Replies to This Discussion

StudentPermalink Reply by Shelley "HoopyChick" Gilbertson on November 30, 2010 at 5:10pm

Great idea for a thread, Sarah! I've never really choreographed anything other than the "A Little Cheeky" video I posted here. I don't believe there was a whole lot of thought process involved, I just hooped, came up with something, wrote it down, figured out what I could work in next, wrote it down, etc. Hopefully someone with some choreography experience will chime in. In the "What Do You Like/What Do I Need" group, Sandra posted how she mapped out a performance she's working on. She's very technically minded I think. It was interesting to read the "notes" she posted.

Permalink Reply by Sarah Bellum on November 30, 2010 at 6:11pm

Thanks for that tip Shelley, I will look into that.

I've heard that a lot amongst the small group of fire spinners and hoopers I know, that most of them don't choreograph many things. While I totally get that, because I love to just dance and flow free when I'm hooping, I definitely have visions of just intricate fire pieces and hoop pieces but have a hard time putting that into practice. Aye....

I hope people post here as well...

Permalink Reply by Caroleeena of Circles of Joy on December 4, 2010 at 9:37am

Deanne does a great job of describing choreography and choreographing to a count in this video. She also shows how once you have a choreography down, and know it by its count, you can apply it to any kind of music:


Tink also shared a choreography for World Hoop Day. There is a lot to be learned in how people create and share choreographies:


Finally, you might consider studying Dance Notation. It helps when trying to describe moves and sequences. Here are some resources: http://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1RNPN_enUS404US405&aq=f&... My friend AliCat came up with some dance notation for us for the first ever group thing we tried to do (which is not very good. This was early in my hoop journey and I didn't know yet that electrical tape was slippery, especially in rain. And it poured on us during this! I dropped my hoop at least twice. Embarassing. What can you do but laugh. I also had on makeup that totally ran down into my shoes.)

Permalink Reply by Sarah Bellum on December 6, 2010 at 9:05am

Thanks for the advice and visual references Caroleeena. :) I think I was doubting my prior dance choreography knowledge, now that I've incorporated a hoop into the mix. It's really encouraging to see other people doing it and that is is possible with a hoop, if not a little trickier :) And by the way you look beautiful in this video and so do your friends :)

StudentPermalink Reply by Shelley "HoopyChick" Gilbertson on December 6, 2010 at 3:04pm

Totally bizarre! I posted a response to this earlier, and now it's not here!!! Weird. Anyway, just said that I loved your group performance, Caroleeeena! Maybe it's the music, but it has such a tribal feel. I love how you all work in a circle too. I though it was great!!

StudentPermalink Reply by Nicky B on December 6, 2010 at 1:00pm

I don't have a dance background and neither does my friend, but we ended up choreographing two songs for a performance we did in February 2010. I don't know how hard it is to choreograph a dance piece without a hoop, but with a hoop it takes a lot of time and practice. There are so many things to consider. The size of the hoop and the weight of the hoop both affect how quickly/slowly the hoop moves which makes it difficult to keep in synch with multiple hoopers.
Anywho, this performance was only after 5 months of hooping and we didn't feel that we were ready for a performance this size (400+ children), but my mum asked us to do it and I can't say no to her. :) The performance was definitely lacking in dance, we were told to incorporate our LED hoops (I don't know why since we weren't allowed to turn off the lights in the gym) and I didn't close mine securely and ended up throwing my battery across the floor (oopsies), and I can see room for a lot of improvement, but we were so proud of ourselves.

Permalink Reply by HoopḎdeux☮ on December 6, 2010 at 3:16pm

Love it, great job ladies :)

Permalink Reply by Jenny Anderson RaineDanceHooper on December 6, 2010 at 5:38pm

that was so great! I smiled the whole way through. You both have super skills for relative 'newbies'! I was cheering you along with the crowd. Way to go. I look forward to more of your performances.

Permalink Reply by Traci "CircularPraise" Bonney on December 25, 2010 at 8:28pm

I'm a little late to this thread; thanks to Caroleeena for pointing me to it.

 

Other than classes in ballet and baton when I was in 5th grade and a few years of marching experience with the school band in junior high and high school (I played clarinet), I don't have any experience with choreography.  I tend to make it up as I go, interpreting the lyrics if there are any and the mood of the music if it's instrumental.  Chances are, I won't dance a song the same way twice.  I may do some key moves the same every time, but the stuff in between tends to be freestyle.

 

Choreography is something I want to work on in 2011 so incorporating tricks and moves into my flow will come more easily.  Also, a couple of young women in my church are showing an interest in hooping, and I think being able to learn choreography sequences will help them gain confidence in the hoop.

 

Caroleeena and Nicky, thanks for posting those videos.  I think they're all great, and I'll be referring to them while working on this area of my practice. :)

Permalink Reply by Lotus on February 27, 2011 at 2:20pm

I just finished writing about this for you all <3