When does a New York show capture the attention of Australia? When Melbourne-born Marawa Ibrahim is the star. We reported on Désir recently. Now The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age are both spreading the news. "Since the show opened nearly three weeks ago the graduate of the National Institute of Circus Arts has become a magnet for American hoop enthusiasts. ... The show uses one of [Josephine] Baker's signature numbers, Don't Touch My Tomatoes, as 'a kind of theme song for her in the show', Marawa says. 'It's as suggestive as it sounds so I'm glad my dad isn't here to see it.'" Sydney Morning Herald, The Age

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The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Missouri) reports, "It happened at a music festival, as you probably could have guessed. 'There was a girl who let me borrow her hoop, and I haven’t put it down since,' Sarah Noelle Dettmer (pictured) said. She doesn’t mean that literally, of course, but the hoop has become a big part of Dettmer’s life. Actually, she said, it’s changed her life. Hooping is dance. Hooping is meditation. Hooping is exercise. To modern hoopers like Dettmer, hoops aren’t toys, although they’re fun. So what’s a good place and time to hoop, besides an outdoor festival? 'Anytime,' said Dettmer, 21, a vocal performance major at UMKC’s Conservatory of Music. 'Like I just hooped before I started making lunch.'" Full story includes video comparison of 50's hula hoop vs. the hoops of today: Kansas City Star

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Rocky Mountain News reports, "Protesters at the Democratic National Conventionwere no match for Melody Moezzi, the Iranian-American activist with a preternatural proficiency with the hula hoop. She had been gyrating and keeping the hoop in play for over an hour when the anti-war throng moved past her. But she never missed a beat, keeping in play both the hoop and her one-woman hyping of her 'Hooping for Peace' events at the University of Denver this week. 'If you don't have a hoop, come anyway. I have about 100,' said Moezzi, not even breathing hard, unfazed by heat or marchers. And proving that, in The Park at least, she was a peace proponent who was totally hip." Rocky Mountain News

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Melissa Nann Burke writes for the York Daily Record, "Among the California crazes to mesmerize the nation in the late 1950s, the hula hoop hasn't lost its spin. ... Moving beyond pool decks and roller rinks, the hoops have found their way into dance studios, workout videos... YouTube is laden with wacky hooping performances. ... Web sites such as hooping.org help beginners locate hooping classes and offer step-by-step directions for making your own hoop." York Daily Record

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