Meet The Council

Missy Cooke

MHDR Council

Missy Cooke is a teaching artist, fire dancer, and all-around creative from Mid-Michigan. She has been practicing movement arts in various forms since 1996.

Her latest project, The Fuel Funnel, was awarded a Chris Clark Fellowship by the Lansing Arts Council. This specially designed tool reduces the fuel and plastic waste that fire spinners create during fueling. Missy designed and managed the engineering of this tool, bringing it to from concept to market in less than 15 months.

Missy founded Lansing Hoops in 2014, traveling across Michigan and the Midwest hosting hoop dance inspired school assemblies and team-building events to promote health and wellness through fun and play. She has hosted the Mid-Michigan weekly flow jam, a meet-up of Lansing area flow artists since 2015.

In August of that same year, Missy founded the Michigan Hoop Dance Retreat, an annual 3-day event that welcomes hoop dancers from all over Michigan to share in skills workshops and group activities and to build connections with other flow artists from across the state (and beyond!).

In 2017, Missy co-founded The Smitten Spinners, a performance troupe offering fire, LED, and choreographed corporate and community entertainment across Michigan.

When Missy isn’t hula hooping or eating fire, she likes to spend time in nature, swimming and camping with her family.

Colleen DeLacy

MHDR Council

Colleen, aka Emerald Hooper, is native to Michigan and began hooping in December 2014.  As a child, Colleen was always immersed in music, and she just naturally started to love dancing to it.  Learning to play piano at a young age, she had the musicality that stayed with her throughout her life.  Her professional and career drew her away from her creative and artistic self.  When she met her hoop instructor, it was an immediate connection to her long lost love of bodily movement.  Hooping for five years, she’s faced some serious life challenges causing her to pause, but nothing has kept her from MHDR, not even an ankle break requiring surgery two years ago. She is not a professional performer or instructor, but she is part of the essential heart that makes MHDR.  This year she is on the volunteer team heading up registration and COVID safety for all participants.

Kristie MJ

Kris MJ

MHDR Council

Kris MJ, has been a performer for 22 years! They started as a Ballet dancer and Rhythm Tapper which led them to get an education in Modern Dance Technique and Choreography.
Contact improvisation is this performer’s favorite dance technique to teach, along with voguing!
These days Kris is a part time Twitch variety streamer, and hoop dancer! Now you will find them on the MHDR crew as Diversity and Inclusion Ambassador, where they are excited to share their love of culture and dance with everyone!

Mya Crampton - Deer Woman

MHDR Council

Mya, otherwise known as Deer Woman, is a multi-prop instructor and performer, fire artist, and aerialist. Her flow arts journey began in 2018 with a single hoop, and has since expanded to multi-hoops, silk fans, leviwand, aerial arts, and pretty much any other prop she can get her hands on. Mya finds joy in connecting with other artists in the community through skill sharing and flow jams. Beyond this she works with Michigan Entertainment and Talent, Detroit Circus, and Flames ‘n’ Dames. Currently located in Michigan, Mya is proud to be on the organization team for Michigan Hoop Dance Retreat!
Mya Crampton Deer Woman
Remy Darnell Aurora Star

Remy Darnell - Aurora Star

MHDR Council

Aurora Star, aka Remy, is a multi-disciplinary flow artist, insured fire performer, and lyra enthusiast, known for her levitation wand. She began delving into flow and prop manipulation in 2018 with leviwand, and during the pandemic took up hooping, staff, silk props, and more! Remy has fostered a life-long love of performing, starting with dance and acting as a child. She began performing as a flow artist in 2019, and began attending flow festivals in 2021. She began her teaching journey with Michigan Hoop Dance Retreat in 2021, and has since had the opportunity to teach at Great Lakes Flow Festival 2023, Midwest Flow Fest 2023, Flowstorm 2024, Flow and Grow 2024, and Secret Dreams 2024. In her spare time she designs and sews performance wear/costumes, performs, practices new skills, and loves spending time with family and friends. Besides theatre, dance, and costume design, she is also passionate about intersectional feminism, racial justice, and radical reform.

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Share Your Story With Us

The Michigan Hoop Dance Retreat is known for its loving, accepting culture. We are a group of unique individuals, with one common thread binding us together – our commitment to honoring each member of our family, exactly as they are, and celebrating our differences as much as our likenesses.

MHDR is proud to know and support hoopers with diverse racial, gender, cultural, sexual and economic identities, and we would love to share your stories on our social media pages.

Complete the form below, and tell us a little about your heritage. What do you want other hoopers to know about you? What makes you unique? Do you have customs or traditions you want to share? Let us know and you could be featured on our MHDR social media pages.MHDR 2016