Think the hula hoop was just a fad of the 1950s? Think again.
Spurred by a recent resurgence of “hooping” at music festivals and in fitness circles, three Valley women have started a hooping business called “BringTheHoopla LLC,” where they host exercise classes, birthday parties and other events.
The women — Jackie Ribalaigua, Nicole Heriot and Jen DeBlasio — say that hooping is an activity that transcends age and gender divides, while providing good exercise and even creating happiness.
“The actual act of hooping builds endorphins,” Heriot said. “That creates happiness. Who doesn’t want to be happy?”
The Hoop
Hula hoops — usually made out of plastic tubing, and varying in size and weight — became popular in the 1950s, but the trend faded away for adults in the 1960s.
But in recent years, groups have picked up the hobby again as a way to stay fit, or as a family activity at events, DeBlasio said.
It has also become popular at music festivals, Heriot said, in part as a result of the use of a hoop on an album cover for the String Cheese Incident, a jam band.
“They brought that whole hooping at festivals back,” Heriot said.
Hooping has even hit popular culture.
Time magazine recently had a spread on the health benefits to hooping.
And Actress Marisa Tomei last month showed Conan O’Brien how to hoop on his show. Tomei said she hoops as a form of exercise.
“I eat right — and one of the more odd things I do is hula hoop,” Tomei said on the show.
The Women
Ribalaigua and Heriot live in Shelton. DeBlasio lives in Seymour. The three describe themselves as “best friends,” who have complementary skills for operating a business.
Ribalaigua, 31, works as a one-on-one specialist for the Bridgeport school system. Heriot, 30, has spent the past nine years living in New York City, pursuing a career as an actress. She recently returned to Shelton this year to take a job as the drama director for the Boys & Girls Club of Lower Naugatuck Valley.
“My goals shifted, my dreams changed,” Heriot said. “I wanted to come back and spend time with the people I love.”
DeBlasio, 36, has been a dance teacher for the past 12 years at the Stratford Performing Arts Academy, formerly called the Stratford Academy of Dance.
The Business
DeBlasio started integrating hoops in her young dancers class several years ago, she said.
She said she noticed that after classes, some of the dancers’ siblings — older boys in several cases — would come in the room and start using the hoops for fun.
“We knew we were onto something,” DeBlasio said. “My 3‑year-olds love it, and their older brothers love it, and their moms love it.”
So the three women decided to start offering classes in hooping. Anyone is welcome to sign up for the classes — which are held at the Echo Hose fire house on Wednesday nights.
The classes cost $70 per six-class session. The women also sell hand-made hoops, and offer private hooping parties for a fee.
“You burn 600 calories an hour hooping,” Heriot said. “It’s working abs, glutes, thighs. We’re using dance techniques, stretching and breathing. We’re not just hula hooping. It’s hoop dance and fitness.”
“The most important thing is to make everyone aware that it’s a positive activity for all ages,” Heriot said. “You can come with your whole family.”
For more information about BringTheHoopla, visit the group’s website or Facebook page.
