Hudsucker Posse enjoys benefits of hula-hooping

The Bloomington Hudsucker Posse has taken hula hooping and turned it into an art form.

The group mixes ballet, jazz and hip-hop to create a unique dance that includes a hula hoop.

“We just thought it looked like a lot of fun and a great art form Bloomington didn’t have,” Paula Chambers, founder of the Hudsuckers, said.

Chambers decided to create the Hudsucker Posse after seeing a performance at the Bloomington Lotus Festival.

“The community response showed so much interest, we started offering it two times a week,” Chambers said.

Members balance the hoop around their waist, neck and elbow while they dance to music.

Pam McLaughlin said she attends every week with her 9-year-old
daughter, Mora.

Pam said she joined the Hudsuckers Posse as a way to have fun exercising with
her daughter.

“Mora’s not a sporty kid, so anything physical she wants to do I’m going to encourage,” Pam said. “It’s a shared form of fun and exercise, and we get to spend time together.”

Last year, Mora decorated a hula hoop for her mother as a Christmas gift.

“I can hoop around the middle and sometimes switch hands,” Mora said. “It’s the kind of thing my mom and I do for exercise and fun. I find it fun and kind of challenging.”

The physical limitations of hooping vary between members. Off-the-body hooping refers to techniques that don’t connect the ring to the body.

Stalls, breaks and isolations in hooping are when an individual holds the
ring still.

“The hoop moves how it’s going to move and you have to go with it,” Hudsucker Posse member Clara Kallner said. “It’s like physics.”

Chambers estimated that members burn up to 600 calories per practice.

“It can be a great, spiritual enriching tool, or you can do it for 30 minutes and burn tons of weight,” Chambers said. “It all depends on what level you want to take it.”

Hooping is characterized as a flow art: a challenging fitness and meditative practice that moves the body and stills the mind.

Kallner said she finds both physical and mental benefits in this activity.

“Before hooping, I loved music and I loved to dance, but only in the privacy of my own home,” Kallner said. “Everyone always says ‘dance like no one’s watching,’ but I was always really shy about moving my body.

“I felt safer with the hoop, like people weren’t watching me they’re watching
the hoop.”

Kallner has been hooping for almost two years now. She said the meditative practice of the sport has affected her self-image.

“It’s like the closest thing I have to church,” Kallner said. “I’ve found that it gets me more in touch with my inner strength and my inner beauty.”

Chambers said she also finds hooping therapeutic.

“Hooping has taught me more about myself than any form of mediation or counseling,” Chambers said. “It’s just an organic process that teaches you your limitations.”

Hudsucker Posse

Sessions are open to the public every Sunday from 3 to 6 p.m. The last hour is a Silent Meditation Jam.

During good weather and warmer seasons, the groups meets at Bryan Park near the Henderson Street Shelter.

During the colder months and days of bad weather, the group meets at The Stone Belt Gym.

Newcomers are always welcome and the group has hoops to share.

Attendance is free, but donations are accepted.

For more information, visit www.thehudsuckers.com or find The Hudsucker Posse group on Facebook.