Semester Project

For this project, I focused on the performance art of hula hooping. I drove to different parts of New Jersey in search of hooper ladies, and photographed them in action. When I was done photographing and doing a little bit of interviewing, I finished with a small Q and A. I asked them to define their flow, and give me a reason as to why they love to hoop. I asked these questions because I felt they were important to present to the audience in order to shed some insight on what hooping is all about. It was interesting how every hooper I met had a different way of explaining what flow meant to them, which shows that a hoop can hold a myriad of different meanings depending on the person. Asking why each woman loves to hoop added a sense of importance to my project, because it shows that it isn't just a hobby, it is actually vital to our selves. After I collected all my Q and A videos, I used iMovie to form a great introductory video that puts everything into perspective to the audience.
I think hooping in a sense is also a response to stress and the forced autonomy of society onto women. We are always told to look a certain way, to act a certain way, to have a set plan for future at all times, to think of forming a family. It is truly much harder for females to succeed in comparison to males. Hooping is a form of success, to see yourself be able to nail tricks and moves that are hard at first, but just eventually click. When you figure out a trick with a hoop, it gives you a feeling of pride and an increase of self esteem. Its important for females to boost these types of feelings, given the fact that for so long we have been labelled as second class citizens. And we still are struggling with equality. Its ridiculous how often we hear "girls don't behave that way" "girls aren't supposed to do that" "you're a woman, you can't just go out wherever you want alone". I think my generation of women are breaking the cycle. We are expanding horizons, focusing on ourselves and what we can do, rather than what we shouldn't do. The women I have met during this project are all confident, self reliant females and I believe that hooping gives them that extra boost to feel like they deserve to feel powerful and great no matter what.

I have a couple of inspirations for my project. One, my hoop. I love my hoop so much and I wanted to present why, and the seriousness behind it. A lot of times I hear, "it's just a hula hoop. Stop acting like a child." Which is totally wrong. There is so much to learn from hooping, like the planes of the hoop, the diameter of the hoop, the thickness of the tubing, the material the tubing is made from, etc. These all make a difference! Second, Professor Cacoilo's class. I wanted to create something that represents my generation, and something contemporary yet personal. I feel like through this project I am giving myself a voice, and my hoop community as well. And third, a great video from the 2015 Hoopie Awards which was a compilation of Middle Eastern women all hooping and explaining how it makes them feel. As I watched it, I felt it sent very powerful message, and wanted to show something like that from New Jersey hoopers.
I had a great time working on this, and I put a lot of effort and work into it so I hope everyone enjoys it. I feel like I grew personally from it as well. My hooping improved, and I formed some great friendships with other females that I previously did not know anything about.

unitedinhoops.tumblr.com