Brief Biography...
Gems, aka Gemma Goddard, discovered hooping in 2007 while traversing the epic mud at the Glade Festival and stumbling into a hoop-dancer. She bought her first hoop there and then and hasn't stopped hooping since.
She carries a BA (Hons) degree in English Language/ Literature and Film Studies from King's College University in London and trained as a professional hoop-dance teacher under world-renowned hooper Christabel Zamor's instruction (www.hoopgirl.com) in June 2008. Gems trained with her for a further 6 days in April 2009 in order to teach intermediate and advanced hoop classes. In September 2008 she travelled to California where she attended the Hoop Camp Retreat in Santa Cruz, dancing with some of the best hoop-artists in the world.
Gems taught hoop-dancing during circus and movement workshops to adults and children throughout the summer festival seasons of 2008 and 2009, and performed throughout that time in a multitude of styles to all sorts of music at different events. She also ran a 'hooping stage' at Southern Lights circus festival in summer 2009.
Gems runs the UK Hoop Gathering Project: hoop-dance weekend events in England in the summer months.
She travelled India in 2009/2010 with circus troupe Performers Without Borders, teaching circus skills to under privileged children in schools and kids' homes as well as performing in the troupe circus show in slums, on the banks of the river Ganges and in Mother Theresa's orphanage to name a few! And in January 2011 she travelled with Spark!Circus to the Thai/Burmese border to teach circus skills to child refugees.
When not hooping, Gems can be found crafting poetry, day-dreaming and writing songs on her piano :-)
Workshops, Festivals and Performances 2011
March/April 2011
‘Alchemy Festival’ - fire, LED performances and workshops – Lincoln, UK
‘Cancer Support’ charity band night LED performance - Manchester, UK
‘Sandbar’ 15th Birthday fire performance – Manchester, UK
January/February 2011
‘Spark! Circus’ society fundraiser, fire performing – Chiang Mai, Thailand
‘Spark! Circus’ – various refugee camps, schools, migrant villages – various multi-prop circus acts and fire performing – Mae Sot, Thai/Burmese border
Workshops, festivals and performances 2010
December 2010
Club/beach party performance - Mandrem beach, Goa, India
November 2010
UKHG ‘Progression Training’ workshop teaching - Manchester, London, Malvern - UK
UKHG ‘How to Create a Hoop Act’ workshop teaching - Manchester and London, UK
Guest LED hoop performance at ‘Sin Bar’ event – Worcester, UK
‘SWhoop’ multi-hoop performance – Bristol, UK
Private hen party workshop – Tewkesbury, UK
October 2010
‘Electric Circus’, CirCairo Festival (Al Azhar Park / El Genaina / Balloon Theatre) – 25 minute multi-prop circus show - Cairo, Egypt
‘Malvern Girl Guides’ centenary event, fire and LED performing – Malvern, UK
Salford Council, ‘Hallowe’en Witches’ Walk’ fire performing – Salford, UK
‘Commercial Hotel’ Hallowe’en fire performing – Chester, UK
September 2010
‘Ramshackle Circus’ performance and workshops – Broughton, UK
‘Hi’s and Low’s’ residential workshops – Wolverhampton, UK
‘Surdevan Creative’ hip-hop video shoot - Northern Quarter, Manchester, UK
‘Herbal Sessions’ club hooping performance - Manchester, UK
‘Feed The Circus’ , charity event, LED performing - Manchester, UK
Manchester University ‘Fresher’s Ball’, fire performing – Manchester, UK
August 2010
‘Big Chill’ festival LED performance and children’s workshops – Malvern, UK
Organiser of UK Hoop Gathering ‘3rd Time Lucky’ event – Shropshire, UK
‘Boom! Festival’ LED performances – Idanha-e-Nova, Portugal
‘Ramshackle Circus’ performances and workshops - Buile Hill, UK
‘Walsall Leather Museum’ workshops – Walsall, UK
July 2010
‘Ramshackle Circus’ performances and workshops - Salford, UK
Organiser of 'Push It Forwards' event- UK Hoop Gathering – Shropshire, UK
Organiser of 'Get It Started' event - UK Hoop Gathering – Shropshire, UK
London Temporary Automous Arts, hoop performance – London, UK
The ‘Palace Party’, LED and fire performance - Gullspang, Sweden
Private wedding fire performance, The Elms Hotel – Worcestershire, UK
May /June 2010
‘Itzama’ warehouse party, LED hooping – London, UK
‘Cirque Du Manc’ fire performance - Manchester, UK
October 2009 to April 2010
Travelling India with ‘Performers Without Borders’ teaching workshops and performing shows to underprivileged kids around the country – Varanasi/Siliguri/Goa/ Kolkata – India
Hooping across Nepal (Pokhara/ Anna Purna Base Camp trek / Kathmandu club night)
Workshops, Festivals and Performances 2009
September 2009
‘Rainbows’ centenary celebration, workshops - Cumbria, UK
‘AGENDER’ women's business network meeting & talk, chat and workshops – Worcestershire,UK
Day of dance hoop taster at ‘Club Dance UK’ studios – Malvern,UK
Private party, LED and fire-hoop – Worcester, UK
Summer 2009 (July/August)
As one half of performance duo ‘Dreads ‘n’ Hoops’, Gems performed fire and LED hoop, ran workshops and performed as interactive walkabout characters at the following festivals in summer 2009 -
Glade, Nozstock, The Big Chill, Waveform
July 2009
Organiser of the first UK Hoop Gathering weekend event – Shropshire, UK
June 2009
‘Summer Solstice’ LED hooping - Stonehenge, Glastonbury, UK
‘Southern Lights Festival’ – Devon, UK
April - May 2009
‘Whitworth Art Gallery’ workshops - Manchester, UK
Hoop workshops with young people with learning disabilities in Worcester, UK
March 2009
'Hips and Handbags' charity conference performance and workshops – Cumbria, UK
Illuminaughty 'The Experiment' club night, fire hoop performance - Manchester, UK
February 2009
‘Monster Monster’ club night, LED performance – Cumbria, UK
‘Seismic Rhythms’ club night, performance – Manchester, UK
Workshops, Performances and Festivals 2008
Mooch with the Fairies Festival – Kent, UK
Winterwell Festival - Gloucestershire, UK
Beatherder Festival – Lancashire, UK
Nozstock Festival - Worcestershire, UK
Global Gathering - Stratford, UK
Shamania Festival - Lancashire, UK
Boom Festival , free spinning - Portugal
Monster Monster club night - Barrow-In-Furness, UK
Fabric club night -London, UK
Heaven club night - London, UK
Illuminaughty club night -Manchester, UK
Luminopolis club night – London, UK
Worcester Christmas Fayre fire performance - Worcester, UK
Copyright 2012 UK Hoop Gathering Project
Full gig history
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