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WEIGHTED FITNESS HULA HOOPS | DANCE HOOPS | LED HULA HOOPS
WEIGHTED FITNESS HULA HOOPS | DANCE HOOPS | LED HULA HOOPS
I’m Bunny B. Hoop Star ~ my friends call me Bee.
I am a gender-fluid creatrix who works with hula hoops, fashion, photography and astrology.
When I’m not hooping or creating, I’m swimming in the ocean, gardening, dancing and listening to music. I love to read and I adore animals.
My work over the past 15 years has focused on bringing hoop love and joy to both adults and kids. During this time I have created a wide range of hula hoops and hooping experiences.
I have taught hundreds of live classes for both children and adults; I have also performed extensively at corporate, community, and social events; and facilitated live and online specialty workshops for community organisations.
My passion for hula hooping, movement and creativity is a long term commitment. I love the childlike playfulness and joy that hoops invoke in people of all ages.
Hula hooping invites people to move their bodies and minds, and to stay fit in a way that few exercise programs do. Simply put, hoops are FUN and hard to resist.
I also love popping a bit of tech into the hoop. For the past 9 years we've been developing and manufacturing LED light hoops and working on interactive digital hoop programs that involve motion capture, coding and projection of visual art. (video)
'Hoop tech' is fascinating and continues to evolve as each informs, and inspires, the other.
I discovered the hoop on a dance floor in Melbourne, Australia in 1994. It was love at first sight. A friend gifted me a hoop for Christmas and the rest is, as they say, herstory.
In the ‘90s my career path was on track to write and photograph. I was navigating my way around the freelance media arts while completing my Bachelor of Arts. I trained to be a photographer and wrote feature articles and astrology columns for magazines, newspapers and digital WAP portals (early mobile internet). I also did my fair share of temp work, both day and night, to pay the rent.
Meanwhile, the hoop kept luring me in with an invitation to perform here and a request for a custom made hoop there. Also - people wanted to learn how to hulahoop.
Eventually, I gave in to the calling and took the full time leap into the unknown. I started my hula hoop business, Hoop Empire, in 2005. Between 2005-2013, life became full on hoopy - making, teaching and performing, along with building my website.
For a good 8 years, I was spinning at maximum capacity and living for it! It was a dream come true.
But, all good things must come to an end… or do they?
On New Year’s Eve of 2013, I had what you might call a major crash - I was struck by a firework while performing onstage in the middle of Sydney Harbour. Yikes!
I shall spare you the awful details but, needless to say, the recovery process was intense, painful and lengthy. At the time I had 2 years of bookings in advance to fill, which I gave to my team of trainees.
My peak in hoop star whirld had well and truly been hit.
From 2014-2017 I continued to run my business, mostly in a managerial role, while in recovery. Having studied and practised yoga for several decades, my healing process necessarily involved diving deeper into my movement and meditation practice.
In 2017 I successfully completed a yoga teacher training in India and received a 200HR YTT Certificate with Yoga Synergy Australia.
I returned to teaching and performing hoops in 2017 at about a tenth of my previous capacity. Living with chronic pain and PTSD took its toll in a way that challenged me to look beyond the hoop while still very much loving what it had to offer. But I had to shift perspective.
Hula hooping has become a vibrant industry of performers, teachers and hoop makers over the past several decades, both locally and globally - it is a testament to the success of hula hooping as a cultural mainstay and as an ongoing fun fitness movement.
Where did I fit into this as an ageing and injured hooper?
I’m pretty sure this was the moment I decided to shift my name from ‘Bunny Hoop Star’ to simply B. Did I mention I’m a big fan of Zen Buddhism?
Between 2020-2022, I continued to cultivate and document my passion for movement, art and creativity both online and IRL. The pandemic had hit, classes were cancelled, my father was passing away and the world was in chaos. Online portals became an avenue to drive my focus, creative therapy and meditation. I enrolled in online meditation retreats, business coaching, fashion design and sewing courses.
With the outside world on hold, I committed to building my online school - the Hoop Flow School of Movement. I began writing, producing and filming my series of online hula hoop courses. The first course I created, the Hoop Body Workout, focuses on the foundations of hooping for beginners. The second course amps up the hoop jam with Hoop Magic - a course in beginner hula hoop tricks and moves. The third course is a Hoop Flow mentorship - I wanted to leave this course very open to cater to the individual needs of hoopers with unique hoop journeys.
Ultimately, I came to realise my capacity to thrive in the face of hardship as a way to stay on track, at all costs. The creative force within kept propelling me forward with one project after another. Hoops one day, costumes the next, photoshoots, video shoots, workshops, websites... Must. Keep. Creating. It never stops.
Which brings me to where I am now - still living for and loving the hoop; developing my skills and inspiration through fashion design and creative production; continuing to photograph and write; watching those cosmic wheels turn as they do; and, feeding my passion to learn and keep on learning for the rest of my life.
_____I hope you have enjoyed my hoop story. I look forward to hearing yours.
If you feel inspired to join me in my mentorship program you can enrol here
If you would like to touch base with me, you can connect with me at any of my online portals listed below
Thanks for reading and hoopy hugs to you!
Love,
Fashion | Photography | Video Art | Hoop Whirld
___________________
Bunny B. Star is the founding Owner and Director of Australia’s first hula hoop business - Sydney-based, Hoop Empire. With a Bachelor of Arts in Writing and History, along with extensive training in yoga, astrology and photography, Bunny’s hooping career began in 2005 with the intention to explore the hoop as a creative practice. She has since hoop danced her way around Australia and the world performing shows, teaching classes, facilitating at community events, creating kids performance art programs, manufacturing hula hoops, designing and making hoop wear and producing online content. She is now focused on developing her fashion label, B*Wear while continuing to keep the hoop love alive through the Hoop Flow School of Movement and Hoop Empire.