WHEN self-proclaimed treadmill hater, Jasmine Leong, started hula hooping it was purely a way to get fit.

“I always look for ways of keeping fit that take my mind off running on a treadmill,” she says.

“My partner and I don’t do a lot of activities. And I asked him to do a dance class with me… he suggested a circus class.”

Together the pair joined Warehouse Circus in Woden and although her partner gave up after a term, Jasmine continued; taking up the art of hula hooping.

“Hula hooping always came naturally to me,” she says. “But I could never find anywhere to learn.”

It’s been two years since Jasmine, who is a publication editor for the CSIRO, joined Warehouse Circus. However, it was only recently that she took her sport to a new level becoming the only Australian to reach the top 16 of “Hooping Idol”.

The online competition that included competitors from the US, the UK, France and NZ, has a similar format to “Australian Idol”, however instead of singing for TV, contestants entered stylised hooping videos online.

Jasmine, who joined because “it looked like a lot of fun”, prepared two videos for the competition – the first was disco and the second circus.

“For ‘Hooping Idol’ I had to write a script, choose locations and costumes,” she says.

She also rallied together some friends to help her shoot, who she says found it “very entertaining”.

Jasmine is no stranger to performing; a cellist, she has also performed as part of amateur theatre. However, currently, hula hooping is appealing to her inner performer.

“It’s a fun thing to do in my spare time,” she says. “I want to keep doing it.”

Jasmine continues to take part in Warehouse Circus’s one adult class a week. She has also joined the organisation’s board.

Her first live public performance as a hula hooper will come in July as part of a short cabaret piece for a fundraiser in Sydney.

She will also be performing later in the year as part of a show for Warehouse Circus.

Not-for-profit organisation, Warehouse Circus’s main aim is to improve the mental and physical health of ACT youth through social circus.

More information at warehousecircus.org.au

More information on “Hooping Idol” at hooping.org

PHOTO: “Hooping Idol” star Jasmine Leong… “My partner and I don’t do a lot of activities. And I asked him to do a dance class with me… he suggested a circus class.” Photo by Evyn Shuley