Recently, I introduced myself to a talented, young hooper at a gathering of spinners, and she sweetly replied, “I know who you are. You’re a Master.” I felt my chest tighten. I blushed and awkwardly responded, “Well, I don’t know about that…” You see, I struggle with the new term “Master Hooper” that has popped up in the last few years. My aim in looking at this isn’t about taking any dedication, hard work or skill set away from anyone, but instead to look at how language can be confusing, misleading, and even perhaps limit our growth. I don’t know where the term Master Hooper originated in our community, nor do I think it is all that important, but what is important is that the term lacks clear definition and boundaries. How does one become a Master Hooper? Are there guidelines, tests, rules to be one? Do you have to be able to do every “trick” or “move” possible? Are there varying levels of Masterhood?
In some other sports and arts there are specific guidelines set up in order for you to achieve the next level, whether it be done with points, scores, belts, degrees… Martial arts, for example, has clear directions for what a person needs to do to earn each belt within the particular modality one is learning. Hooping, however, has no guidelines as such – and I for one am ecstatic about that, being able to continue pushing forward without worrying about what step on the ladder I am or “should” be on.
Now to be fair most dictionaries out there will list one of the definitions of the word “master” as, in essence, an accomplished or great artist or performer and I agree that the hoop community has multitudes of very talented spinners. But then what does it mean to be an accomplished or great hoop artist or performer? Who decides? Can anyone just start calling themselves a Master Hooper? And are people doing this?
One of the reasons this term seems so confusing and potentially misleading to me is because as a community, we hoopers are so very young on our journey as artists. The community has come so far in a relatively short amount of time, but in another ten years how much further will hooping be? My heart beats with excitement at the thought. Of course, there have been a number of pioneers who have paved the way with innovations and creative movement, opening up the hooping world to contemporary methods for manipulating the circle. How much further will these and other hoopers push the boundaries of what already exists? And what about those that have opened doors for us, but are no longer in the spin? Are their contributions less valuable because they left the hooping world? Can they not be considered a Master?
If we look at Master Painters, for example, it is possible to achieve the title within one’s lifetime, although many gain it after death, but it comes from a complex process of fully evaluating a long period of his or her work and the history of the time period. Since hooping, as it exists today, is still a relatively new art form, I have to wonder if it isn’t too early to assign the term Master to anyone, even if they have been in the circle for over a decade. For many of the early years of hooping we didn’t have videos or YouTube to actively watch each other’s work online, and while Burning Man and other festivals were around to allow us to hoop with one another, the first official hoop gathering didn’t happen in the United States until the first HoopPath Retreat in 2005. Our oldest gathering isn’t even six-years-old yet. The others are even younger. It is so soon to be using such a strong term for such a young art.
Personally, while I have a lot of unanswered questions about the term Master Hooper, I also am aware that no matter how developed my hooping becomes, I don’t want to master the hoop. I want to see the hoop, forever, as my dance partner. My partner in creativity, movement and meditation – not as merely an object to be manipulated and controlled. If I were to ever master the hoop, as such, I wonder if then my hoop journey would be over. That thought saddens me beyond belief. Instead, I see this venture as one of partnership, not only with my hoop, but with my fellow hoopers that I encounter. What can I teach? What can I learn along the way? Not only about hooping, but about myself, others and community? I always want to be learning because I don’t believe it is about reaching an apex, but about walking the long, scenic trail and soaking in each moment as it comes.
