Biography:

Mary Gargett is a vibrant international circus performer and teacher hailing from Bellingham, WA.  Her specialties include hula-hoop, stilt walking, aerial hoop, acrobatics, fire and character work.  She has explored many forms of movement since the age of 4 from dance, acrobatics, cheerleading, circus arts and more!  She incorporates all the elements of performance, dance and theater she’s learned over the years into her captivating presence and character she becomes on stage. She has performed all over the nation and world with a variety of companies including Venardos Circus, March Fourth Marching Band, Quixotic Fusion, Animate Objects Physical Theatre, Belle Circus and Shanghai Productions.  She is a graduate of The School of Acrobatics and New Circus Arts where she specialized in hula-hoop and aerial hoop. When she’s not performing, you can find her traveling around as a main hula-hoop instructor for the global yoga festival, Wanderlust Festival and their 108 events as well as teaching a variety of circus and fitness disciplines through workshops, mini series and private lessons.  She loves the beauty and passion of performance art, the endless possibilities and all that we can learn from one another.

Mary has been performing since she was a child.  For the past 8 years she's toured the world and country as a professional hula hoop artist.  She has worked with many companies including March Fourth Marching Band, Venardos Circus, Quixotic Fusion, Cirque Du Soleil, Animate Objects Physical Theatre, Shanghai Productions.

Find Mary:

marygargett.com   Facebook    Instagram 

Tell us how you fell in love with the flow arts? 

String Cheese Incident baby!! My friends and I were introduced to hula hooping through attending Cheese shows back in the day.  I remember watching Megan the Cat performing and was so mesmerized. From that day on, I was on a mission to make that my job.

What inspires your style of flow the most and how do you find your flow state? 

When I am performing, I am more in my performance headspace, then my flow state.  I am still channeling that flow feeling of course, because to be able to make your living off hula hoop, well, my love for the art pours out of me and into my stage presence.  I let the music guide me. With a strictly choreographed act however, the flow state for me, fades away, and my focus on nailing my skills takes over. When I am practicing, my favorite way to get in my flow state is to do sustained spinning!!  I like to spin for about 10 minutes. It allows everything to disappear. The only thing I can think about is breathing, spinning and moving my hoop to the music. Because of such strict stage choreography and drilling those skills all the time, sustained spinning brings me back to just letting it all flow out.  It's my form of meditation and how I can reconnect with my hoop without choreography.

Tell us what makes you passionate about the flow arts? 

The ability to inspire the youth to follow their dreams and tell them yes, you can make a living being a hula hoop artist!  My favorite crowd to perform for are little kids. Making memories for them that they will remember for the rest of their lives.  I also love the connections within our community. I've made the most amazing and lasting friendships through hula hooping and it just makes my heart glow.  It's a unique bond between people and love the endless possibilities we can all learn from each other and grow with one another.

Tell us other ways you contribute to the flow arts and/or festival community? *

As stated above, I have performed at just about every major music festival this country has to offer, exposing tons of people to the exciting world of hula hooping. I have helped co-direct the Electric Forest Hula Hoop Troupe in 2015 and 2016.  I have taught at Hoop Camp and Spin Summit and am one of the main hula hoop instructors for the global yoga festival Wanderlust Festival. I created a hula hoop program at The School of Acrobatics and New Circus Arts I taught at for many years. From that program, I ended up getting 6 people to come to hoop camp with me one year!!
Over the years of running that program we really started an awesome hula hoop community, one that helped people get out of their shell, feel comfortable with movement and open their hearts and minds.  I teach a hula hoop fitness class at a local yoga studio to help expose people to hula hooping who may not sign up for a hula hoop dance class, but certainly would be interested in learning how to use a hula hoop for fitness. Once they take that class, they are hooked and then end up purchasing a beginner hoop and off they go on their own personal journey!  I love spreading the hoop love as much as possible!!