What’s all the Hoopla?

By Cheli Mennella

It happened at a festival. Someone handed her a hoop and life took a surprising new turn. Ever since, Shenandoah Sluter has been hooked on hooping.

"From there it took on a life of its own," she said. "I had a passion for it." Seven years later, Sluter’s relationship with the hoop continues to revolve. She dances with one hoop, two hoops, small hoops, large hoops, and even fire hoops. She creates signature moves, runs a growing business, aptly named A Lotta Hoopla, makes hoops and sells them, performs at fairs and festivals, and teaches hooping to people of all ages.

"It’s a revolution," said Sluter, of Greenfield. "The hoop is not just a child’s toy anymore."

And the hoop is not just a modern icon, but an ancient invention. Spun around the body or rolled along the ground, the hoop has spread through continents and crazes from Ancient Greece and Native America to Victorian England and Outback Australia.

The hoop most of us are familiar with — the plastic tube you twirl around your waist — made its way into American culture in 1958. Richard Knerr and Arthur »Spud« Melin, founders of the Wham-O Toy Company, manufactured inexpensive plastic hoops in bright colors and called their creation the Hula Hoop.

The Hula Hoop whirled through the country like a tornado, pulling the young and young-at-heart into its circular embrace. The Hula Hoop became an American icon, a symbol of youth and freedom.
By the 1960s the Hula Hoop fad had retreated to the history books, but the hoop never really disappeared. The hoop spun on through the decades and into the new millennium, where adults are rediscovering the hoop as a tool for health and wellness.

Fitness and fun

Hooping is showing up at fairs, festivals, exercise centers, yoga studios, schools and conferences as a means of getting fit and having fun.

"Hooping teaches basic principles of balance, grace, coordination, and rhythm," explained Sluter. With numerous physical benefits centered on core strength, flexibility, and muscle toning, hooping is great for the abdomen, back, hips, legs and buttocks. When walking or dancing is added, hooping becomes a cardio workout and burns calories.

Hooping is also beneficial for the mind and spirit. Hooping can relieve stress, build self-confidence, and become, as it has for Sluter, a spiritual practice. Being at the center of the hoop’s orbit requires focus and concentration and can lead to ecstatic joy and trancelike meditations.

Sluter has witnessed the transformation, the looks of wonder, surprise and joy that overcome people when they hoop. "People who wouldn’t normally dance in front of a crowd will with a hoop," she said. "The hoop becomes a protective force. It brings you into yourself."

Cheli Mennella is a freelance writer living in Colrain, Mass. She can be reached at cheli@rcn.com.