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For days now I’ve been mulling over what to say about Brecken’s 2-day workshop that took place in SF this past Monday & Tuesday. Last night I was telling a non-hooping friend about how indescribable it was, and in doing so I came up with the best term yet: “liminal.”
Here’s what wiki has by way of a definition:
Liminality (from the Latin word līmen, meaning “a threshold”) is a psychological, neurological, or metaphysical state of being on the “threshold” of or between two different existential planes, as defined in neurological psychology (a “liminal state”) and in anthropological theories, a ritual, especially a rite of passage, involves some change to the participants, especially their social status.
The liminal state is characterized by ambiguity, openness, and indeterminacy. One’s sense of identity dissolves to some extent, bringing about disorientation. Liminality is a period of transition where normal limits to thought, self-understanding, and behavior are relaxed – a situation which can lead to new perspectives.
Really, the word does a pretty outstanding job of describing both Brecken‘s style AND my experience of the workshop.
Brecken has a totally unique thing going on with her hoop: on the threshold between wobbly/sloppy/ drunken on the one hand, and precise/controlled/quick on the other. And surfing between planes nearly continuously. She stays relatively grounded, maybe bouncing a little on the balls of her feet, and then executes these crazy sideways/diagonal leaps where her body arcs through the air and mimics the curve of the hoop. (My core was *so* sore after Day One from twisting around in efforts to mimic that.) I should add “genderbending” to the title here too: her dance is simultaneously “masculine” (with strong pops reminiscent of Kahunahula & Rich) and incredibly “feminine,” the way she arches her spine or lets her hands waft through the air while doing angled rolls. She moves with total confidence once she’s connected with her hoop, yet she’s all shy and self-deprecating outside it, the most humble top-hooper, hands down.
And the workshop, being her second ever, felt like a birth of a new creature. Her explanations of her hooping motivations, inspirations, experiences took us down long windy undertravelled paths, wild green tendrils and jungle sometimes obscuring the way, until we’d arrive at some mountainside spring-fed pool of clarity. Sometimes I lost the thread entirely, but sometimes I made it there, to that remote gem.
Yeah, it felt like a rite of passage, for sure. I felt incredibly lucky to be there, surrounded by so much hooping talent, and learning from this capricious creature. Here she is (I watched this soundtrackless wonder, which really takes *off* around 2:30, with Cheb i Sabbah’s Jai Bhavani) :
I mean, of course, the second annual international awards event in hooping.
This is the big time. You get a statuette and everything.
The HGAllStars took home the first-ever <best performance group> title last year. Cute Chika was the favorite <newbie>. To whom will the batons be passed? The mystifing choice (by the people, of the people, organized by hoopnotique?) of “Guggenhoopin” as <best online hooping video>…In that category this year there must be countless contenders, given how many amazing videos now exist. I think my personal favorite would have to be Brecken’s arthouse hoopfilm, with inner dialogue spoken as part of the soundtrack. You know, this one. Notice she’s using a *naked* hoop.
And, um. May I humbly suggest a new category of <best hoopblog>?
Cast your nomiations here people! Before January 9!!
