Hey Sue! Thanks for starting this thread - I don't have time just yet (hence not already starting this thread), but will get to it when I can.

One quick thought though - UKHG was AWESOME!

I really enjoyed the hoop gathering because it was so nice to be with so many people who understood and shared a love for these strange rings of plastic. But it wasn't all about hoops. The burlesque girls were great and the 5 rythms dance was really enjoyable, although totally knackering! If we do that again, can it be ether shorter or at the end of the day. I don't think I was the only one who felt like I'd been plugged into the national grid and had my spare capacity extracted after that. I heard a rumour that even Sharna was tired after that one.

And watching the performers on Saturday night was lovely. Karin's beautiful long body, so effortlessly (seemingly, we know different) dancing, and the really surprising performance from Steve who hadn't been expecting to perform at that point and who pulled off trick after trick all at such speed that it left you wondering what you had actually seen. And then to see Beth and Sharna performing together, both so very different in style and yet so complimentary. It was all wonderful.

Great music to hoop to, enjoyable food and company. The only thing I might have changed would have been the accommodation facilities for the cockerel! A sound-proof box on a neighbouring farm might have been a solution.

Yesterday afternoon, still in my hooping shorts and t-shirt, I found myself sitting on the edge of the stage half listening to the notes being given out for Friday's rehearsal (so none for me for once as I wasn't there), staring at the empty seats in the auditorium thinking "did that really just happen?" I was transported back into a totally different world, but one I'm so familiar with, with no transition time. It was a bit weird. Got out of the theater at 10.15pm on Sunday night though and drove home. I admit to being just about empty by then.

Hey Sue,

Good to see you posted this. I went especially on the internet to see if there was 'after uk hoopgathering stuff' online :)
I found it the BEST weekend I could dream of! Fantastic place, really wonderful people and the atmosphere was so friendly, open and full of inspiration. It's always great to go to places where you have that feeling that anyone can be themselves in the way they are!
I was very pleased with the size of the group, not too big, so there is are too many subgroups. That makes it easier in the contact and with the feeling of a community I think...

Good idea Sue .. before the memory fades .. not that mine will !! Such a memorable weekend !!

I'm not going to mention names cos I'm sure to leave some out.

But I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience and could honestly not fault it. Gems and family cannot be praised enough.

The Sat morn dance was off the planet .. ha my stiff shoulders just recovered and its now Tuesday !! That was a great non hooping inclusion imo.

One highlight for me was drumming with Somesh, 1st time I drummed this year !! And I bet folks did not notice Tineke from Holland on her portable Didgeridoo, personally made from sink waste pipes and decorated just like we decorate our hoops. Also the Videographer was playing his flute, and I forget who girl was on shakers, etc.

Of course, 2 from USA, 2 from Holland, 1 from Iceland was an impressive overseas contingent out of 50 folks.

Highlights were: ... whole weekend !! but burlesque, 5 rhythms, pole dancin, inhibited girls fire hooping, the site .. serene! , lovely company

For me, the hoop gathering weekend was a very different experience to what I expected. I assumed I would go, meet a few cool people, do a lot of hooping and learn loads of tricks... and overall have a good weekend. The weekend has been FAR more enlightening than anything I had expected.

Thanks Gems and family for such a great event - looking forward to trying out the burger recipe from the bbq!! Wildways was a beautiful setting - you couldn't have found a better spot.

As for the hoop workshops, there wasn't one that I didn't enjoy!!!
Beths workshop was most definetly a highlight for me, I had been a bit sceptical about the hooppath stuff before but beth's explaination really hit home for me and I intend to concentrate whole heartedly on my own path and enjoy every step from now on. I also finally managed to work out the breaks I'd been struggling with and I'm inspired to continue to work on my second current!! Thanks beth!!.
Diana and Sharna's workshop was great for me as I tend to feel I lack creativity but it was cool to try and put moves together in ways I hadn't thought to try before. Thanks to both of you!!
The oddbits and multiples workshop was quality - focussing on the silly moves was wicked AND I managed to get out of a multiple hoop rut I was in - Chanti and Em - you both rock!!!! I shall be coming to play with you guys lots now!
Unfortunaltly I didn't get to go to Gems' skills swap but managed to get in a huge amount of impromto skill swapping anyway so all is well.

