Well, it’s true, Nick Guzzardo most definitely has a head for hooping. Quite literary so. The man who took head hooping to new heights, head height to be exact, makes his hoop spin like it’s a hyperactive halo. On top of his sublime head hooping, while moving about no less, Nick offers up some amazingly fluid and organic hoop dance for his performance at Hoop Convergence, which was held in North Carolina recently. Nick lives in Castle Rock, Colorado, USA, and his performance soundtrack is “Retrograde” by James Blake which you can get on iTunes.

http://www.hooping.org/2013/05/nick-guzzardo-at-hoop-convergence/

Sarah Lotus of Hula Hoopology delivers an incredible demo video that takes us to stunning landscapes in incredible costumes while sporting and spinning up hoops of all sizes. Filmed by Croshane and Tilghman Wendel in and around the great state of Utah over the past year, the final result of all of their hard work is quite impressive. Sarah lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, and the soundtrack for this is the very popular “Crystallize” by Lindsey Sterling and you can download a copy of it for your very own on iTunes.

http://www.hooping.org/2013/05/sarah-lotus/

Hey Hoopers! Every Sunday we countdown our top ten most buzz worthy posts of the week so if you missed anything this time around, don’t worry – we’ve got your covered! Our top ten list is entirely based on reader response, so what did our readers think was the hottest stuff in the hoopersphere this week? We are starting things off at number ten and we are working our way up to number one. Here’s Hooping.org’s Top Ten List for May 12-13, 2013.

10: We kick things off with a tutorial that’s all about Keeping It Up with Jess Wagstrom (106 Points).

9: Next up a group of women in Vermont spin up something wonderful for Mother’s Day – Came Out of a Lady (112 Points).

8: The new demo from the Heady Hoop Tribe dazzled us (112 Points).

7: 7. Hooping mom Katelyn Demidow made a whole lot of people happy (126 Points).

6: Hiiyah! Marawa took her hoops into an arcade game wonderland and blew us away! Marawa the Amazing: Hoop Fighter II (126 Points).

5: The new demo video for Jaecey Adams proved to be a sight to behold (142 Points).

4: Sophie shared her thoughts on What Teaching Hooping Has Taught Her (227 Points).

3: Philo shared 5 Tips to Start a Hoop Group Where You Live (237 Points).

2: Clair Ching celebrated her one year hoopiversary and What a Difference a Year of Hooping Makes(284 Points)!

1: Number one with a bullet this week was also our top rated video. It’s Brooke Bearup Hooping at Machu Pichu – and shooting the video actually got her kicked out (592 Points).

That’s our Top Ten List for this week, so if you see something you appreciate remember that it only takes a second to “Like” it or leave a comment and share the hoop love! Yay! And every “Like” or tweet or comment, etc, is worth a point in calculating our weekly Top Ten, so until next time hoopers you can always follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and Tumblr and ourcommunity forums are open. Happy hooping everybody!

Flavie Steelandt of Hula Hoop Tanz gets a little flirty in her burlesque inspired hoop dance video. In black and white it is a vision to behold. Originally from France, Flavie lives in Nersingen, Germany and the soundtrack for her new video is “Strip City” by Charlie Barnet which is on the release “Striptease: A Walk on the Burlesque Side” – but there isn’t any actual stripping, so don’t be concerned about that. It’s completely safe for work and you can score a copy of the soundtrack for yourself on iTunes.

http://www.hooping.org/2013/05/flavie-gets-flirty/

Alycia Jayliene Dawn Betts lights up the night at a jam with friends in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Photo by Michael Purves.

http://www.hooping.org/2013/05/alycia-jayliene-dawn-betts/

That moment when we take our art from the workshop to under the stage lights has to be one of the most memorable moments in our lives. As Abi Rubin says “I will performing a similar hoop routine at my school talent show and it will be my first time ever performing for an audience on stage! It’s senior year and the day before the last day of school so I guess it’s time to be brave!!!” If this wonderful self produced video is anything to go by then we can safely say she’ll bring the house down. Abi lives in Greenfield, Massachusetts, USA, and her soundtrack is “Hall of Fame” by The Script, which you can get on iTunes.

http://www.hooping.org/2013/05/abi-rubin/

Even though this was filmed last summer at the Evolve Music and Awareness Festival in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada, we know how hard it can be to get around to doing something with the footage, especially when you have video from not one, but two GoPro cameras taped to a hoop. Not only does it give us another perspective, but we think this is probably a great idea for balancing out the hoop as well. You saw it here first kids! The video is by Craig Norris and features the sexy hoop dancing by “a bunch of hippies” at Evolve. Yay hippies! The soundtrack is “P:U:S:H” and it’s by Rich Aucoin and is available on iTunes.

http://www.hooping.org/2013/05/hoop-cam-at-evolve/

“Hoops” is a brand new short film by Jordan Post that revolves around the hoop. It’s one of those stories that echoes so many people’s lives. When romance deals us all the wrong cards, things start looking a little bleak and we just plain don’t know what to do with ourselves and our lives. We need outside help! Yes, sooner or later we all need…Hoopin’ Bob! Hoopin’ Bob, played by Billy Judge Baldus of Hoopvive is a man after our own heart and wardrobe here at Hooping.org. Read more and see the film:

http://www.hooping.org/2013/05/hoops-a-short-film/

What is Jesse Styles love and passion about these days? Hooping, of course. She says, “I am continuously inspired to express myself through this beautiful form of art, and I only hope to inspire you as much as you inspire me.” In this video by Chris Kelley we are taken on a hooping tour all over the place and everywhere we go Jesse is hooping. When she started she never would’ve dreamed she’d have the courage to perform in front of other people, and look at her now! She lives in Stamford, Connecticut, USA, and the soundtrack for this is “Kiara” by Bonobo and you can get a copy of it for your own very easily on iTunes.

http://www.hooping.org/2013/05/jesse-styles-is-inspired/

by Philo Hagen

Once you’ve discovered the wonderful world of hooping on your own, the next step is discovering the wonderful world of hooping with others. For some of us it isn’t much of a challenge. A simple search here on hooping.org or Facebook for the biggest city we live in or near and we’re likely to find at least someone else in our area who is going to totally understand our new obsession – and who will be likely be as equally excited about hooping with us as we are with them. If we’re lucky, we might even find a whole community around the corner that meets regularly, sponsoring weekly or monthly hoop jams and events with a whole platoon of hoopers that have just been anxiously waiting for our arrival. In other cases our search may only reveal the lingering cyber remains of something that once happened that has since disappeared. Perhaps someone was really gung ho for hooping and was making things happen, but when they moved away everything fell apart. And in still others a little research might confirm what we’ve already suspected – that there really isn’t much of anything happening in our community and we’re going to have to be the great trailblazer for hooping ourselves. But just how do we go about doing that? How do we create a hooping community where there currently isn’t one? I’ve got news for you – it’s really easy.

Having started a couple of hoop groups myself in different cities, and having spent a great deal of time over the years doing my independent, casual and relatively random surveys of hoopers who were bringing people together to better understand what works in other areas and what doesn’t, here are five simple steps to help you create a hooping community where you live. If you build it, they will come. Here’s how:

http://www.hooping.org/2013/05/5-tips-to-start-a-hoop-group-where-you-live/