how I got into hooping, what my background is, why I spin all the time...

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You are wrong if you think I escaped from the former Soviet Olympic Gymnast Team... With no background in dance or fitness I started hooping to get rid of my flab in May, 2008.

When I was 18 I decided to leave Hungary simply because my parents couldn't really afford to keep fending for me & there were no jobs anywhere... Joining the EU was tough for Hungary & a lot of young people had to leave their families to try their luck in countries completely alien to them. I came to the UK because I studied English but other than that I had nothing to do with the place. No family here, nothing. I was doing all sorts of jobs I could & completed all sorts of courses that I found interesting & useful. I am ever so grateful for being able to live here.

How the hoop came...

In my early 20s I was size 14, had no confidence at all, had problems with my joints & for a long time I accepted things as they were.

The moment you start believing in your powers everything changes.

 After years of hard work, sacrifice & studies my dream came true, I became a student of the British School of Osteopathy in London. When I got the letter from the uni I was walking on air! That was pure evidence that if you are prepared to work hard you achieve.

I was pretty stressed out with work & studies & had a lot of back pain ( from stress & long hours of coursework by the computer).

The hoop just came as a hobby because it does make sense, doesn't it? It works your abs ( mine were hiding under a lot of cushioning at the time), it is playful ( makes you happy & forget about stressful things), it gives you a massage ( I cannot afford to spend money & time on massage every day but hooping everyday is no problem). So I bought the 1st hoop from a toyshop - that was a disaster & I almost gave up. Then off ebay I got a large one in May, 2008... Had no clue what it is going to be like but I had to try it. Hardly could wait for the delivery...

First I only hulahooped in the garden 2-3 times a week for 30mins, then my shrinking waistline & my lifted mood convinced me I am doing something really amazing so I increased the time I spent hooping. It was so much fun I didn't even realise I was hooping for hours. In 6 months time I was size 8, on stage & loved it!

The beginnings did not look promising... I was not planning to perform or teach, so it might be forgiven that I looked like someone in the middle of an epileptic fit...

I looked like this.

What I do now...

Now I am an active performer and instructor of hoopdance & that is what I do full-time.

Most days I rehearse for gigs ( about 1-2 hours a day at least). Rehearsing on my own is very important - hoopdance is a skill & it takes a long time to look relaxed or graceful with a hulahoop. Because I deal with ordinary, LED & fire hoops I have to allocate rehearsal time for all the different hoops: they all feel different & hooping on stage or during classes is not enough for a great performance. The wide repertoire of tricks that I do need practising + believe it or not: I am still learning new ones every day!

During the week I teach - that is how I meet a lot of fantastic people who come to me to hoop their troubles, tension or calories away. Intrinsic satisfaction comes from times when I see my hulahoopers dance & enjoy the new skill they acquired. A lot of them tell me about how much weight they lost, how taller or more relaxed they feel. I love teaching. I feel I am making a difference.

Weekends are busy with parties ( kids during the day, adults in the evenings), performances ( all sorts: theatre, night clubs, corporate events). A lot of the time I am hired to do community events, village fetes & festivals, too.

It is quite demanding to run all the courses, keep in touch with everybody, hire venues, travel, rehearse & always live life according to the diary. I cannot remember what it is like to have a routine: sometimes I have to wake up very early for a photo shoot or music video somewhere far away, sometimes I cannot wake up because I was performing in Plymouth at midnight after which I drove home... Every gig is a different venue, stage, audience. Hulahooping will probably prevent me from developing Alzheimer's when I get old :D