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BPM Magazine

Hoops of Fury
Anah and Rayna spin right 'round, like a record baby.

By Justin Hampton

Glowstick Ninjas and firedancer brigades better dig deep into their dancefloor trenches, for a hoop revolution is at hand. Armed with steel belted abs, 26-year-old Anah Reichenbach and fellow revolutionaries Jenn Quendeau and Rayna McInturf have beguiled many a glassy-eyed partygoer by swinging hula hoops around their necks, foreheads, arms, shins, hips and each other in ways that give now meaning to the word Wham-o! They've also managed to make headway outside the dance world, playing afterparties for the X-Games and the Cirque du Soliel productions "Quidam" and "Varekai," hooping it up in independent films like European The Green Goddess and earning favorable comparisons to the Rock Steady Crew and Gene Gene the Dancing Machine. It's about time somebody asked questions to Revolution founder Reichenbach.

How did you get hooped?
It was an interesting combination [err, concoction?] that got me to try the hoop at a music festival about five years ago. I was completely addicted to the hoop for about five hours straight and was so completely absorbed, I couldn't stop from doing it again the next day for another five hours..

You seem fond of describing your work as "hoopaliscious."
Hoopaliscious started out as a descriptive word, but it's kind of turned into my character name. We now refer to ourselves as "Hoopaliscious and the Hooper Heroes." We save parties.

The Hooper Heroes have a startling propensity for getting half-naked onstage. What are the criterion and bra size needed for a potential collaborator?
The main criterion is actually that they're easy to work with, that they're fairly evolved people and not drama queens. No drama is allowed in the Hooper Hero sect. And judging by me and Rayna, [bra size] is certainly not a criterion. But smaller busts are better for hooping, because they don't get in the way. You can be half-naked a lot easier. You don't need to have support and all that stuff.

Why are there no dudes in the Hooper Community? Do they lack it in the hips?
No! I think it's just the kind of thing that people will think that they're gay if they hoop! But whenever I see a guy that can hoop, I''m all over it. That's every Hooper Hero's dream, to find a Hoop Guy. There's not many who are willing to pick up the gauntlet and risk looking gay to their own sex.

What's the best hoop soundtrack?
Well, it depends on my mood for sure, but drums work really well. And also, good psychedelic trance. And the emphasis on GOOD psychedelic trance!

Who would hooping help?
Well, obviously the President. Any political leader, if they made it mandatory that everybody hoops together before they sit together for congress, I think the world will be a much better place.

So when are the pogo sticks and slip'n'slides going to come into the picture?
Well, unless you can dance and do those things at the same time, I would say never.