– for total beginners right through to advanced hoopers.
Unlock your flow and discover the dance in hoop dance.
Learn loads of new moves, techniques, tricks and styles.
Dive into play, connect with your inner child.
Experience a range of activities.
A curated experience of flow, choreography and technical workshops, offering a space to reconnect with body and spirit, expand your dance and be welcomed into a vibrant global community.
Our winter Hoop Away happens in Healesville at a Buddhist retreat centre every July. The centre is surrounded by native bushland and is really LUSH! It’s an easy 1 hour’s drive from Melbourne. With a maximum of 24 participants, the retreat provides an intimate setting with a maximum of 9 people in each workshop. Hoop Away is all about connection, exploration, play, inspiration and levelling up your hooping – wherever you are at in your hoop journey. It’s a weekend away with a focus on YOU.
Details of our winter retreat 2022 teachers and workshops, accommodation, food and location is below.
Hailing from the UK, It’s Just Pete is a Circus Performer and Dancer specialising in hula hooping. He has a strong and unique style.
Pete trained for four years in two Circus Schools in Europe (Circomedia in the UK and Flic in Italy) and has performed on stages and streets around the world.
His acts have received immensely positive reviews and his 100 days of hoops created a sparkly storm on Facebook! Pete combines elements of theatre and hula hoop dance to blend traditional circus with a contemporary and theatrical twist. With years of experience in act creation, improvisation, stage shows, street theatre and even television, the choreography and concepts he will be teaching at Hoop Away are sure to be impressive!
When Helly Hoops returned from an international performance tour in 2018, she was snapped up by a country boy and has spent the last 3 years in outback Queensland with the cowboys, cowgirls, sheep and ute musters.
With more or less a degree in clowning, this nutty natural entertainer fuses comedy and hula hooping. Over the past 9 years Helly has performed and taught circus in the US, UK, France, Malaysia, Indonesia, New Zealand and around Australia.
You never really know what’s going to happen next onstage or in class but it’ll probably be hilarious, techy, speccy and ridiculous.
Not only a highly experienced street performer, Mat E Tricks is also an incredible teacher of mini hoop tech. The way he breaks things down and layers up the variations and challenges is magic. Prepare to amaze yourself at what’s possible and be challenegd in the most satisfying, delicious way.
Mat began his career over 10 years ago. He has refined his talents on the streets of Aotearoa, Australia and England, where he lived for several years touring throughout Europe and the USA (including Glastonbury festival).
He has appeared on X Factor and Australia’s Got Talent and can regularly be seen in tourist hot-spots entertaining the masses on the streets with his multitude of mini hoops, 7-foot unicycle, juggling knives, fire poi and infamous “Hoop of Doom”.
Marnie Lane, is a movement artist of 21 years and is regarded as the leading female Contact Staff practitioner in Australia.
She has performed and taught flow arts and yoga throughout Australia, Aotearoa, the UK and Europe.
Marnie is a multi-talented human who will be bringing an overflowing pool of knowledge to share with us at Hoop Away this winter.
Delving deep into the study of the fluidity and the capabilities of the human body in movement, her cross-discipline approach has led Marnie to explore unusual body pathways, groundwork, and expressions of dance – some of which she will share with us at Hoop Away.
Marnie combines technical skill with grace, challenging the boundaries of what the mind believes possible in the ways that the human body can interact with a prop.
Marnie will also be guiding our yoga practise and sharing with us some in-depth, groundwork techniques that will expand our flow. We will learn how to fluidly and effortlessly move to and from, into and out of contact with the ground.
Donna is a hula hoop dancer, teacher, performer and lover with a background in Creative Arts.
Recognised globally for her creativity, innovation, flow facilitation and playful approach, she has taught thousands of people to hula hoop and performed with the Women’s Circus, bringing a passion and playfulness to her work that is infectious.
Fuelled by a passion for transformation and growth on a personal, business, local and global level, she is a born facilitator with an appreciation for the power found in play and flow. Hoop Away NZ will be the 3rd hoop retreat she has coordinated – with many more to come!
When not playing with or teaching hoops, Donna can be found training acro, dancing, inventing new smoothies, getting out of the city, or deciding which leggings will best reflect her mood.
Her motto: Do it ‘til you can. And always spread the sparkle.
An expert in the contours of female bodies, Ariane has mastered the art of combining the perfect fabric, construction, and finishing techniques to create looks and feels that take women beyond the simple act of wearing clothes. It is her personal mission to create garments that celebrate your unique shape and personality, and help you feel amazing in your body and in the world.
A client list that includes Dita Von Teese, Collette Dinnigan, Danni Minogue, and the head of Madonna Australia speaks volumes about her skills, talent, creativity, and professionalism. Having studied the only lingerie design degree in the world before working with multiple large international brands, Ariane has developed an expertise in creating unique lingerie, swimwear, and clothing that is comfortable, flattering, and gorgeous as hell.
Her participation and offering at Hoop Away is going to be an absolute treat!
So all you hoop mamas out there can get your hoop on without having to leave bubba at home.
Kids are welcome at the retreat and so is a partner/support person. And – you can share a family room!
Kids under 5 are free – we just ask that you bring your own baby change table and bed as the beds there aren’t safe for toddlers/infants.
How to make this magic happen? The additional charge for meals and accommodation for your partner/support person is $275 and this can be added to your ticket if purchasing online,.
Note: For safety reasons, kids are not to enter the workshop spaces.