about betty

Creator of the Dance Hoop & 4 Rhythm Workout  • 4X Guinness Book World Record Holder  •  Zen Hoop Dancer  •

I press my feet into the Earth and take my space in the center of my little universe. My spine rises to greet the circular force. Electrical currents pulse through each cell, nerve and muscle. Swimming with the waves inside my hoop, my mind and body relax. Whirled into ecstatic states, I dance through fear, sadness, anxiety and tension. I empty all of that into the nothingness, feeling my thoughts and body dissolve. The hoop rides freely now, no more control, no more effort. Inhaling, I feel everywhere and exhaling I feel nowhere. There is no 1 space of my origin. And in between each breath, there is peace and joy. Remembering myself in every turn. - Betty  

Betty offers training programs and workshops for schools, personal trainers, group exercise instructors and through corporate fitness and yoga clubs nationally.

She is considered to be one of the top hoop instructors, imparting her skills from yoga, rock climbing, mountaineering and therapeutic dance into each session. Her Flex and Flow™ method is unique to most athletic and mind-body training programs because she arranged a fine balance of Quantum Physics, biomechanics and playfulness.
She has been pioneering the larger, heavier hoop as an effective tool for weight loss and mind- body therapy since 1998. Turning Americas’ favorite past time into a fun sport, she continues set the industry standard for safe and effective hoops and programs.

“Betty is on a crusade to empower children, communities and bring happiness to every person she can. I’ve seen the magic happen in all of her classes ” Kate, School Teacher in New Orleans, LA. Betty left her job as a Sous Chef at one of the best restaurants in Aspen and moved to NYC a month after 9/11. She taught free classes outside of police and fire stations, donated dozens of hoops and offered kids classes for PTSD recovery. From this, Kids Hoop Warrior Program was born.

Her performances are very unique. Her mission to bring out the child in everyone is contagious. Betty likes to perform mostly in crowd so that she can teach others to hoop during and after her show. “I love coaching people on the spot. They transform from doubtful to confident and from adults into playful kids.”

Betty has also created 2 cross sports; Hoop Running and Hoop Snowboarding. She set the Guinness Book World Record for distance and speed Hoop Running and broken it by over 30 minutes each year. Featured in the 2008 Guinness Book of World Records, she continues to Hoop Run the same race every year, fundraising for different charities. Her winter sport is Hoop Boarding on all level ski runs. She was signed with Gaiam, from 2003-2005. She designed and they produced the “4 Rhythm Hoop Dance Workout” DVD and the Collapsible Dance Hoop.

Her spiritual approach to Hoop Dance has earned her the nickname “The Zen Hoop Master.” Betty drew upon her years of experience as a yoga teacher, massage therapist and a Reiki practitioner to create a variety of courses. Her belief is that every hoop is a prayer wheel. She uses the hoops’ vortex as a transformational tool for mind and body healing. In July of 2008, during a seminar in Aspen, CO Betty presented His Holiness the Dalai Lama, with her collapsible Dance Hoop. She wrote the Heart Sutra in Sanskrit gold ink around the outside thus turning her hoop into a prayer in which can spin around the waist.

Before founding Betty Hoops Dance Therapy® in 1998, Betty trained as a professional chef at the Culinary Institute of America. After graduating, she moved to Aspen, Colorado in 1991, where she was a chef at Pinons restaurant. She fell in love with the mountains and all outdoor sports. She did a lot of long distance running and summitted a number of 14 thousand foot peaks. She also loves to snowboard, cross country ski and snow shoe in the winters. Her passion for rock climbing has brought her up a first ascent in Zion National Park and many multi pitch routes throughout Colorado, Utah and the Pacific Northwest.

WHY I HOOPI never thought that I’d love to dance as much as I do. My thoughts, sports and actions have always been extreme. Dancing connects me to a more feminine side. Once I step into my hoop, no matter how tired and stressed out I am, I feel like everything is going to be okay. My mind forgets to worry and the stiffness in my body is turned into fluidity from the hoop’s rotation. Without even trying I feel successful, seductive and playful. That feeling stays with me all day and strengthens every time I hoop. Mindfulness in motion can create a fuller quality of life. We can talk for years about what we want to release and manifest but true cultivation and growth toward abundance happens when we awaken to these energies through intentional dance. To place ourselves in a spinning vortex with the intention to heal will increase the momentum of that goal. Our body stores centuries of pain and power. Just like the Earth, we are our biggest resource which becomes depleted as we try to grow. By exhaling toxins and inhaling new life we start to align ourselves with our internal healing resources.

