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From Hula hooping to hoopdance

A Book by Jan Camp

Into the Circle is the story of contemporary hoopdance, an evolution of hula hooping from child’s play to international movement. The book is equal parts instruction manual, the history of the movement, and a personal introduction to the performers, teachers, organizations, and communities devoted to hoopdance.

As a means of engaging creative flow, readers can use the book to learn to hoop, from the basics to complex off-body moves. Written instructions and graphic illustrations are directly linked to video demonstrations by some of the best-known teachers and performers around the world. There are instructions on how to make and decorate your own hoop once you’ve calculated the best size and weight for your physique and skill level. And there are reviews of annual workshops and the more free-flowing hoop “jams” which take their ethos from Burning Man and the arts counterculture.

The story of hooping starts in ancient Egypt, and is evidenced in the glyphs and texts of several ancient cultures. Wooden hoops enjoyed fluorescence in Victorian England and were a staple for Australian school children in the first part of the 20th century. In 1957 the toy company Wham-O mass-produce small, lightweight plastic hoops, which led to a huge craze along with bobby socks, 45 records, and the first wild stirrings of rock and roll. In the 1980s hooping was televised nationally,

The contemporary hoopdance movement, with which the book is primarily concerned, can be traced back to specific events and people in the 1990s. Jam bands inspired by the improvisational style of the Grateful Dead proliferated. One of them, String Cheese Incident, tossed hoops from the stage to encourage their audience to “get moving.” Those hoops seeded of the hoopdance revolution. The book tells the stories of individuals who helped to germinate those seeds. They invented bigger, better, and sexier hoops and their own distinct, regional styles of dancing. Some were performers who used the hoop as a foundation for stage persona, some became teachers who taught hooping to adults and children as path to health and wholeness, and some became preachers and apostles of the hoop as a vehicle for spiritual enlightenment. Finally there are those who just love to hoop and find a welcoming community among others who feel the same way.

Now in its fifteenth year, even as hoopdance filters into mainstream fitness, yoga, and art venues, its unique and vibrant counterculture continues to spread over the Internet. An open source approach to sharing “how to” videos as well as amazing performances on the Internet inspire many people who had never thought about picking up a hoop. “Into The Circle” builds on the phenomenon by directly linking readers to curated video and web content, and by placing that content into a meaningful historical, cultural, and instructional framework.

If you would like to review the manuscript or see the video trailer, please send a brief description of your publishing affiliation and outreach to Jan Camp.

“As a stranger to hooping I was engrossed from start to finish. Into the Circle is a terrific piece of writing. Jan Camp tells the story by masterfully combining her words with the contributions of others. In doing so she makes the subject come alive, completely capturing its dynamism, egalitarianism, and participatory quality.”
— Gretchen Lemke-Santangelo, author of Daughters of Aquarius:
Women of the Sixties Counterculture

“Into the Circle is going to be the definitive hooping text for a long time to come. This work is complete and compelling. It opens the universe of possibility while painting a vivid, full-spectrum sensory world of healing and transformation.”
—Shailja Patel, performance artist/activist and author of Migritude.

“A thorough delight. Who knew? I’m completely enthralled. Into the Circle is wonderful, well-done, and filled with enthusiasm and information.”
— Summer Brenner, author of I-5 and Dancers and the Dance

“Jan Camp has done an excellent job of capturing what is important to us in hooping.”
— Ariana Shelton and Laura Marie, Founders of Hooping Harmony