Hoop (2015) by Emily Jeffries

A brief and intensive development period took place as the first iteration of ongoing research into embodied metaphor. Together with performer, Luisa Schöfer, I created a six minute solo piece featuring Luisa and a hula hoop. The solo focuses on Luisa's relationship with the hoop. She demonstrates her  ability to interact with and control the hoop, while the hoop is shown to exert similar levels of interaction and control over Luisa. The hoop affords itself two differing identities. First, it serves as an object—a hula hoop, carrying with it all the related associations of play. Second, the hoop takes on a level of sentience, demonstrating sensations akin to human emotion. In this second role, the hoop serves as a metaphor for Luisa's emotional state and sensation function. The hoop serves as a companion to the richness of pure human movement, aiding in the illustration of complex emotional and abstracted concepts. In the metaphor “let your heart rule your head,” the heart serves as metaphor for one's emotions and sensations, while the head is a metaphor for one's thought process and thinking functions. Within this solo piece, the hoop is a metaphor for Luisa’s emotions and sensation, demonstrating the fluidity of the heart.  (Emily Jeffries)