New to Australia from Portland, Oregon, Laura has been teaching hoop dance for a decade. Her dance focused style embraces sensuality, flow and grace. Laura’s joyful approach to teaching encourages her students to listen and respond to not only music, but to their state of mind and individual bodies; to inspire a unique, liberating improvisational flow state.

Laura has studied under the pioneers of contemporary hoop dance including Anah “Hoopalicious” Reichenbach and Brecken Rivara and further developed her unique meditative approach under Jonathan Livingston Baxter.

Most of her life dancing made her feel vulnerable and awkward. Once she began exploring movement with the hoop, a deeper connection to her body naturally unfolded. The hoop has been by far Laura’s best dance teacher. It is her movement meditation, her passion and life practice.

Laura is also participating in the embodied leadership program through Soul Motion. Don’t miss this opportunity to dive into the unique combination of conscious dance and hooping.

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“I started hula hooping when I was 23. My first hula hoop was a Christmas gift, and I honestly didn’t know what to do with it! Soon enough, I fell head over heels in love with all things hula hooping.”

Hannah has studied and trained with some of the best in the business in all parts of the world, from Turkey to the USA to New Zealand to right here in Australia.

They’ve worked for companies like Ford and Google and been a part of annual events such as Dark Mofo, Vivid Sydney and the Australian Burlesque Festival to name a few.

“Hannah Indigo combines their rockstar attitude with a die-hard love for hair metal to bring you shows that are unique, explosive and outrageously OTT, a sight not to be missed!”

Hoop Away – it’s gonna get wild.

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Abrakasamuel’s passion for movement began when he cartwheeled out of the womb on to the stage of life. He found circus while in his final year of studying a Bachelor of Performance and has been in love ever since.

Sam felt an instant affinity to hooping. It is a tool he uses to express himself in unique ways and he loves the way it subverts people’s expectations – transforming a kid’s toy into a captivating movement artform for people to witness and be inspired by. Hooping provides an invitation to reconnect with the early childhood memories of trying something new, enjoying the process of learning, moving your body and reconnecting with that joyous state of childlike wonderment.

He’s performed throughout NSW and VIC and taught at festivals around the world from Esoteric to the European Juggling Convention!

Fun fact: he once starred in a music video!

Teaching in circus schools around Australia, Abrakasamuel is dedicated to sharing his joy and extensive knowledge of circus to everyone he meets. He has a multidisciplinary, playful and creative approach to hooping and helps others to find their own unique creative expression as well.

Sam will be sharing some epic hoop tech at Hoop Away as well as being The Bringer of The Silly Games. Some of his favourite include Gladiator, Robots, Entanglement, Space Time Continuum and Zip Zap Zoom. Be ready to giggle your pants off. Well, not literally but ya know…

“I also love the way that the simple act of hooping can challenge many people’s idea of gender and sexuality, making people question why we attach gender to inanimate objects.
I think I could write an essay on the love I have for hooping but overall I love the playful, creative and sassy energy that it can evoke in people including myself and how unifying, joyous and creative it can be.” Let’s play!

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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. This Hoop Away will be the 8th 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.

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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. 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 is an experienced yoga teacher who will teach us Beginner Contact Staff and guide our daily yoga practise throughout the retreat, allowing us to ground and expand, explore and learn to further support and inform our flow.

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HoneyBea is a Chilean-born performer known for her unique artistic expression and passion for folkloric and contemporary dance styles alike. She has studied Fusion and Oriental Bellydance, as well as various other modalities, and has been performing throughout Australia since 2013.

She has always been fascinated with art, culture, and learning new things. Growing up in New Zealand inspired her to start performing from a young age in Latin and Hispanic folkloric groups, sharing her culture and music with locals and working in theatre productions and television. Residing in Melbourne for almost two decades, and teaching and choreographing for the last 5, Bea has taught hundreds of people and been involved in music videos, stage shows, television and online creative projects.

Bea is well known for her variety in styles, from contagiously fun, bouncy and interactive, to dark, earthy and powerful- which is sure to leave you feeling inspired!

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Creative spirit, mind healer, smile builder and lifelong fiddler. Kate brings a wealth of experience and skills to all of her workshops. From gut health mircobiomes to plant medicine, detoxifying your home, cultivating slow foods and fermentation to crafternoons and women’s circles facilitation there is always something to learn and share. A mental health clinician by day and busy mum of a neurodiverse family has lead to a passion for cultivating wellness through all manner of creative means. Kate will be sharing the art of basket weaving with us all at Hoop Away.