The Scoop on Hoops
Emily Hiles dances best with a hula hoop around her waist.
She can get up to four hoops twirling about her body at one time.
And she's been known to turn a handstand while a flaming hoop revolves around her ankles.
"Hula hoops? They're addicting," said Hiles, who only two years into her self-taught hobby is spreading the madness.
Hiles, a 27-year-old mother of two, lures others into taking a spin by demonstrating her skills at fairs, festivals, concerts, Girl Scout events, birthday parties and even a roller derby.
"It's mesmerizing to watch ... fun to do," she said.
Hiles also taught a class on hoop dancing at Mount Chestnut Presbyterian Church last spring. And she's in the midst of coaching a non-credit course for Butler County Community College.
"It's new and modern," said Alyssa Luteran, a 23-year-old substitute teacher from Butler Township, who is enrolled in the BC3 course.
Another participant, Tracey Ritenour of Butler, said she first read about the resurgence of hooping in a magazine.
A demonstration by Hiles and friends at this year's Butler Farm Show sealed the deal: Ritenour bought her first hoop that day and signed up for Hiles' class.
"I am trying this for exercise, but in the end it might just be for fun. ... I want to see if I can still move the next day," said Ritenour, a 43-year-old pharmacy technician.
Ritenour said she's already tried and enjoyed other exercise programs, including Jazzersize, aerobics and spinning.
"You name it, I've tried it," she said. "But this is new."
Hiles said, "Adults are always looking for a way to make exercise fun."
The health benefits of hooping have been appreciated since ancient Greece, when it's believed the very first hoops were fashioned from grape vines. Hooping is said to increase flexibility, tones muscles and builds core body strength.
Hiles, a professional message therapist, said there's also a recognized health benefit to doing just about anything that relieves stress.
"Hooping is so much fun, it makes you want to exercise," Hiles said, noting that once the traditional waist-high hula-ing is mastered, there's loads of tricks and illusions to learn.
Social circles
Marcia Furman of Butler admits in her two years of hooping, she never lost weight.Furman, a 32-year-old artist, says she's more into hooping for the social side. She first got hooked when she joined a group of gals who were hooping every week at the Brick House's open mic night.They don't do that anymore, but Furman and friends hoop on — in private and public.She's now proud owner of 20 hoops and a menu of tricks like the "shoulder POP" learned from fellow hoopers on the Internet.Although some states offer formal training and certification in hooping, Pennsylvania is not among them.Classes like the one Hiles is teaching is as close to formal training as you can get in Butler County, and even those are relatively new.Hula hoops shared a brief but notoriously popular stint in the limelight in the 1950s. The fad died down to a children-only sport for decades. But popular culture, hooping celebrities and a fitness conscious community are bringing back the hoopla.This, however, is not your mother's hula hoop.Unlike, the hoops made by mass production toy makers, hoops used by enthusiasts, like Hiles, are custom made.The basic guts of a modern hoop are PVC plumber's pipe and hula hoop tape, which comes in vinyl and fabric.Bells, bangles, lights and flames are available accouterments.Penni Laine, who makes and markets "Penni Patches Laine" products from her home in Herman, already has sold about 600 handcrafted hoops this year."We make clothes you can play with and toys you can wear," Laine said, noting the number of hoops her company sells has been on an upward spiral for the past three years.Laine's handmade hoops range from $20 to $40 and are comprised of recyclable materials, mainly gathered from hardware stores.The most popular seller, she said, is a beginner model.A serious hooper wants to start with a hoop that is toe-to-belly button high and much heavier than the nostalgic, but hard to maneuver, toy store model."The bigger, the heavier, the easier they are to use," Laine said.But finding just the right hoop is like finding the right spouse."That is a judgment call made by each individual human," Laine said.Laine's said her favorite trick is hooping around her knees with a flaming hoop while eating fire.Her circle of friends meets weekly to practice hooping, fire eating, juggling and poi ball throwing."We call it 'cirkusdayz.' It's a free-for-all," Laine said noting that boys and men are just as likely as the gals to hoop at her house.Hiles agrees that hooping can be for everybody, without regard to age, sex or profession.Some of the participants in her church class were seniors and her youngest pupils have been her own children Gracie, 6, and Scarlett, 5."Last year the Easter bunny brought them light-up hoops," Hiles said.Hiles also performs at Conneaut Lake Park to accompany the Sofa King Kool Band. She said people who will not or cannot dance often will try hooping if given the opportunity."I can't dance at all without a hula hoop," she said.Hiles admits her husband, Tim, at first thought she was crazy for dancing at festivals with flaming hula hoops.But since then, he's had a change of heart, and he's thinking about joining in the act ... maybe tossing flaming poi balls.For Hiles, hooping — whether it's with flame or friend — runs rings around the other activities she's tried."I have always had fun," Hiles said. "And I haven't been burned yet."
