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StudentPermalink Reply by Swift Hoops on April 26, 2011 at 6:02am

aw poop i tried to open the outline and it wont work :(

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StudentPermalink Reply by Tangled Macrame on April 26, 2011 at 7:33am

If you're having trouble with the file, you can fill it out here:

 

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?saved&&note_id=10150179808...

 

Thanks again!

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StudentPermalink Reply by Swift Hoops on April 27, 2011 at 9:41am

thanks now i see it.  Very good outline btw! Hope I helped :)

 

 Does this seem accurate? 

-Yup, thats what i've heard as well. 

 

C. Describe Flow

-When I hear the word flow, I think of one fluid motion.  My body is one with the hoop and everything around me.  Where my dancing no longer is premeditated.  The hoop becomes weightless and my movements become effortless and thoughtless.  The hoop loses it's form as a plastic circle and becomes the person's dance partner.

B. Comment on the physicail/dance aspects of hooping. How has it changed your mind-body relationship or self- image?

* watch for a typo here (physical)*

-Hooping has brought dance back into my life.  As a little girl I used to take ballet lessons but the studio burned down so I slowly drifted from the art.  Every movement of the body effects the hoop differently and because of this I have become more conscious of my body and how the hoop responds.  It's brought grace and balance back into my life.   Since I've been hooping, my stress level has decreased significantly and I have lost weight.  As a result, i am a lot more confident and I'm comfortable in my own skin.  My self-image has changed dramatically and is very positive.

a. Describe Hoop city

-A safe haven online, I don't know many hoopers in my community so Hoop City is a way for me to connect with other hoopers and to try to find other hoopers in my area.  It's great because on Hoop City I know I'm not the only one who shares this passion!

C. Describe your local hooping community.

-There really isn't a hoop community near me  but I'm hoping to change that! That's why Hoop City is so important to me, it is my community.

A. Does hooping make the world a better place?

-Yes! I strongly agree with this statement.  Even though a hula hoop is just an object, it's much more.  It brings strangers together and creates unity because it's a bond that we share.  It brings laughter and smiles to peoples faces whether they are the by-stander or the hooper.  It makes people laugh and brings out their inner child. If hooping was in our educational systems and introduced at an early age, I believe our younger generations would have higher self-esteem an better sense of self-worth.

B. Describe how your hooping serves the larger community. Do you work with children or volunteer your hoop-time to those in need? Hoop for fundraisers? 

-I wish I had a greater impact on the larger community but hopefully someday I will! This summer I will be teaching children how to hoop at several work shops.  All though I haven't had many opportunities to partake in fundraisers, I'd love to do so!

 

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Permalink Reply by Scunshine on April 26, 2011 at 8:17am

Love this topic! last semester I did something similar for a philosophy research paper based on Czikmentmihalyi's work on flow as well as taoism, twas very interesting. I like the term flow-arts, since it encompasses those who are more dancy as well as the more technical things like contact juggling and such. Will def help out with the survey!

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Permalink Reply by Scunshine on April 26, 2011 at 8:36am

Does this seem accurate? 

 As far as I know yes.

 

C. Describe Flow

My take on flow is that it is something you work to achieve in your every day activities. It's the result of purposeful, challenging and focused activity.When you're in flow it's like being "in the zone" and when you're done you feel exhilerated and happy

B. Comment on the physicail/dance aspects of hooping. How has it changed your mind-body relationship or self- image?

 

Before I picked up the hoop, I would have laughed out loud if anyone ever said that I could dance. Just the other day however, someone asked if I had ever taken ballet lessons. I had to giggle because the hoop has been the greatest dance teacher I could have ever asked for. I'm much more confident in my body and have learned to carry myself with more poise than I previously had coming out of my teens.

 

a. Describe Hoop city

C. Describe your local hooping community.

 

Hoop city is my hood! Ha ha but in all serious, I love that Safire has created this forum for all of us to get together and share our hooping lives with each other. Without it I might not be as far as I am with hooping today. My local hoop community is somewhat disjointed at the moment, since we're only just starting to find each other. I hope with the warm weather we can get together more regularly and strengthen our bonds.

 

A. Does hooping make the world a better place?

I think that if something makes people happy, of course it makes the world a better place. Hooping in public is a great example. If you can get one person to smile at you while you hoop on a street corner, you've made the world a little bit better through hooping. 

