jenny hill

Hooping on the Hood

Posted on by jennabee25
Mount Hood and Trillium Lake

Mount Hood, that is.

I was in Oregon this past week, and I did do a little hooping outside in the cabin we were staying in.  It was a gorgeous spot, and I can’t wait to show more photos and video I took, and not just hooping stuff, too, but everything.

Oregon is beautiful.  I loved it there.  I liked hooping there.  I had fun.

My obligatory selfie with Mount Hood.

Otherwise, I had a very hooping weekend upon my return!  First, I had my Fifties Family Fun Night performance in Ephrata, PA on the 17th.  I was off the plane less than 24 hours and I’m hooping in front of a large group of people.  Really, it did go well!  Pop on over to Jennabee Hoops, my performance site, to see some photos and read up on that went, too.

On Saturday, Jenny asked me to join her at Musser Park in Lancaster, PA for the East Side Sunday Market, where it was Kids Day.  We set up hoops and kids came over and played with us.  There even was a funeral for a popped balloon dog named Bart.  He was blue. He came to his end on a hoop.  I guess you had to be there.

To get kids to come over and be curious about the hoops, Jenny and I not just constructed a hoop house, but rather a hoop skyscraper!  See below.

It was a very hoopy weekend, and I’m glad to get back into the hoopy swing of things tonight with class. 

Losing Weight, Getting Back in Shape

Posted on by jennabee25

I came to a sad realization two weeks ago.  I had to go up a size in pants.  I was gaining weight.

I decided then to take some action.  A few things landed in my lap that have helped me drop five pounds since I decided to shape up on April 1.  No joke. 

First, Hooping.org’s 30/30 started on April 1st.  I am taking part in it.  What you do take a pledge and hoop for 30 minutes a day for 30 days.  It’s not too late to start, if you want to join in.  So, I have some exercise taken care of.

Second, I decided to track what I eat through MyFitnessPal.  You can set up a weight goal within a certain amount of time, and the site, or app for your smartphone, will tell you how many calories you can consume to get to that weight.  It’s made me be a lot more careful about what I eat.  You can also track your exercise, and add goals for that, too.  It’s a good tool.

Third, Jenny started her classes at Studio Spin yesterday.  She kicked out butts.  I am sore.  I more workouts like that.  This circles back to my first point, really.  I’m getting in to better shape by participating in very physically active hooping class.

Speaking of class, Jenny really worked Cindy and I hard.  Lots of good fitness, lots of good music, and lots of drilling practice.  The main focus of the class was on transitions, something I know I can use work with.  It was fun and the hour flew by!

As for my pants, my current size ones are fitting much better after a little over a week.  Yay, me!

Stepping Up

Posted on by jennabee25

I’m not sure if I’m dedicated or a glutton for punishment, but I had TWO hoop classes yesterday, one right after the other.  The first was a private session I had with Jenny Hill, and the second was my regular class with Ryane. 

Jenny was telling me about some cool ways to incorporate a fitness step, like the ones you see in aerobics classes, into a  hooping workout routine, and was I was quite interested.  Incorporating that step is quite a challenge!  It seems like a fun way to do some indoor hooping, too, so I have to see if I can talk my husband into letting me get an inexpensive one soon.

Jenny and I also worked on a doubles move that has been vexing me for a while.  It’s a double corkscrew/stirring the pot type move, and I think I have the basics down, I just have to put the pieces together and keep on trying.

After that, I zipped off to Studio Spin, where Ryane was getting worried because I got there later than usual.  We had another girl in the class, and her name was Olivia, and she is a friend of Ryane’s who has been hooping since June.  She really good and very nice!  I hope she comes back to class. 

What we worked on?  Breaks.  We worked on shoulder, arm, and pinch breaks.  We worked on those breaks standing up straight, bending over, and leaning backwards. 

After that came folding!  I like folding, as it is something easy I can do inside.  Ryane also told us a few different ways we can incorporate folding into our flow.  Quite cool!

I was tired last night, to say the least, but it felt so good to spend a good evening with my hoops.

Catching Up, Again!

Posted on by jennabee25

I always seem to be in a state of being behind in blogging for the past week.  It’s been nuts, but I hope things quiet down a little bit for me. 

