Bleaders, bleaders, everywhere

So I learned recently that blog reader are call "bleaders."  Hello to my bleaders everywhere! 

This blog is a month old today.  I am very proud to report that it  already has bleaders from every continent, except Antartica.  It makes me happy to know how many people seem interested in Native American/American Indian Hoop Dance.

I love those videos

I just love Native American hoop dancing videos.  I think some of you might too.  So, I'm thinking of inserting a bunch more into this blog and creating some type of index to find them. I just have to figure out how to do it.  Hmmm...which would make more sense to organize by: dancer or year?

Keep an eye out for the new videos.

Japan's Earthquake & Tsunami

I just heard a 8.9 earthquake and tsunami hit Japan.  My heart goes out to everyone affected, especially the children who were not with parents.  Things like that really make me appreciate all that I have in my life.

In my thoughts are all the indigenous villages around the Pacific Ocean.  I hope they are okay.

Video: 2011 Top Ranked Female Hoop Dancer

Here is a new Youtube video of Jasmine Pickner, taken at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona in February 2011.  She finished 4th in the World during the 2011 Championship, the highest of the female competitors this year. 

I love this video.  I hope you enjoy it too.

Spring Break

My spring break is later this month.  A whole week off to do nothing be the stuff I want to do (like hoop dance). Yeah!

One of my favorite relatives is coming to visit.  I am planning to show her some moves. 

Later, blog readers!

Pretty Hoops

I found this picture of Native American hoops online.  They are so pretty that I just had to post them.  Native American hoop dancing hoops can be almost any color or any design.  The hoops probably should match each other though. 

   

The original of this picture can be found here.

The Hoops Will Come Up Tomorrow...well, maybe

I might be doing parts of my new hoop dancing routine tomorrow.  My feelings are: excitement, fear, excitement, worry, excitement.

Last night, I had a giant job.  I had to decide what order to do my moves in.  Native American hoop dancing is mainly a sequence of hoop formations that the dancer does in order.  Prior to yesterday, I had a collection of about 40 formations/moves, some easy, others hard.  I had to pick my top 30 and figure out what move went smoothly with the next.  It took like 3 hours to plan the moves.  It was really made much hard by the fact that I was in my living room and practicing many of the bigger moves was out of the question (not to mention the throws).

Today, I have to memorize the moves, fight the urge to switch things around (surprisingly hard for me), and work on the transitions between the moves.  I also have to decide for sure whether I am dancing tomorrow.

(Minor) Ch-Ch-Changes

I made some minor blog changes...just to let you know.  I created a "Hoop Dance Misconceptions" page to put all those posts together.  Hopefully this is helpful.  The 10 Misconceptions posts have so far been the most popular posts that I have written.  I'm glad people are interested in them.

I also began work on my "Hiring a Hoop Dancer" page.  I will continue to update it as I get material.

Happy reading and/or blogging!

Part 1: What (Not?) to Wear...Hoop Dancer Edition

I have decided for sure that I need a new outfit to compete at Worlds in February 2012 (if I am lucky enough to make it that far.) 

Right now, I am using a fancy shawl powwow outfit for hoop dancing, minus the shawl.   My Grandma helped me get the outfit and it's actually very pretty but there are a few things about it that make hoop dancing hard. 

First, the outfit has a skirt without slits.  During a lot of my hoop dance, I have hoops balanced at different angles and heights between my feet.  (My mom calls this "not very lady like." She's right but it's a necessity!) During other parts of my dance, I do things like splits.  A skirt without slits just is not practical for these types of moves - for real. 

Second, the outfit has a "yoke" (no joke) as part of the top.  A yoke is extra fabric/beadwork, looking kind of like a small apron, that covers your shoulder blades and are attached to a vest at the shoulders.  (I feel like I'm not describing this well.)  Since yokes are "extra" material, they can get caught in hoops - not good.

Between the skirt and the yoke, this outfit is not the most practical.  Thus, I am in search of outfit ideas.  Wish me luck.

Thanks Hooping.org

Thank you Hooping.org (perhaps the biggest hooping site in the world) for posting an article called Native American Hoop Dance Misconceptions about my blog. That totally made my day.  I feel really honored that someone took the time to write so wonderfully about this blog.

I welcome the Hooping readers to my site.  I think we can learn lots from each other.

I put all ten of my original Misconceptions together to help any readers.

They can be found here: Top 10 Native American Hoop Dancing Misconceptions

Misconception #1: Native American hoop dancing is just a sport.

Native American hoop dancing is far more than just a sport.

Native American hoop dancing is many things:
* it is a form of storytelling,
* it is our culture,
* it is our connection to the past,
* it is our way of passing on knowledge from one generation to the next,
* it is the understanding that in a circle everything is connected,
* it is really knowing that some things cannot be forced, bought, or sold,
* it is the comfort in knowing that the dance will survive longer than us.

Most importantly:
* it is not for others to steal or appropriate.

From my: Top 10 Native American Hoop Dancing Misconceptions