Hooping it up in Danville

When Cindy Jones set out to find some interesting classes to offer at Ballou Recreation Center, she found the perfect one in a hoop dancing class.

At a class last week, women of all ages and shapes — and a man wanting to work out his abs — gathered to “hoop.” They swirled their hoops around their waists, up in the air, around their hands and as they walked around in a big circle. Some were better than others, but everyone was having fun while getting a good workout.

“It’s inter-generational, good exercise, fun and a stress reliever,” said Jones, the senior services director with Danville Parks, Recreation and Tourism. “Most of the women who participate are baby boomers, and this is what they did as children. They could hoop for hours.”

The classes are not just for seniors, though. Anyone can sign up. Mothers and daughters and grandmothers and granddaughters have come together.

Montina Aldridge said that she decided to sign up for the class so she and her daughter, Katie, would have something to do together.

“I knew it would be a challenge for me too. At first, I couldn’t hula hoop at all, but (the instructor) told me I would be able to, and I can,” she said. “It’s very good exercise, and my daughter and I have enjoyed it.”

Hoop dancing is not just for women either.

“Men are welcome to come too,” Jones said. “It’s a different level of fitness using a different set of muscles.”

The beginning

The idea of beginning a hoop dance class began when a friend mentioned it to Jones.

“A friend of mine had gone to a wedding, and one of the attendants said she had gotten in shape doing a hoop dance class,” Jones related. “She came back and told me that I needed to do one.”

Then as she talked to people at the Yoga Center about interesting classes she could offer, Karen Maute, now the hoop instructor, said, “What about hoop classes?”

“And that’s how it started,” Jones said.

Maute had first seen hoop dancing at the Floyd Fest three years ago.

“I thought it looked interesting, so I went online and found hoops for sale and DVDs on how to do it and taught myself,” Maute said. “I used to do it all the time when I was little.”

Waist hooping came back easily to her, but she had to work hard to pick up the hooping with her arms, hands and even legs and feet.

She said it’s great fun and a good workout too.

“Having a teacher and the support of the class enables you to learn more quickly, even though for some the whole six weeks is about learning to do the waist hooping,” she said. “Then when you hoop around the waist and hips, every place you touch, you have to offer resistance.

“With the off-body hooping, you use different muscles in your arms, back and legs, so it is an all-over workout.”

Maute makes the hoops for the class, which are heavier than the ones available in stores.

No trouble filling classes

From all indications, it was an idea whose time had come. The center is in its fifth class, and each one has been full. Seven people have already signed up for the March class with a maximum of 16 in each class.

Katie Aldridge said she took the class because her mom wanted her to take it with her and it was “something new to try.”

“It has really been fun,” she said. “It takes lots of hand and eye coordination, and it’s a quick exercise I can continue to do at home when I am away from the class.”

When she began she could hoop consistently to the left, but not the right, but now she is able to do that.

Marilyn Eanes said she was “awful” when she first began the class but is doing much better now.

“I am practicing at home because I love it,” she said. “The class is such fun, a wonderful group of women and one brave man. We laugh, talk, work hard and I have made acquaintances with several ladies I had not met before.

“We’re all at different levels, but we all try and help each other. The camaraderie is great! And Karen has the patience of Job with each of us.”

Norma Gray said when hula hooping was a craze, she could never do it, but now she can actually “hoop.”

“It’s loads of fun and exercise, and I find myself practicing at home, which means I am getting even more exercise,” she said. “It’s fun for all ages.’

Cathy Shelton is participating in the Healthy America challenge, so she signed up for the class to increase her activity level. She’s learned that there’s much more than just the waist-level hooping.

“I could do the basic hoop when I started and have been able to tackle most of the new techniques. A couple from last week were a bit tricky, though,” she said. “But it’s been a lot of fun, especially since I knew about half of the participants. We laugh at one another and, of course, at ourselves.”

Eanes said that hooping is not only exercise for physical health but her mental health as well, as well as being an art form and dance. She plans on hooping long after the class is over.

“The hoops are ours … so I will take more classes, and I will continue to hoop at home,” she said. “In fact, I just came in from being out in the beautiful sunshine and the long overdue warm weather. I was out in my driveway ‘hooping in the sunshine’ and waving to my neighbors as they drive by. They probably are thinking, ‘Well, she has finally lost it!’

“Folks who have never tried this, should. They’ll like it!”

Want to hoop?
• Classes will be held:
March 25-May 6 / 5:45-6:45 p.m.
June 22-Aug. 3 / 11 a.m.-noon
Sept. 2-Oct. 7 / 5:45 -6:45 p.m.
Oct. 14-Nov. 11 / 5:45-6:45 p.m. (a five-week class).
• The six-week classes cost $60, including a hoop, and $45 if you bring your own. The five-week class costs $52 and includes the hoop.
• All classes are held at Ballou Recreation Center.
• To register, call (434) 799-5216 or e-mail Cindy Jones at .