 

B. Describe how your hooping serves the larger community. Do you work with children or volunteer your hoop-time to those in need? Hoop for fundraisers?

I would love to do more community service through hooping, though I haven't had many opportunities. With the end of school approaching I'll be able to focus on it more though!

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Permalink Reply by Molly'oop on April 26, 2011 at 10:40am

III. Hoop-dance belongs to a larger, world-wide community of flow artists.

A. Flow artists include jugglers, yogis, hoop dancers, poi spinners, color guards, and fire spinners.

B. Flow artists combine technical skill in manipulating their chosen prop with free-style dance.

C. Hoop-dance emerged from the West Coast dance scene, Burning Man, and the music community surrounding the String Cheese Incident. 

Does this seem accurate?

I agree with everything you said here.

 

IV. Hooping makes people happy because it induces a flow state.

C. Describe Flow

I've heard flow described many different ways, but the one that stuck out to me most went along the lines of: Flow is when you're no longer playing the instrument, flow is when you're the instrument and the universe is playing you.  I'm paraphrasing, of course, but when I flow, I feel so connected to the earth and sky and everything in between.  I'm not out-of-control of my body, but I'm being taught and guided by whatever it is - spirit, God, higher power - that conducts and connects the world.

 

V. Hooping makes people happy because it challenges them to move in new and beautiful patterns.

B. Comment on the physicail/dance aspects of hooping. How has it changed your mind-body relationship or self- image?

I've never been physically adept at anything, so the fact that I not only hoop, but I let people witness me moving and exploring in this new space, says so much for how incredibly happy it makes me.  For literally the first time in my life, I feel alluring and graceful.  I consider myself a dancer now, I'm proud of what my body can do.

 

VI. Hooping makes people happy because it creates community.

a. Describe Hoop city

HoopCity is like a place to call home on the internet.  It was the place that I found day 1, the first time I picked up a plastic kid's toy and spun it around.  It's so insanely supportive, something that I thought was a myth on the big, scary internet - I very rarely hear anything but kind and encouraging words, and it's so inspiring to know that we can fight against the stereotypes of online animosity and come together as a community. 

C. Describe your local hooping community.

My local hooping community is small, but we're feisty!  We're always going out, laden with tons of hoops, and introducing new people to it.  I myself have given away countless hoops impulsively - I see someone pick one of mine up and spin it, I see the joy on their face, and I can't help but want to be a part of that joy.

 

VII. Hoop dance reaffirms John Stuart Mill’s belief that “Those only are happy…who have their minds fixed on some object other than their own happiness; on the happiness of others; on the improvement of mankind, even on some art of pursuit, followed not as a means, but as itself an ideal end” (qtd. McMahon 994).

A. Does hooping make the world a better place?

YES!

B. Describe how your hooping serves the larger community. Do you work with children or volunteer your hoop-time to those in need? Hoop for fundraisers?

I teach hooping to kids, and I said before, I give a lot of hoops away.  I feel like I'm doing my part to spread some joy in the world.  In fact, I recently let a 6-year-old hoop with one of my minis, and she loved it so much I let her keep it.  A few days later, I found a drawing from her slipped under my front door; it was her and I hooping together in a sunny field with the worlds "Thank you for my hula hoop!"  It makes me so happy that I have the opportunity to share something that brings so much light and joy into the world.

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Permalink Reply by oooooniki on May 2, 2011 at 2:35pm

I know I'm not exactly following directions by copy and pasting the outline, but, you could always include something about how hooping could be used to help deal with anxiety and depression. 

 

Here is a thread about dealing with anxiety: http://www.hoopcity.ca/forum/topics/how-do-you-deal-with-stress

 

Lots of people talk about how meditative hooping is, and meditation has many benefits to your well being.

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StudentPermalink Reply by Tangled Macrame on May 2, 2011 at 2:55pm

Thank you so much for your feedback, hoop friends. Unfortunately my teacher turned down my project. Said the paper was too much about hooping and not enough about happiness. Plus, not everyone, she says, can be hoop dancers. So rather than fight an uphill battle, I'm going to give her what she wants: a bunch of philosophical BS about how people can be happier. UGH! 

 

But I am saving your responses and hope to write this paper/article over the summer. 

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Permalink Reply by oooooniki on May 2, 2011 at 9:50pm

Aw lame... how does she not know... hooping IS happiness :)

 

I think you should definitely still write it.  Maybe you can guest blog it somewhere.

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