Who am I?

Hello! My name is Vene (It rhymes with penny)- I’m a hula hoop performer and teacher based in Leeds. I perform at all sorts of events around the country, and I teach weekly classes in Leeds at Leeds Hoop Dance, which is based at Yorkshire Dance studio. During the rest of my time, I’m a Maths teacher - I’ve been teaching for few years and I absolutely love it. When I’m not teaching maths I’m doing something hoop-related, so I really do feel lucky to have these jobs. Read on if you’d like to find out more…

About me…

Hula hooping is definitely one of the biggest parts of my life but there are loads of things that are important to me.

  • I love music and going to concerts. My favourite gig of all time has got to be when I saw Nothing But Thieves at Rock City. Their music means loads to me (pic on the left is when I first saw them in 2025!).

  • I’m a maths teacher. I teach A Level and GCSE. I studied maths at Leeds uni and learnt some really cool stuff. Then I completed my PGCE in 2019 and I’ve been teaching ever since. In 2023, I dropped down to part-time so I could give my dream of being a professional hula hooper a shot.

  • I’m a painter. I’ve always been into art but it wasn’t until lockdown that I realised I had a thing for painting animals so I started a business where I took commissions to paint pet portraits. I didn’t do this for very long but I have since painted gifts for friends and family. In 2022 I was hired to live-paint a wedding in the most gorgeous location and it was a privilege to be a part of such a special day!

  • I play bass. One of the first songs I learnt was Hysteria by Muse. I was in a couple of bands with some friends when I was in sixth form (as we all were!).. one of my fondest memories!

My hoop origin story:

Lots of people ask me how I got into hula hooping and usually my answer is “youtube” but there’s a lot more to it! I actually got my first hula hoop at the age of 7.. I think I bought it from Woolworths?? (that’s a throwback!)
Somehow I could waist hoop pretty much straight away, and I’d try all sorts of things like hooping on my foot or my neck (I thought I was really original back then in year 2!).

I didn’t do much after that, until I got a free hula hoop from a newspaper in 2011 (I can’t remember which one, but I think they were promoting fitness and I picked it up from WH Smith) - and it was a decent one as well! I look back and think what a bargain. It’s really similar to my first set of hoops that I found in a circus shop in Nottingham a while later (I think it’s closed now:(( but it was great). I still have it now - I don’t use it myself anymore but it’s perfect for workshops because I’ve had it for so long and I’m pretty sure it’s indestructible. It’s yellow, and I think it’s the sole reason yellow is my favourite colour.

I realised I was pretty good at this hula hoop stuff when I got that first yellow hoop. This is when I discovered the hoop world on YouTube. I came across some incredible hoopers that honestly blew my mind! I was so inspired and I practiced every day for hours so I could learn all of their tricks. Any free time I had was dedicated to working out how to put my favourite tricks into combos. Little did I know I would still be using those combos today and I was developing my act.

Where does the name “That Hoop Girl” come from?

Flashback to the beginning of my GCSEs… I signed up for a talent show at the college I just joined. I barely knew anyone there - just the people who joined from my previous school. I don’t think many of my peers had seen a hula hoop act in real life before, so it must have been pretty memorable for them. After the show I would get recognised by lots of people around college - they’d say “hey, it’s that hoop girl!” or “are you that hoop girl?”… then I thought - that’s my name!

So people had been calling me “That Hoop Girl” before I even knew - and it just felt right to go with it.

(I won the talent show btw! my prize was a huge Dairy Milk caramel bar which felt well-deserved… it was a very exciting day)

Favourite hoop memories

There are SO many! But here are a few..

  • Hooping in front of Arlene Phillips from Strictly

  • Performing at a close friend’s wedding

  • Appearing on TV (three times!)

  • Starting up my weekly classes at Leeds Hoop Dance

Say hi here!