Hoop Dance Workshop with Hoopalicious

Nikki and I had the awesome opportunity to attend “Romancing the Hoop” a workshop with the amazingly talented Anah Reichenbach (AKA Hoopalicious) last weekend. From the get-go, Anah helped us explore our connection with the hoop and touched on different ways to interact with our hoop on and off body.

It was a great opportunity to soak in new techniques and tricks from such an inspirational pioneer in the hoop movement. My head was spinning after the workshop with all of the new information and possibilities. It was so inspiring!

As always, a big thanks to Hoop Twin Cities who did a wonderful job coordinating the workshop. We loved catching up with hoop friends old and new – and were happy to have a chance to celebrate the lovely Christine’s birthday after the workshop.

Thanks to Shawn Orton from Sky Wild Photography for the awesome photos.

Hoop Transfer to Arizona

The Twistin Vixens have gone national! As of February, 2016 I have officially moved my whole life and a hefty pile of hoops from St. Cloud, Minnesota to Scottsdale, Arizona. After a year of toying with the idea, my husband received a job offer in Phoenix, and we made the decision to go for it!

One Way to Arizona
Moving Truck
Moving Truck and Trailer
Welcome to Arizona

As excited as I am for this new adventure with my family, moving 1,650 miles away from my hoop girls is saddest thing I’ve ever done. (Insert ugly cries here.) Kayla, Nikki, Amy and I share a beautiful, inspiring, soul-healing, joyful, anything-goes friendship that will no doubt last a lifetime. I know I will never find another group of girls that are so real and so amazing in as many ways as they are. I will miss them every day.

Hooper Goodbye Party

I will especially miss taking part in all of the Minnesota hooplah. However, I will stay strong and continue spreading Twistin Vixen’s hoop love wherever I go. We hope the future holds many more dreams come true for all of us and performance opportunities worth flying for!

I wasted no time and already attended a Wedgie Workshop and Phoenix Flow Jam within the first two weeks of moving to Scottsdale. I look forward to finding out more about the Phoenix hooping community and can’t wait to see what craziness my hoop brings upon next!

Phoenix you better look out! (Or you might get hit in the head with my hula hoop.)

Twistin Vixens Hooping Demo

After 5+ years of self-shot and self-edited hoop dance videos we are excited to debut our first official demo featuring all four Vixens. In it we perform our favorite choreographed piece “BOOTY SWING.” Music by Parov Stelar.

Twistin Vixens are comprised of Colleen Hurley, Nikki DeMars, Kayla Helm and Amy Imdieke. We offer hoop dance performances and lessons in Minnesota and Arizona.

Big thanks go out to Frost Films, and Return Yoga for helping make this possible!

To book us the Twistin Vixens, please email hoop@twistinvixens.com with the time, location and description of your event.

2015 Year in Review

This year’s hooping has been more out of control than any other yet. We started off the year being nominated for the “2015 Best Performance Group of the Year” by Hooping.org. And continued twisting together hooping performances all year long—sometimes three in one day during the busy summertime.

Our hoop dance performances included: a roller derby halftime show, a May Day Parade, a wedding, a cabin resort, a bookstore special event, a Senior Center family day, a 5K benefiting the Epilepsy Foundation, the Loring Park Arts Festival, the New London Music Festival, Atwood After Dark move-in night at St. Cloud State University, the Rock Your Soles 5K, a golf tournament & awards banquet, Paddlepalooza and private parties.

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We opened our first official vendor booth once a month May through October at the Northeast Minneapolis farmers market and had excessive amounts of fun doing it. Four straight hours of hooping, engaging shoppers and gushing hoop love on everybody that got a sparkle in their eye.

We’re thrilled to have attended hoop dance workshops this year by both the great Ann Humphrey’s and bad ass Babz Robinson.

We made arm-loads of new hoops and paired lots of them with new hoopers. We taught private hooping lessons, and a series of Community Ed Hoop Dance Classes.