I had to catch up again here because I had a craft show last week, and spent a lot of time getting ready for that.  I still get to hoop class, and it’s now time to tell you what we did.

On Wednesday at Studio Spin, Ryane had Brett and I doing a lot of double hooping work.  Brett wasn’t able to bring her doubles, so I lent her my kiddie doubles above here. 

Ryane is an AMAZING mini doubles hooper, so it’s awesome to be able to learn from her.  To watch her perform and practice with mini doubles is incredible.  I hope we do more doubles work in class!

Speaking of a master of multiples, Jenny’s last class for the fall was that Thursday.  What a great session we had!  It doesn’t matter how many times I take that same core hooping series, Jenny always keeps it fresh and new.  There’s always something new to learn!

Oh, Jenny is teaching Hoop Rejuvenation class at Yoga on Orange in Lancaster, PA.  It’s on Wednesday evenings in Lancaster, PA.   This is an on-going class that she will be teaching.  If you want to stretch, gain balance and strengths, and learn some basic hooping, this is a great class for you to look into.

Hoopy Halloween!

Posted on by jennabee25

I want to wish all of you a very safe an “hoopy” Halloween! 

I may break out my Halloween hoop tonight for trick or treat, at least for a little bit.  I’ll have to get photos of the hoop for you, anyway.

Class with Jenny last night was great!  Cool move of the night?  We learned how to do to the weave turn.  Quite cool!   Jenny is also encouraging us to put moves we already know together.  Other skills we worked on were walking with the hoop and doing simple step motions while hooping.  It’s not as easy as it looks! 

Don’t eat too much candy tonight!  I probably won’t take my own advice myself.

Birthday Hoopiness

Posted on by jennabee25
Post by Acts of Jennius – Hoop Performance & Instruction.

I was so glad I went to hooping class on my birthday.  At the end of the hour, Jenny had a Happy Birthday Hoopla for me, complete with balloons, glow sticks, bubbles, and comb tiara for me.  She even gave me a little birthday “wand” made out of a glow stick and plastic cake stuck on top of it.  I waved it around wearing my tiara like, well, it was my birthday.  Jenny took the photos above, and I am in the one in the pink shirt.  I had a great time, and I want to thank Jenny and my fellow classmates for making me feel extra special last night!

As for class, we compounded on what we learned last week.  Jenny showed the experienced students how to experiment with spin and anti-spin, including doing the lift while spinning in the opposite direction of the hoop.  It’s a cool move!  We also did some sequence work using helicopter in vertical plane, including tosses.  The gym we have class in has wonderfully high ceilings. 

Just for fun, here’s a photo of me in my birthday glory and my wonderful Flyers-colored “Jenntober” ice cream cake.  Yay!

Jenntober 2014

Posted on by jennabee25

Happy Jenntober, everyone!  Jenntober is just a silly way of saying….IT’S MY BIRTHDAY TODAY!  And what am I doing on my birthday?  I’m going to hoop class! 

Actually, my husband Sam and I are going to celebrate on Saturday by going to a really nice restaurant, but he did have some cool surprises for me today.  My coworkers  had some lovely gifts and cards for me waiting on my desk, as well.  Later, my supervisor is taking me out to lunch.  It’s been a nice birthday this far!

Yesterday was Ryane’s first time teaching Studio Spin’s Intermediate hoop class.  She did great!  She brought a ton of new faces in, and Brett and I were there, too.  She had Brett, myself, and another experienced hooper work on cat eye isopops.  They are really cool moves.  Ryane said we’re going to compound on that a little bit next week by working on ghosting with those isolations and isopops.  We did go over that, too, a little yesterday.

Tonight is hoop class with Jenny.  Truthfully, it’s exactly what I want to be doing on my birthday.  Hooping with awesome people.  I got to do that yesterday, too.  Later, Sam is getting me an orange and black (for the Flyers) ice cream cake with the words “Happy Jenntober” on it.  There’s also some hard cider waiting for when I get home, too.  I think my plans for the rest of the day are just about right for me.

Weekend of Burlesque

Posted on by jennabee25

I had a great weekend fill with burlesque fun that included some awesome hoopiness.  Let me tell you about it.

