Goodness Gracious: Amity Adult Ed Gets Hot

When I was a kid back in the 60s, the hula hoop was not a challenging scary thing, it was a favorite toy; a staple in every home.

After a while, the hula hoop seemed to go the way of the slinky and they were seen in stores, but not something you'd rush out to buy.

In the past few years the hula hoop started showing up again at fairs and concerts and young children are particularly skilled at using it, just like I was in 1964.

If you think about it, you use just about every muscle when you've got and with regular use, you will get toned up fairly quickly.

Amity Adult Education offered a class called "Hoop Dance Workout" with instructor Robin Weiss.

The beginner class covered basic hula hoop technique; keeping the hoop up, alternating directions, off body hooping in different planes, turning with the hoop, walking with the hoop, etc.

The hoops that were used in class were not the kind that you'd buy in a toy store, they are higher quality and a great fit for each individual student.

On Thursday night the students were treated to a live demonstration of what more advanced hoop dancers can do with a hoop.

Much more advanced...the dancer soaked several marshmallow sized wicks in a flammable liquid and then with some assistance lit the hoop on fire and began whipping it around her body: head, hands, foot.

Fire Marshal Mike Cavanagh was on hand for the demonstration, his daughter added a video of the event to our pics and clips gallery.