Chasing Infinity With a World Record-Breaking Hula Hooper

There’s no spectacle of human potential more extraordinary or uplifting than The Guinness World Records. So how does it feel to land a spot among the holy grail of extreme feats? “Brilliant,” according to Marawa—the circus school graduate and hula hooping champion holds twelve of them. To name a few: longest duration on high-heeled roller skates while spinning three hula hoops, running the fastest mile hula hooping, and, perhaps her most impressive, most hoops spun simultaneously. That’s 200, to be exact, stacked knee-to-neck like a technicolor slinky come to life. “Humans can do a lot of things,” she says. “But look at these amazing people that have dedicated themselves specifically to one ridiculous thing!”

A performer and purveyor of extravagance, Marawa, better known by her fans as Marawa The Amazing, is not preceded by her reputation. It’s mirrored by her motivations; providing others with a moment (or in her case, an endless loop) of joy and triumph. In the face of a global crisis—without the exhilaration conjured by a real life crowd, which she admits no string of emojis on Instagram live will ever compare to—Marawa’s devotion to lifting spirits and pushing the limitations of her physical self has become its own medicine. She’s been staying inspired with deep dives into old Missy Elliot music videos, hosting online hoop and stretch classes, and sharing clips of squirrels she’s making friends with (via snacks) in her yard. “I’m focusing on smaller scale projects, things I can do from home to keep myself busy and offer people something to watch online,” she says. “It’s never felt more important to be able to see and connect with people.”

Marawa’s versed in building community in the vanguard of less explored modes of creativity. Over the course of her career, she’s played a six-month gig as Josephine Baker in New York City’s DéSIR, appeared as a semi-finalist on two spin-offs of the Got Talent franchise (and placed third in another), and last year, she premiered her own circus show, Quality Novelty. She’s the founder of U.K.-based hoop troupe The Majorettes (who performed at the London Olympics), and her monthly roller disco parties have gathered attendees in everyone from rookies to Usher. Oh, and she’s packaged all that prowess inside her 2018 book, The Girl Guide, which includes tips on things she wishes she knew more about during her adolescence: skin care, meditation, chafed thighs, menstrual leaks. Despite her countless accomplishments, she still contends with the awkward emotions inherent to teenhood: “It's very embarrassing and difficult to say, because when you tell people you're a hula hooper, they think you go to Burning Man. And that you wear those furry leg warmers and dance to trance music.”

When I met Marawa at a studio downtown Los Angeles in early March, she arrived on set in an oversized black jumpsuit, fresh-faced and coolheaded. As a playlist of Sade classics soothed the room (and inspired the beauty direction for the day), the collective oohs and ahhs as she twirled in figure eights and maneuvered her hoops into globe-shaped statues felt more like a spiritual demonstration than any festival offshoot. She’s been in touch with the potentiality of movement, both on her body and in her surroundings, since she was a kid. Born in Australia, Marawa grew up with a family she describes as “very nomadic people,” and spent her younger years surveying opportunities for exploration by way of her roller skates. While most teenagers in the 90s subscribed to pop mags and bad reality tv, Marawa remembers being fascinated learning about trepanation—an ancient surgical procedure in which a hole is drilled into the skull to re-release imaginative qualities from childhood. Like spinning her weight in plastic, or employing acrylic nails as a means to carry “at least three more hoops,” it’s a testament to her preoccupation with breaking boundaries of the body for the sake of expanding the mind.

Sifting through the racks of looks the stylist set out for her, Marawa instantly gravitated towards a Marine Serre catsuit embossed with signature yellow moons—naturally, she practiced rhythmic gymnastics for years before earning her Bachelor of Circus Arts. When I asked her about her earliest fashion influences, she told me about the clothing her mother made for her growing up, including a red tracksuit that had “radical” written across the front, which she wore “every day.” Those same instincts have evidently transcended into her own performance wear—she even got married in a pair of custom Charlotte Olympia roller skates. “I used to send her fan mail back when she made that fruit salad shoe a million years ago. I wrote to her well in advance of my roller disco wedding and I was like, ‘Please, can I have a pair of skates for my wedding?’”

Slipping into a pair of black ballet shoes for one of several dizzying displays, with a casual 15 hoops in her arms, Marawa paused to elaborate on her technique: “You want to put your legs as wide as you can, you want to wind them up, and then hold your breath,” she said, laughing, before clarifying, “No, you need to breathe. You have to breathe.” She’s an expert at interpreting every aspect of her practice, and forever a student of how they all intersect. Emphasizing the importance of prioritizing posture, Marawa offered a piece of advice she recently learned from her favorite ballet teacher: “You have to put as much space between your shoulder blades. You can breathe between your shoulder blades.”

Erika Houle is an editor at SSENSE in Montreal.