What really shocked me was how much I loved the other workshops that were on, Gems: it was inspired having all the other stuff.
The 5-rhythms dance was simply incredible. I had heard of it before and had laughed at a mate of mine for going - how wrong I was!!! I've been going to free parties and raves for years primarily to dance my heart out... who would have thought all I needed was some music and 50 other people willing to just go for it.. The tribal circle was insane and thank-you everyone who was a part of the experience.. what a saturday morning!!!

Then there was el and fi's burlesque which I would never have dreamed of being involved in before. I never thought a feather boa (thanks cathy!) and a pair of gloves could change my attitude so much!!! Shame we'd forgotton most of the routine by the time we did our 'performance' - but hey ho - the boa group were great to watch though - good work!!!

The pole dancing was also something I'd have never have done but with El and Gail teaching on Sunday morning and only me and Cathy having a go at first it seemed worth a go. As people joined in, I realised it wasn't as scary as it seemed and I was really pleased with myself and very impressed by the others improvement - go us!!! I am definetly getting myself a pole!

Thanks to Frenchy for some well received meditation sessions but I was sorry to keep missing the yoga!!!

Somesh and Shivani's (and co!) drumming was amazing to hoop to. I love drums and definetly dont have enough of them in my life. There's simply nothing better to hoop to in my opinion!

The performances throughout the weekend were outstanding. The pantaloonies were brilliant - loving the acrobalance/hoop crossover!! Loved being involved in the burlesque routine. The saturday night yurt showcase was unbeleivable. A stand out moment for me was Sharna and Beths immediate self-critisism after their AMAZING joint performance... it's a habit most people not 100% comfortable with performing have and I've been trying to kick it for a while. It was a real eye opener for me that such amazing hoopers could be worried about how stuff looked - laughable when our jaws were on the floor through most of their performance!!!!! We all need to get over it and just remember that we're only being judged by ourselves! Thanks Sharna and Beth for helping me to remember that!

The hoop song was brilliant - i caught myself humming 'feeling hoopy' in my head on the way home - yay!!

Then the fire - WOW - who would have thought there'd be naked, blindfloded fire hoopingin the end!!! Girls, you're amazing! For all those that wowed me with their fire hooping and all the first time fire hoopers, thank-you! I hope to be spinning fire with you all soon!

To everyone that was there - I can't express how cool you all are!! I've come back to 'the real world' and have been shocked by the contrast between the attitude of work colleagues and the happiness, openness and general contentment I was surrounded by all weekend. I was concerned that the weekend may turn into a 'who's better than who' type thing but nothing could be further from the truth. I was worried about this more for myself as groups of people doing the same activity does (annoyingly) tend to feed my overly competitive nature... I can honestly say that I never once even thought about who was better.... In fact when my boyfriend asked me when I got home, who was the best hooper there I was a bit confused and pretty much listed everyone there with their individuality that made them stand out. I love that we've all learnt the same tricks more or less but everyone has their own style!!

Hadn't meant to write so much but I could probably go on forever about how much this weekend has meant to me.. I've come home happier and more at one with my hooping. I'm still in shock that a weekend hooping was better than glasto the week before!!!!

Cant wait for next year x

Woah!! Words are still faililng me a little regarding last weekend!! A.Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing!!!

As a very new hooper I was super nervous about HG and very apprehensive of how "stupid I would look" compared to most of the super hoopers that would be there, but after getting over the initial settling in period on Friday I had an absolute blast!! I would advise any new hooper to grab this weekend by the horns, get into it and get hooping - I haven't stopped since I got back!!! Yay!!!! :) :)

Gems, her family, all her co-helpers and all the generous workshop leaders put in a tremendous amount of work to make a truly special weekend for everyone and I can't thank you all enough!!

It was all just magical! The willingness of people to want to share everything and anything blew me away, the setting blew me away, the ultra friendliness blew me away - in fact the WHOLE THING blew me away!!

I go to the Southport Weekender twice a year and it's hailed as "the friendliest party in the world" - which it is.. but I think I just found a friendlier one!!

Thank you to everyone who offered me advice and help on the start of my journey - you really don't know how much that meant to me! I have been struggling with inner hoop battles for ages and last weekend washed them all away!

Beth showed me that my previously very tiny path is now infinite and because of that my hooping has taken on a whole new meaning and I am loving it even more than I did with much less frustration now - such a simple thing, yet for me such a huge eye-opener & help! I'm also going back to square 1 and learning everything in my second current - did the lift up the other day but got it wrapped round my head at the end!! Still - it's a start! EVERY new thing I learn now will be learnt in 1st & 2nd - thanks Beth!!!

