In the life of a hoopdancer

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Luna Breeze has a special circle in which she’s always happy. It’s her hula hoop.

“When you’re inside the hoop it’s hard not to smile. You just let go of all outside worries,” Breeze says.

Breeze, whose real name is Brie Blakeman, is a member of a growing community of hoopdancers. Hoopdancing is a mixture of circus arts and modern dance — something very different than the images of kindergartners during recess that the name evokes.

Breeze, who lives in Kansas City, Mo., first started hoopdancing after seeing it performed at String Cheese Incident concerts. She learned her first trick at a music festival. Now she performs at corporate events, festivals, teaches hoopdancing classes and occasionally busks. She’s even been to India twice to perform.

“If someone would have told me that I would’ve been making a living out of hula hooping I would have laughed at them,” Breeze says.

But even though Breeze is making a living out of hoopdancing she still faces skepticism from certain people. She says that when she tells others what she does, some people will laugh, but as soon as they see her in action they realize that it’s serious business and requires lots of talent.

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