HOW IT ALL STARTEDIn 1998, I was at a music festival in Colorado and was enticed by a swarm of people trying their shot at the larger hoops. I was horrible, self conscious, physically rigid & barely patient. I kept trying though, because I was intrigued by it’s hypnotic movement. I remember in the early 90’s when I was asked to leave a step aerobics class. I was told that my lack of rhythm was endangering others as I flailed about trying to keep in step with the silly Rockets like routine. My options were now the treadmill or the stationary bike. I wished that there would be some other form of exercise that would be easy & fun, especially for the motivationally & rhythmically challenged. I am still recovering from ‘The Excuse Syndrome’. You may be familiar with it. “No, I couldn’t do that”, “I’m too fat”, “I’m too old”, “I have no rhythm”, “They’re all gonna laugh at me!” Eventually, I progressed from dangerously bad to embarrassing to “This is changing my life, I need to share this with everyone!”

HOOPING WITH INTENTIONIn 1998 I lived at Liberty Advance, a small yoga retreat near San Diego. I studied Sufism, Whirling Dervish Dance, Tibetan, Tao and Kundalini Yoga. I quickly saw the similarities that Dervish Dance & Hoop Dance shared. I started filling my hoops with the sand, sage and crystals that I found on the land around the retreat center. I bent schedule 40 PVC from a rigid line into a circle, connected both ends & then primed & painted the hoop. I would then sit inside the hoop & write the entire Prajnaparamita, (The Heart Sutra) with permanent ink, on each and every hoop.

PIONEERING MY PROGRAMI started documenting people that I taught. I built a language around hoop techniques found a way to teach anybody in less than 5 minutes. It was obvious that most adults had little patience & confidence but lots of interest in learning. This was due to adults using the toy store hoops which are too small & light. I then targeted about 10 common mistakes that everyone unknowingly did. These quickly corrected poor posture, past injuries & how the body had adapted to them. I developed techniques to release physical & emotional tensions. I brought my findings to physical therapists, dance movement therapists, yoga teachers & energy workers. They offered their time in testing my program. They gave me the scientific & metaphysical validation that my program works on all levels.

THE HEART OF IT In 2001, I decided to move to California to teach my program. The location and weather were great for lots of outdoor and indoor classes as well as the great media exposure. Then my friend called me on September 11th and cried out “Turn on the TV now! On September 12th I decided to move to NYC. I felt that NY was geographically the place where people needed the most healing, laughter and connection to the earth.

I hooped with firemen and policemen who had lost their children, inner city kids who had lost parents and middle aged people who lost their faith. People on Wall Street would grab the hoops slung around my shoulder and asked if they could try them. Construction workers even came down from scaffolding to give it a shot. My hoops brought smiles, laughs and a peaceful feeling to all who tried and watched.

After 10 days of freaking out because there was literally a bomb threat on every bridge that I needed to drive across, I unpacked my duffle & got to work. I offered free workshops at Central Park, Dance Studios, and around Time Square. I went to Brooklyn a lot and taught at random block parties. The hoops brought smiles, laughs & a peaceful feeling to all who tried & watched. Now I just had to figure out how get paid. After about 4 months, some schools & gyms hired me to teach. Bally Total Fitness hired me to teach throughout the tri state area.

THE POWER OF THE MOUNTAINS Although I love New Yorkers and my business was growing, I missed the mountains too much. I moved to Boulder, CO in 2003. I taught Hoop Dance through the Contemplative Psychology Department at Naropa Institute as well as hosted workshops and classes in schools and yoga centers. My return to the mountains gave me new inspiration. I incorporated my love for hooping with snowboarding. And on a friend’s suggestion, I tried hoop running for the Guinness Book in 2005. I now live back in Aspen, CO.