Caitlin Briggs, otherwise known as the Circular Witch, picked up her first hula hoop at the beginning of 2017 at a music festival. Mesmerised by the beautiful and graceful hoopers, she was determined to be one herself. Although she found that she found she could barely keep the hoop on her waist for more than half a second, in the beginning, practising daily and dedication has brought her to where she is now. Now, she teaches hula hooping to those also interested and passionate about the craft.

“In my beginner classes you will get an excellent foundation in both on-body and off-body movements, personal help and attention to ensure you see fast progress, and a lot of encouragement along the way. For more experienced hoopers, I plan to run classes tailored to learning more advanced tricks to further your skill set and inject excitement back into your flow,” she explains.

Performing, like teaching, has become another passion. “Apart from childhood dance lessons, before hooping I had never performed in my life! My other love is visual arts- which is such a solitary pursuit and I liked it that way. Although I never saw performing as a path for me before I discovered hooping, as I’ve progressed as a hooper I’ve felt the strongest desire to share that passion and joy with others. Hooping has helped me come out of my shell, and given me a lot more self-confidence- it’s turned a shy, anxious girl into a complete perform-aholic! And that feeling of confidence within yourself is one of the main things I want to impart upon my students.”

Caitlin is passionate about hooping, stating that hooping is for everyone. “I wish people knew that it doesn’t just stop at spinning a hoop around your waist! There is an almost endless amount of tricks that you can learn with a hoop. I often wish there was more time in the day to learn them all! Also, you can hoop no matter what your size, age, or gender. I often talk to people who think they need a woman’s hips, or that they’re not slim enough, or they’re too old to hoop. But it’s really not the case! Hooping is an excellent way to get fit while not feeling like your exercising- and I promise you that you can do it too!”

Caitlin will be running adults and children’s classes every Saturday for the month of December. All proceeds from her first class on 1 December will go to the Cat Cuddle Caffee in Red Hill.

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