All the workshops were ace, and I echo the comments that it was superbly put together, interesting, fun and in some cases a very new experience! Diana & Sharna.. thank you for the lovely gift.. you saved my bacon on Sat night!! Glitter to the rescue!! MASSIVE thank you to all the workshop leaders that gave their time & effort to give us something special and some perfect pearls of wisdom to take home with us... so lovely! :)

I really want to thank everyone because I feel that everyone there gave me something, everyone there was lovely, everyone there was special, and everyone made it such a heart-warming weekend! I did mention to Diana that I felt like I took a lot from this weekend, as I didn't have much to give really being so new! (learnt SOOOOOOO much in 3 days!!)… So.... next year, I hope to be able to help as many new hoopers as possible, and will replicate what happened to me at the 1st UKHG and give something BIG back next time!!

Just a special couple of thank you's - one to Sally for being such an ace "new friend" and for being so calm when I nearly killed us on the way home! How did you not scream??!!! Ha ha!!! Also to the lovely lady (who's name escapes me and she's on by FB friends too - der!), who went out of her way to avoid my tongue swelling up due to a pepper allergy that I forgot to tell Gems about!! Hee hee!! You really didn't have to go to such an effort and that just summed up the ethos of the whole weekend to me.. nothing was too much for anyone, it was a loving, friendly & happy group of people all there with the same attitude and with a huge amount of love to soak into the ground at Wildways!

I couldn go on and on about how much I loved UKHG but I'd bore you rigid so I'll stop now (but please know there is more when needed!!) :)

I wish I it was last weekend again this weekend! Next year seems an awful long way off at the moment!! I shall be on the scout for hoop buddies near me now!!! I just can't stop spinning!!! Up to the park tonight if the rain holds off............. where's my new LED!? Big yay!!! LOVE IT!!!!

Gems..... (and everyone else) YOU ROCK!!!!!!

Again please for sure!!!! x x x

You know, I'm still not quite sure how to put my feelings into words (what? Kitty lost for words? I hear my friends cry!). For me, UKHG has only really ended today as my bestest bud in the world has departed back to Aberdeen after sharing UKHG and most of this week with me.

I had a truly amazing time with everyone - everything was so perfect - the location, the energy of the site, the company, the food, the organisation... I really can't add to what everyone else has said.

As for what I brought from this personally - I have made some brilliant new friends and I have deepened some exisiting friendships with my special hoop family (you 3 know who you are). I feel priveleged to have shared that space with each and every person who was there. I have made some new hoop discoveries (I need LED minis!), I followed Sharna Rose into the spotlight of the camera (and that's no mean feat at all!) on Saturday night, and found I quite enjoyed it despite dropping the hoops more than I spun them!

What touched me most was witnessing people blossom and bloom into the very hoopy best of themselves this weekend, and seeing the love between everyone.

I *CANNOT* wait for next year - it seems like such a long way away now, but it will be worth the wait.

Thanks to Gems et al for everything.

A very blissed out Kitty

WOW - So brillaint reading everybodies thoughts on UK hoop gathering. I havent been able to get onto the comouter since the weekend, so i had been brillaint to see everybodies thoughs captured and evolving on here!

UK hoopgathering was such an enlightening experience for me, Being surrounded by so many hoopers, everyone has some many unique skills and styles to bring to the event which I think made it so sucessful. There was no point throughout the whole weekend when i felt pushed to go to somewhere because of a schedule, everything just flowed from one experiance to the next in the little comunity we created.

Friday nights firehoop display was brilliant, i found myself just watching all the the talented hoopers spinning a rainbow of magical colours! it was a brilaint chance to pic up new moves and observe all the creativity of everybody around- so many combinations!

The workshops all left me thinking- Wow i never though of doing that! If only i had written all of the moves and combinations down because i keep forgetting them!

I had my first burn during the weekend, saturday evening would be my highlight, there was so much energy and excitement from everybody down in the field fire hooping, for those of us fire hooping for the first time all of you hoopers we so supportive and encouraging - Thank you.

Having space to hoop was amazing, although a large insect bite stopped me hooping so much on the sunday! (it still hasnt gone down noe but is on the mend thankfully!). When you hoop at home you start thinking you have reached a "barrier" or a point where you feel you have nailed certain moves and get stuck in a rut repeating them in the same comfortable combinations, UK hoop gathering blasted this perception out of the window, bths workshop especially helped me to explore the space around me when i hoop.

