Rebecca Halls

Photographed By Ellinor Forje

WHERE ARE YOU NOW, WHERE ARE YOU FROM AND WHERE ARE YOU GOING?
I’m in Berlin sitting on the floor of my studio: The Dreamhaus, Berlin, a center for yoga, contemporary dance, gyrotonic and hula hoop. I’m here for the next few months, teaching and documenting a few of my choreographic works and then I’m off to L.A. for the winter to perform. I’m originally from Vancouver Island, Canada.

HOW DID YOU ARRIVE AT THE DESTINATION OF BEING AN ENTREPRENEUR, HOOP DANCE PERFORMER, GYROTONIC TRAINER AND YOGA INSTRUCTOR?

I’m classically trained at the Royal Academy, and in the Cecchetti Method of Ballet since the age of five. I discovered Hoop Dance 10 years ago, fell in love and had to find a way to make it my career. The hoop provided me with an outlet for expression outside the rigid confines of pink ballet tights.

I decided to go to university for choreography and contemporary dance to become an expert in movement and the body. I financed my studies teaching hoop dance, which led to opening the first and only hula hoop school in Montreal. I was performing, and dancing a lot, and I ended up with a terrible dance injury. Then I discovered Gyrotonic and it healed my injury almost simultaneously. Yoga has always been an intrinsic part of my practice as an artist. Now I’m training hard again in all these things for my performances and also sharing what I believe to be the magic combo training with my dear students here in Berlin.

HOOPURBIA?

Hoopurbia is the hula hooper’s heaven on earth. It’s a week long festival where beginner and advanced hoop dancers, professional artists, dancers and musicians meet up for an artistic residency to learn from one another, perform and create. It’s a lab for experimentation and creative evolution. There are yoga and contemporary dance workshops every morning, hoop dance workshops in the afternoon, and performances at night. It started in Berlin, and it will be popping up in other cities in the coming years. I founded Hoopurbia in 2012. It was just a vision a friend and I came up with on a bikeride around Berlin one rainy November day, we had no idea if anyone would show up, but we’ve now done the festival three years in a row and it’s grown bigger than I could have ever imagined.

YOUR STAGE NAME, BEKA HOOP, IS IT AN ALTER EGO?

Beka Hoop lives on stage. Rebecca Halls is the one behind the scenes running the business and paying the bills.

HOW MUCH OF YOUR PERFORMANCE IS PRE-CHOREOGRAPHED AND HOW MUCH IS IMPROVISATION?

My performance is a structured improvisation. I’m a compulsive choreographer, always making up new sequences for each show, unique to the venue and the atmosphere. My dance is at its best when it’s completely free. I build a skeleton, and then I dance around it.

HOW IS IT POSSIBLE FOR LASER BEAMS TO SHOOT OUT OF YOUR HULA HOOPS WHEN THERE ARE NO WIRES ATTACHED?

This is high tech hula technology. State of the art. I designed my laser hoop in collaboration with my genius friend. This sleek piece of technology is currently the only one of its kind on the market, it’s an idea we have been working on since 2007. We finally managed to fit all the wires in the hoop this year.

HOW DID THE #REGENERATE14 COLLABORATION WITH "THE LAB MAGAZINE" AND GENERATOR HOSTELS COME ABOUT?

It all happened really fast. I was dancing wildly in a Berlin club where my friend was deejaying. The guys from the Lab were also there and happened to snap some photos of me. I was just coming out the other end of Hoopurbia and had lots of new work to show, they asked if I could do a video shoot, and I said yes. The next thing I knew I was in Copenhagen.

HOW DO YOU MAINTAIN YOUR HEALTH AND BEAUTY REGIMEN GIVEN THE RIGOROUS NATURE OF YOUR PROFESSION?

I don’t smoke. I drink lots of water. I try to stay away from sugar. I do yoga everyday. I go to bed early whenever there’s time. And I try to keep a positive attitude and live with integrity.

WHAT'S YOUR PERSONAL STYLE - OTHER THAN THOSE SASSY LEOTARDS AND SPANDEX YOU WEAR?

I have a bodysuit collection in different colours, textures and cuts. I try to collect a new bodysuit from a local designer in every city I perform. I love to wear stretch fabrics, i like bold colours and patterns. I guess you could call it "performable street wear".

WHAT ADVICE CAN YOU OFFER ANYONE SEEKING TO BECOME A FITNESS GURU OR PERFORMANCE ARTIST?

Train hard. Take care of your body. Go see lots of shows. Travel. Get inspired. Don’t copy. Stay true. Create from your heart. Find a teacher and never quit being a student. And never give up even if it seems impossible. Determination is priceless.