First, the Save The Tassels benefit on Friday was excellent.  So good!!!  All of the burlesque performers, pole dancers, acrobats, and hoopers did such a fantastic job.  It was a great show.  Even though the performers had to do a Boston-style show, which is an old term for having to have certain parts completely covered when performing a routine.  Still, the humor, wit, and sexiness in all the routines were performed in the true spirit of burlesque.  Thank you to all who put this event together, performed, and gave their support to breastcancer.org!

On Saturday, Jenny had a burlesque hooping workshop at Studio Spin.  I was there and learned a lot and expanded my burlesque knowledge from the workshops I took with Medianoche and Penny Starr.  Bunny Bedford, a local-ish burlesque performer, was there to give insight and she also learned to hoop, and loved it so much she was going to buy a hoop as soon as she could. 

Jenny taught us some of the basics that we can do with a hoop in a burlesque routine, and she also had a group choreography that we did at the end of the workshop.  Before we left, Jenny gave us a list of the music that she used.  I actually did download some of the tunes and worked out to them yesterday.

Speaking of yesterday, I got my daily hoop practice in, but I had to use a heavier hoop and focus on core hooping.  It was really windy outside!  I did a lot of work on marching in place, stepping side to side, and pointing my toes forward, to the side, and backwards while hooping.  I also did this in both currents.  Either way, it’s not as easy as it sounds, and it something that we do a lot in Jenny’s classes and I really need to practice.  So I did.

So, that’s the burlesque-ness of my weekend.  Fun stuff!

Fat Lip

Posted on by jennabee25

I did a boneheaded thing last night.  I have myself a fat lip with my hoop.  Eh…..

Last night was the first night of Jenny’s core hooping class, first.  Yay!  She got new hoopers started waist hooping and even showed us an off-body move that I didn’t know.  It was helicopter in vertical plane.  She taught us cabaret, too, which is send the hoop under your leg and while doing helicopter.  I did the trick cleanly a few times, except when I bonked my upper lip with my polypro hoop while attempting to catch it.  I’m just glad it was polypro, and not a PE tubing hoop!

Fat lip aside, we had some new faces, as well a familiar ones.  We were allowed to bring a friend to try out the class for free that first evening, and I had the pleasure of bringing two!  Chelas and Nobody from Art of Recycle in Ephrata, PA  joined me, and they had a great time.   They hope to take Jenny’s class in the January if it is offered.  (If you are in the area and haven’t been to Art of Recycle…..YOU NEED TO GO THERE!)

Also, if you are in the area as well, and need something to do tonight, why not support a great cause and come out to a burlesque/cabaret show in Lancaster, PA?  It’s called Save the Tassels and is a fundraiser to benefit breastcancer.org. Tickets are going quickly, and are available on Brown Paper Tickets.

The Bee’s Knees II

Posted on by jennabee25

First, off, I did not have class on Wednesday night because Katie took some time off.  She works so hard, and I’m glad that she is taking a few days for herself.  That worked out for me, as my mom had her gallbladder removed on Tuesday, so I was available if Momma needed me.  She is doing great, by the way!  I did get some of my own practice in Wednesday, too.

Speaking of practice, I’ve been doing that a lot more.  I need to.  I realized I can do a few things inside my house in the living room.  Yay! 

Yesterday, Cindy and I had the second of our knee hooping/other technique lesson with Jenny. Both Cindy and I have greatly improved our knee hooping!  Jenny showed us a few ways to pick up the hoop with our feet if it drops to the floor.  Both are much more cooler and elegant than bending down and grabbing it.  We learned to flip the hoop up using the ball of our foot, and we also learned how to flick the hoop off the top of our foot into our hand, and we also did basic ankle breaks.  Yay!

I’m getting better at the back elbow pass, too.  I managed to finally catch that hoop behind my back!  Once.  Only once.  Still, that means that if I keep practicing, and I will get it.  I’m on the right path. 

Improving my knee hooping and learning that elbow pass really is the bee’s knees! 

As a side note, I want to encourage you to come out to Jenny’s new session starting on October 16.  If you are in the Lancaster, PA area and curious about hooping, please register and come out!  Click here for more information.