The smiling hoop dancer from Roberts Creek spins her hoop around her body in a graceful, easy manner. It flies up her arm and circles through the air like a live thing only to return to her gyrating hips while the music plays on.
Gwendolyn Gorham’s style is a winner — she’s a pro in the curvaceous art of hoop dancing. Just last month the video of her dance earned her first place in the international Curvy Hooper Challenge, the first Canadian to win this award.
“There was some seriously stiff competition, so talented,” Gorham said. “I won out — that blows my mind.”
But it’s no surprise to those who watch the video to be found on her Facebook page (see: The Spinning Dancer.) She keeps her hoop in constant motion or “flow,” the word used to describe the organic choreography of hoop movement that matches the music. It’s a visual treat.
Her video also reminds us of another important issue, body image. She bought a spectacular shiny outfit to wear on the prize-winning video, but when she looked at herself on the screen all she could see were the natural bulges enhanced by fabric. Depressed, she almost didn’t enter the challenge and donned a more modest black costume and leggings to perform at the Roberts Creek Hall on New Year’s Eve.
“But I didn’t like having the negative body image,” she said.
Later, after encouragement from other dancers, she decided to try again and realized that the only person who had to love her look was herself.
Bamboo hoops have been around for centuries, but when the hula hoop craze of the 1950s took off, the hoops were made from plastic — “plastic portals of happiness,” as Gorham calls them. They have gone in and out of fashion over the years, showing up again today in the club scene.
Hoop dancing is great for eye-hand coordination and for a cardio vascular workout. I can attest to that after trying, with Gorham’s coaching, to swing a huge hoop around my body that is more accustomed to sedentary pursuits. The bigger you get, the bigger the hoop, my coach told me. It’s actually easier to learn on a large size hoop that uses a slow, rhythmic swing and anyone can learn, no matter what age.
Gorham offers weekly drop-in hoop jam coaching at Soulely You Studios on Ranch Road on Mondays from 6 to 7 p.m. for $10 (hoops provided). She will work with beginners, but many who come to the jams are already hooping, so she gives pointers or helps with crazy original moves. She hopes to teach kids someday from a location closer to the schools, and she’s happy to sell you a hoop, some hand decorated, at $30 to $35, all in an effort to raise funds.
Her first-place prize is a pass to the Hottie Hoop Camp, a body-friendly gathering in Texas that starts March 26. Unfortunately the award didn’t include her airfare to faraway Texas, so she’s raising the money herself through crowd funding. Her fundraising page is at www.gofundme.com/spinningdancer where she shows the winning video. For more info see The Spinning Dancer on Facebook or call or text her at 778-875-4393.
