By CASSANDRA KING
STAFF WRITER
 Danielle Yarosz (top) |
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Hula hoops are a favorite outdoor activity among kids, but many people don’t know that hula hoops go beyond the playground, and beyond the waistline.
Danielle Yarosz, 21, uses such hula hoop dancing to keep in shape and express herself.
She first learned about hula hooping by seeing videos of it on YouTube. |
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She has now been doing it for a year and a half, she said.
In the battle to stand out and find her individuality, Yarosz said she struggled. “I always wanted to show the world that I am different in a way, and this [hula hooping] helped me do that," she said.
Even the tape that Yarosz stuck on her hula hoop is a way to express herself. “I like the colors purple and green and I have those colors on my hoop,” she said. “There are peace signs on some of the tape too. I like peace signs and hearts.”
She also said overcame her battle with shyness through “hooping,” or hula=hoop dancing. “There used to be a time where I would just stand pin straight at a concert and look over to see a million people dancing without a care in the world, and I would just envy them,” she said.
“A year later, after getting used to hula hooping, I went to a Phish show, stood in the grass, and danced so much that the grass turned to mud: I literally tore it up.”
This way to overcome her shyness also resulted in her being more social and making more friends, she said; she even found a fellow hooper in her school dormitory.
It also makes people approach her, which also helps with her shyness, she said.
“People who are interested [in your hooping] come up to you and start a conversation,” she said.
Being a dancer, she said that conquering shyness has helped her improve in her non-hula hoop dancing; hooping introduced her to moving in ways that one normally wouldn’t move, so new dance moves are easier to learn.
Yarosz also uses hooping as an outlet. “I love going outside at night after I feel like the day is over and just sort of cap off the day with some dancing,” she said. “I'll stop doing homework and go out [with the hoop] to take my mind off things. It's an escape.”
She is a self-taught hoop dancer. She likes to watch her favorite hoopers on YouTube and imitates their moves to build up her own collection of moves.
She said she made her own routine and plans on posting it to YouTube. In order to become a good hooper, she said that there is a lot of practice involved.
Even though she doesn’t compete or formally perform, she practices frequently. Despite her room being too small to hoop in, she still manages to find a way to practice.
“When I'm bored, I just grab my hoop and start hooping…with my arms because, in my room, it's kinda hard to hoop … around your body…not enough room,” she said. |
