lomographers something to film with our hooping
• The sun shining after a day of hard rain – teru teru bozu power
• Giving and receiving dozens of hugs and kisses
• Busting out the tandem hoop and finally figuring out how to make it work every time with new partners
• Meeting photographer Robert Stacy of Visualwhiplash.com, who shot these great photos of our dance:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/mediatinker/sets/72157628009045523/

View from the front seat towards the back.

Usually I take the train to our hoop jams but for World Hoop Day I brought more than the usual number of hoops to Yoyogi Park. I hailed one of Tokyo’s convenient taxis and proceded to stuff 52 hoops into it, along with myself, two hooping friends, and a trunk full of miscellany. It was packed floor to ceiling with hoops on the 25 minute drive across town.

I am sure that this is the most hoops a Tokyo taxi has ever seen.

My view from the back seat looking forward.

Yesterday in rehearsal at the park with 8 awesome and enthusiastic dancers, we had a revelation. Our WHD Dance is going to be performed in a circle. Everyone faces in toward the center. We’ll position a camera on the inside and one on the outside. This makes the dance look and feel great.
The one tricky bit is that you have to remember which direction to move (grapevine left, pivot right) or risk running into someone coming the other way. The backwards steps for the weave increase the size of the circle and the forward steps return everyone to place.
I can’t wait to try this with the larger group. If there are enough dancers, we might even have concentric circles.