Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Whoosh, Whoosh, Slap

That would be the sound of me in my hula-hoop class - a couple of revolutions and a crash to the floor. Tonight was my second class, and things stepped up a notch. Let me share:

Maribeth and I were the first ones there. We were given a hoop by Teacher Aubrey. Rather than risk peaking too soon, we sort of stood around holding on to our hoops, waiting (and hoping) for someone else to arrive.

The other ladies started trickling in, and Aubrey suggested we warm up. This involved remembering how to sway my hips to keep the hoop whooshing around. Memory served me well, and I was feeling pretty good. That feeling didn't last long - because next I tried to do the "dip and hip" or whatever it's called. It has to do with scootching down and thrusting your hip up when you think your hoop is going to fall. Most of the time I look like a hootchie dancer with an artificial hip. And my hoop fell down anyhow. Well, I wasn't being too successful with this maneuver, but luckily Aubrey decided it was time to learn some new stuff.

First we learned how to turn. It involved a variation of the dip and hip, but also crossing one foot in front of the other and rotating a quarter turn. I tried - but I'm not sure exactly what transpired and exactly what my level of success was. Sometimes I turned, and sometimes I dipped, and sometimes I hipped - but rarely in succession as designed. Much of my time was spent picking my hoop off the floor.

Aubrey was a little delusional and decided we were proficient enough to go to the next lesson, which she called the "slinky." I don't know why - from what I know about slinkys, they fall down the stairs, which I am pretty good at with or without a hula hoop. At any rate, the slinky involved using your right hand to move across your waist while the hoop has a big gap and is rolling around on your back. After a nanosecond of practising that, Aubrey said the second part was to move your left hand across your back, sort of coordinating it with your right hand while th hoop goes round and round. I think I needed a Dramamine at this point.

I can't even begin to express how detailed this seemed to be to me. There was dipping and hipping and turning and hands sliding and slinkying and rotating and revolving. Oh, and there was a whole lot of sweating. Aubrey was full of encouragement and help. And whatever else she was full of, I would like a dose of, because not once did she burst into laughter and roll on the floor when she came to me.

Anyhoo, finally class was over. For our parting exercise, Aubrey dimmed the lights and put on some slower music. She said we could do whatever we wanted - practice our new talents, or walk around hooping, or just hoop. She didn't say we could do what I would do with soft lights and quiet music - nap - which would have been my choice. But we were done with our second class, after which Maribeth and I went to the other location to pick up my own hula hoop, for supposed practice at home.

So, in review, today I learned how to turn and slinky my hands at the same time. How ever did I get through the past 52 years without that!!
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Things that make today memorable: BSC with Lindley and Maribeth; boot camp partnering with Molly; Ruby's dinner and hooping with Maribeth; new fountain in the back yard

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