Exercise your right to hula

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You would think Las Vegas would be a haven for the pole dancing, burlesque and hula-hooping communities alike. With the Strip boosting the best performers worldwide from hoopers such as Cirque du Soleil’s Julia Kolosova, many flock to Las Vegas to find others that share their love of this retro exercise craze, sport and art form.

Yet of all the excessive activities taking place in Sin City, Las Vegas City Council have chosen to crack down upon the menace of, yes, the hula hoop on the city’s streets. In an area of downtown known as the Fremont Street Experience, hula-hooping has taken off as one of the most popular and enjoyable activities in town. Fun, exhilarating, and anyone can try it. But the activity has become a bit too popular it seems, as the council see it as a dangerous weapon, public annoyance and obstruction to traffic in the city’s downtown plaza. In a law also intended to target activities such as prostitution and beggars, they have proposed to ban the humble hula hoop. In a town where casinos never close, the champagne never stops and lions are considered to be suitable household pets.

Councilman Stavros Anthony has a particular aversion to the new, bigger hula hoops used in the plaza.  In his silly defence of the absurd crackdown, he explained fearfully, “But these aren't little Hula-Hoops. They're big Hula-Hoops.” Failing to see the fun side, he thinks the new, bigger hoops are a nuisance and a scary obstacle for passing members of the public. But he has failed to see the advantages. In hula-hoop communities the bigger, modern hula-hoop is used frequently as it is easier to spin around the body in a slow and coordinated fashion. This makes it great for teaching, whether to passers-by in Las Vegas’ downtown plaza, or in Polestars hula hooping classes and tasters across the UK.

Of course the hula hoop community are up in arms at such accusations, and on Wednesday 18th August staged a hula protest outside City Hall. Gabriella Redding of Hoopnotica captured the mood of outrage at the protest. “Given all things legal in Vegas, the abolition of hula hooping is absolutely indecent,” said Gabriella, “What’s next? A ban of hopscotch on public sidewalks?”

In fact, a ban on the humble hula would even amount to an invasion of human rights. Gabriella pointed out the First Amendment rights to freedom of expression are at risk from the ban. “The right to hula is the same as the right to freedom of expression. You can’t be banned from expressing your views on politics or religion in public, so why can we not express ourselves as we see fit? All we are asking for is the right to hula!”

The protest proved popular and was even covered by Fox news, though the reporters were too busy hula-hooping to pay much attention to anything else. But there was at least a small victory for the hoopers, as voting on the ban was successfully postponed as a result of the protest. For now at least, the right to hula will remain in Las Vegas.

You can make your own mind up about hula-hooping and see for yourself why the activity has proved so popular in Las Vegas by taking part in a hula-hooping taster or course with Polestars at one of our many UK venues. To find one coming up near you, please go to our timetable. Exercise your right to hula!

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