Thank you for the beautiful mini hoops i won in the raffle! My boyfriend loves using them so much, i am struggling to get time to practice with them when he is about! Using smaller hoops is very different but thans to chanti and ems sunday workshop i am practising some new moves.

Sharna and beth, thank you so much for being yourselfs. Both of your explaintions of hooping and your dance styles are come fresh and inspiring, you really displayed how hooping can transfrom your bosy and soul inso many ways. Having the oportunity to watch you both hoop and see howyou transition and move within the hoop has inspired my personal practice.


MAGICAL is the one word I keep saying to people asking me how the weekend was. Thank you Gems for creating such an memorable well run event is such a beautiful setting. I met so many new people and strengthend existing friendships during this weeked. Who would have thought that "hoops" could evoke so many emotions and experiances!
There are so many people and moments I feel blessed to have experianced during the weekend, thank you to each and everybody involved with creating UKHG! Im aware im rambling on bit, i just cannot put into word how great UK hoop gathering was, the memories are still so vivid, i hope they stay that way until I can create new ones at ukHG 2010!

Wow.
Haven't logged on to Tribe for many weeks and then today I got around to it and found this thread.
Everything I would want to say has pretty much been said.
UKHG was an incredible weekend, full of warmth, laughter, camaraderie and joyful hooping. The work that went into setting it all up must have been considerable and it all flowed so well.

I have hardly had a moment's rest since I got home, but my mind is full of images of the place, the people and the sense of family (which has already been mentioned). I'm full of admiration for those who performed with such grace and skill and am so grateful to have been there to share the experience.
Wow.

Well, what can i say, as an observer i was truely amazed at the skill i saw.
I've watched Gems these last couple of years and boy she's put some hours in so must you all.
I'm in awe of your hooping.
And thanks for putting such energy and general good spirit into the UKHG for all gems hard work.
As hoopma, i have worried about a) not poisoning you with the BBQ, b) would the weather be fine
I never worried about Gems organising and abillity .....i shouldn't have worried about anything at all.
My highest expectations were far superceeded by the general happy comradeship and total togetherness.
Thank you all for making Gems first outing into event organising, the success that it was.
mandy

Hey all!

Can't believe I completely forgot about logging onto Tribe (again)...I'm going to keep mine short and sweet because I'm sunburned all over (especially my hands), and typing isn't exactly the best for me!
I had sooooo much fun at the UKHG. Seriously. Game & family did an amazing job, thank you so much! All the workshops we did were awesome and I learned loads (Diana, I can finally do the Empress!), I sometimes have trouble remembering all the moves I learned - but I've neem inspired to push my boundaries and try lots of unfamiliar tricks. I especially enjoyed Beth's workshop, I'm trying really hard to start referring to clockwise-hooping as my 'second current'...it was super inspiring and really made me think.
And trying new things, oh my god. I'm still buzzing off of my first ever go at firehooping, and poledancing too. And I'd also never used twins til the UKHG, can you believe! Five Rhythms was a trip too. And seeing the performances was awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping at times!
It was great meeting the many people that had only existed in my computer up til now (there are more people who are as crazy about Melodias as I am! we are 'melowhores' lol), and to really be able to put names to faces! And then last weekend we were at the Secret Garden Party festival, and there were a couple of familiar faces from the UKHG, which was so nice :) and I was raring to go, hooping almost all the time! Because of the UKHG, I felt so much more confident to spin and do new things.

I hope we can do it all again next year, and that in the meantime we can all continue to keep in touch :-) Lots of love! x

Ahhhh wow...it's been nearly a month since the event. I am still yet to find time to process everything from the weekend, I just wanted to pop on here and thank you all for joining me at UKHG. I had the best weekend...you all made it so perfect! The comments on here are amazing too.... excellent :-)

Plans for the UKHG 2010 are underway...will be having another hooping weekend at Wild Ways in the summer, and I'm also considering a Winter hoop meet too...could be interesting...if any of you have any suggestions or requests or ideas, throw them my way and I'll see what we can do. The UK Hoop Gathering Project is a community thing, so get involved :-)

On an aside, would anyone mind me using their comments for www.ukhoopgathering.com as testimonials for the event? If you don't want me to, please drop me an email :-)

Many thanks for all being so damn amazing!

Gems xxxx