And last but not least, we got to try our hands at fire hooping for the first time! (Did I mention it was under Babz instruction on World Hoop Day with Hoop Twin Cities!) Best day ever.

But the greatest part of it all, were the brilliant times all four of us girls spent together practicing our fancy new magic and consuming whatever the moment called for. Hoop bliss with the four best friends that anybody could have. Cheers to 2016 and whatever our circle brings!

Twistin Vixens Hoopers

Missed Hoopiversaries

This summer was a busy one. So busy, I neglected to celebrate my  6th Hoopiversary (which, if you’re a hooper, you know is a big deal) way back in June, and we never celebrated the 5th anniversary of the Twistin Vixen’s in September either!

It’s not to late to acknowledge it though, right?

I dedicate this video to honor and celebrate all the time I’ve poured into my passion. This is a free flowing, unplanned and mostly unedited hoop session guided purely by the music. I didn’t allow myself to feel any pressure to show off my coolest, newest, or most difficult moves. Just let the happy, blissful dance flow. It’s fun and embarrassing to look back at and compare it to my first hoop video, and will be something to reference in the future. My hoop dance. This moment in time.

Soundtrack – “Bricklayer” by the 4onthefloor

Does anybody else have neighbors that hoot ‘n holler at you when you hoop? haha.

Babz Robinson’s Hoop Workshop

Twistin Vixens Hooping with Babz Robinson

Babz Robinson recently visited Minneapolis to teach a  hooping workshop, hosted by Hoop Twin Cities. The 2-day class took place at the  Tapesty Folkdance Center in Minneapolis, MN. Three of us were lucky enough to go.

Babz has been hooping since 2003 and is known for her extensive collection of online hoop dance tutorials. And she’s one of our favorite hoop crushes. Her hula hooping workshop was awesome! We all left inspired and exhausted, with a plethora of new tricks to add to our arsenal.

That weekend we all learned not to give a f*ck, and if you f*ck up, make it a thing. If you ever get a chance to take a class from her, we’d highly recommend it! Check out her website to find out where she’ll be not giving a f*ck next.

Fall Community Ed Hooping Classes

We know, we know…you haven’t hula hooped since you were a kid. But after seeing the new modern twist on hooping, you’ve been secretly wishing you could do it too. Trust us when we say, you can! Now is the perfect time to pick one up and learn. All it takes is the right hoop, some helpful instruction, and practice.

Sign up for Twistin Vixens Hoop Dancing class this fall through St. Cloud Community Ed. We’ll be teaching a four week course that will get you started and leave you thirsty for more. Hoops will be available in variety of sizes and weights for use during class.

SIGN UP NOW!

Hoop Trifecta

What a weekend! The Twistin Vixens had the pleasure of performing at three fun and unique events over the past few days and we wanted to share a little about our experiences.

Saint Cloud State University Atwood After Dark

First, we performed during Atwood After Dark at Saint Cloud State University which welcomed new students to campus. We were in the same area as a big inflatable confidence course so the energy in the room was already at a high pitch. Many students gave the hoops a spin and SCSU’s mascot, Blizzard, even got in on the action. We ended the evening with an LED performance outside.

Rock Your Sole 5K at Quarry Park and Nature Preserve

On Saturday morning Colleen and I joined in the festivities at the Rock your Sole 5K which promotes fitness for families. There were over 500 participants and when they weren’t running, you could find them hula hooping or participating in other fun events offered throughout the park.

Performing at Club Haze (Hazeltine National Golf Club)

On Saturday evening Kayla and I made the trip to Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska to perform at Club Haze, the golf tournament after-party that was held in their ballroom. The whole atmosphere was electric and the DJ made sure the party kept going all night long. We performed with our LED and UV hoops on platforms right by the dance floor and had a great time interacting with the club members. We even brought out a few hoops for people to try. The staff and party-goers were top notch and it was an awesome experience.

(Photos by Charlie Crea)