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Jumping Through Hoops

words / Lorena Rodriguez

BEFORE I BEGAN PERFORMING, I CONVINCED MYSELF THAT I WAS AN EXTREME INTROVERT.

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Shy to the point that I’d cry during public speaking projects in school. I'm an observer by nature, quiet, while others around me can be more vocal, boisterous, and expressive. I originally began dancing 4 years ago as a way to self express, and to entertain myself and my friends. It was just a hobby. Once I picked up a hula hoop and began dancing, I realized that my voice was just as loud, I simply communicated it differently. It very quickly became a passion in which I enveloped myself. I self taught. I watched YouTube, I practiced, I flowed with other performers at drum circles, and let the hoop lead and teach me. I began to travel to learn more, eventually even to Malaysia to take classes and become certified in different styles of dance.

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With each skillset I pick up, I am able to add a layer to my voice. With hoop, it is about pace and rhythm, patience with balance, energy and connection. With fire it is about drama and focus, a slow and deliberate dance with power and light. And when I get to assume character performance, it is transformative and bold, even delightfully strange and quirky, pushing me to escape into the reality the character asks me to enter. Performing in large venues like Burning Man, Ultra Miami, and the Groove Cruise, as well as intimate venues for private parties, exclusive Miami clubs, and boutique events allows me to adjust my style and persona to speak to the crowd in attendance. My favorite thing is to co-create with other artists and friends, supporting other local artists. There is a beautiful magic in the multiplication of energy that comes from creating art with other passionate artists. The outcome becomes delightfully less predictable and alluringly more raw. 

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Through performance art, I give my best and my most authentic self to my audience. And they too give me their best, when they are for a moment able to stop the noise and see the pure emotions they can recognize somewhere in themselves, even if they are afraid to ever let it free fall like this. They can see the hidden extrovert in themselves, the dreamer, the flirt, the alter ego, the vulnerability, and the self discipline. These human emotions connect us all, and performance is the bridge that connects a performer with their audience. When I perform, I do not ask us to remain on either side. I ask us to meet on the bridge, where my body will dance along with their souls, and we will be all things wonderous together. 

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I will meet you on the bridge at your request for any occasion you have. Contact me at @LorenaHoopdance @cosmic_spin and I can make any vision you have a reality; from LED to fire, stilt walkers, theatrical interactive characters, etc. 

Photographer: Nestor Correa @Nestor923

Costume Design and stylist: @Galaktikreations @Cosmic_Spin

Model/performer: @LorenaHoopdance

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