Hooping & Creative Energy across the African Diaspora
Arvolyn Hill (GoldFeather Hoops), Djayana (Siri Ya Djayana), and Shani Blueford (Emerge and Circulate)
Creators Shani Blueford, Arvolyn Hill, and Djayana all connnected through an online community created to celebrate and connect Black Hoop Dancers across the World. This online community is known as the "Black Hula Hoopers Unite" Group. We are united by our love of the hoop, but also by our creative skills and cultivation of wellness in our lives. All three are also excited new members of Duara (meaning "circle" in Swahili) which is a community celebrating Hoopers of Color around the World.
Arvolyn Hill, a writer, DJ, educator, budding herbalist and flower essence practitioner in training was the first black hoop dancer that Shani Blueford saw in an online video. This was at a point in Shani's hoop journey where she didn't really see herself as a "hooper". She felt that she wasn't capable of the fancy stuff and that she didn't fit the image. Seeing Arvolyn freely spin her hoop and dreadlocks in an empty tennis court on a sunny spring day helped to change the perception she had of what a hoop dancer could look like and do.
Arvy and Shani first connected when Arvy wrote "10 Black Hoopers You Should Know" that was later featured on AfroPunk. Fittingly, the first time they met (& hooped) face to face was at the 2015 AfroPunk Fest in Brooklyn, NYC.
Djayana first contacted Shani through Emerge and Circulate's Facebook page to see if she could make and send her hoops to her home in France. After many conversations about hoop sizing and colors, Shani was soon sending off her first international hoop order. And Djayana was beginning her hoop journey (along with some love from Christel of Hoop de Mars).
Djayana has a wide variety of interests and skills (including skateboarding!) but specializes in making jewelry from natural materials such as seeds, precious stones, metal, dried flowers and resin. Shani's first waistbead came from Siri Ya Djayana.
Shani Blueford is a Certified HoopYogini™ Instructor, hoopsmith, hoop-dancer and creative force behind Emerge and Circulate: Wellness, Healing, and Hoop Arts. As a person of many creative loves — it is movement, breath, and imagination that keep her rooted in this world. Outside of hoop dance – Shani can usually be spotted drawing, dancing, singing, taking photographs, biking, getting dirty, burning sage, loving people, writing a poem here & there and learning to unicycle.
For the next few months, the Shop will be featuring the creations of fellow Duara Hoopers Arvy and Djayana along with our usual selection of hoops, yoni eggs, and wellness items. Check out their fabulous creations and get a feel for the creativity that is alive throughout the African Diaspora and especially through the lens of the Hoop.
The three creators are featured in this Video Collaboration "Hoopers of the African Diaspora" -Much Love!
The Black Hula Hoopers Unite Group presents, 62 hoopers from 6 countries Join us on Facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/blackhulahoopers Artist: Wizkid Song: Ojuelegba Writer: Ayodeji Balogun Album: Ayo 2014 Label: Starboy Entertainment Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.