Playing with Fire

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For most, the muted whoosh of fire flying inches past one's head would be disconcerting, but for Helena Hrubesova, it's all in a day's play.

A native of the Czech Republic, the now-Yukon resident has found much more than a hobby in fire dancing, poi and hula hooping, and this summer she hopes to share the joy of these performance sports with anyone who's interested.

Hula hooping is not just an activity to keep children busy. Hrubesova says that hula hooping is a sport that is enjoying a nearly-worldwide revival since the '70s.

"I love to dance and I love to work out, and this is all connected," she says. "It's very good for working out your whole body, not just your core, but the core especially."

She often hula hoops indoors as well as out, bringing electric hoops that change colours to live music shows.

"You can do it in the bars, which is kind of cool," she says. "I don't like just sitting down and doing nothing, I like to dance. Dancing with the hula hoops, it feels like the hoop is almost like my partner, so dancing with it is like dancing with someone, but alone. And going out in the summer it's the same, I like to be doing something."

Fire dancing, either with a hoop or fire-poi, which is swinging two tethered, flaming weights, is particularly exhilarating.

"Fire dancing is especially cool because of the sound of the fire, it's kind of primeval," she says.

Hrubesova discovered her talent for hula hooping about two years ago, after watching a dancer at a wedding in Skagway.

"She had a lot of hoops to try so I tried and found that I could do it and so I started hula hooping and totally started to love it – I couldn't stop," Hrubesova says.

Since then, she has been practicing both hula and poi non-stop, and will be open for business on several occasions throughout the summer.

The first opportunity will be at the ShipShape event in Whitehorse on May 26. Hrubesova will be performing both hula hooping and poi, and teaching the basics for free to anyone interested. If people try it out and want to learn more, they can sign up for her classes, which will run from mid-June to August in Shipyards Park.

Hrubesova plans for a twice-weekly class that will include warm-up, cardio and choreography, with a performance at one of the final Arts in the Park events.

"It won't be just working out and learning for themselves, but at the end of the summer they can show what they've learned to their families and friends," she says. "I like to see results and show it off and I think other people will like to see that, too."

While there has long been an underground hula hooping, poi and firedancing scene in Whitehorse, Hrubesova notes that it seems to be relatively insular, with only certain people performing.

She credits Yukoner Noli Eastmure as one of her main inspirations. A fire-dancer and hula hooper herself, Eastmure started the Yukon Hula Hoopers Facebook page, as well as the Yukon Fire Stars with Mark Peschke, a fire-dancing company-for-hire.

"[Noli Eastmure] told me she wanted to do the hula hooping classes but never got around to it, so she's excited that I'm going to do it," Hrubesova says.

She says that many people have already expressed an interest in learning the sport.

"It's one thing that is kind of missing here," she says, "There are young people who want to do the same as me, they want to dance and learn new tricks and have something to do when they are just hanging out. Just from talking to people who have seen me dancing in the bar, a lot of girls... are coming to me and asking me if I am doing classes. Last summer a lot of people asked me that, too."

Hrubesova, who is a lawyer, says that the hula hooping, fire dancing and poi are great for anyone just looking to exercise in a new and fun way.

She will also be offering courses in the basics of poi and hula hooping through City of Whitehorse programs at the Canada Games Centre.

Catch Hrubesova at the ShipShape event at Shipyards Park on May 26, at the Sunstroke Music Festival on June 21 and 22, and at any show by the band Off the Menu, where she provides a visual aspect to their soundtrack.

For more information check out:

www.facebook.com/yukonhulahoopclasses

https://www.facebook.com/groups/180165261998377/ (Yukon Hula Hoopers)

Willow Gamberg is a former What’s Up Yukon intern who writes about music and other arts-related topics.