Gail O’Brien, Hoop win. More tech, less goddess

More tech, less goddess = more smiles and loads more play!

Boom! What a turn out for the usual Tuesday night Circus Flow class. Flight Fitness was rammed to the rafters (literally at times; once the hoops started flying high) with awesome techy Ladies and Gents ready to hoop the afternoon and night away. Only this was no ordinary Tuesday Circus shenanigans… Oh no! This May 6th Flight was graced by non other than the ‘More tech, less goddess’ uber Hula Hooper – Miss Gail O’Brien!

For those of you who were lucky enough to secure your place you now know how great a teacher Gail is. Her teaching style is firmly based in breaking down the new and inventive ways to spin a hoop. It was awesome to be taught by her and to watch her teach so many contemporary styles of Isolations, cheeky carry throughs, weaves with awesome feeling body rolls, escalators both ascending and descending with so much style you could put them on a front cover of Vice magazine. The variations for these techniques varied so much too, both by difficulty rating, levels and speeds. From easy to uber expert level that would make everyones faces implode momentarily with a mixture of excitement, intrigue and pure amazement. Haha! These were some of my favourite moments as Gail would let everyone have their moment of intrigue and then bring everyone back in the room with her witty banter. My favourite quote had to be “no smiles in this class people” and at that point everyone would suddenly release their confusion and take in the information just as easily as they would smile again 🙂

It was always going to be a challenge as there were hoopers who have been flowing for years and yet in one class one lady who had just picked up her hoops the day before. Respect to her. Everyone left smiling and I know that there was enough tricks and technique to keep everyone flowing for months to come as Gail handled the range of skills levels effortlessly guiding the room through each stage of her tech tuition seeing to everyone moving from person to person encouraging, perfecting and evolving their understanding of the task at hand. I couldn’t recommend ‘More tech, less goddess’ more after having experienced it myself. My hula flow will never be the same now. We even started playing with double staffs, contact staff and poi (all my fave performance toys) afterwards in the playtime as so many Hula moves directly correspond to these toys and more… After all, a hoop is just a round staff. Epic spin win was enjoyed. Boom, Gail. Just Boom!

It has been a longtime coming and seeing everyone come away smiling and eager to play was a reward in its self. Thank you to everyone who helped make this happen by booking and sharing in the excitement. Big thanks goes to Lemington Spa Hula Hoop club especially Lyndsay Hula Hooping Hooper for the assistance in getting this workshop the coverage it deserved. It really was so much fun to host and we at Flight can’t wait to have Gail and everyone else back for her next UK Tour. 10 cities in 10 days. Wow! Gail is a teaching machine. I’m sure we are all grateful for her visit in her mobile Circus van (awesome wheels Gail) spanning the UK before she heads over the pond to a summer of amazing festivals and flow. Lauren and I wish her all the success of the summer. We are sorry to see her go and it was awesome to have her at Flight Fitness!

For those of you who couldn’t make it then you need to check Gail’s site now for all her latest tour dates, tech vids and some of the best Poly Pro Hoops on the market – really! She could be at a space near you NOW…!

Flight Fitness holds a Circus Flow night every Tuesday from 7-9pm covering Tech and Flow of the art forms loved by A-Dam. Poi, Staffs including contact and doubles, Hula Hoop and so much more. Cigar boxes and Flair, Contact Ball and Juggling (to name a few) will all be catered for very soon i’m sure within our yet to be diarised “Circus Skills – Sharing is Caring”. Please feel free to contact A-Dam and Lauren direct through Flight Fitness Facebook page and our website.

Peace and Flow, High Fliers

A-Dam. Boom!

Useful links:

http://hoopspin.co.uk/hoop-workshops/

leamington spa hula group – Facebook