Guest
Rajni Ramachandran, a Hoola Hoop artist talks about her hoop journey and performs with the hoop. Rajni Ramachandran is a professional hoola hoop artist from India. Born in Sudan & brought up in 8 countries, she has been exploring her career options as a fashion design graduate & performing artist in India since 2009. She was first introduced to a hoola hoop in 7th grade in the International School of Geneva. Little did she know back then that this is what she’d chose to do for a living decades later, & what remained a hobby for most of her life would become her profession. In a nutshell, after an assistant designer job with Geisha Designs, she performed in Bollywood musical ‘Zangoora’, acro-yoga & aerial silks in many shows with Natya Nectar Dance Company, & in ‘Bollywood Extravaganza’ in Egypt, Russia & China. Apart from a brief appearance in Dance India Dance Season 5 & Dance Plus Season 2, she was a contestant on India Banega Manch Season 1 & India’s Got Talent Season 8. Her hoop acts have been telecasted on Big Celebrity Challenge Incredible India Zee Telugu & Zee Super Talents Zee Tamil. She has been chosen Absolut Creative Indian of the Week by The Creative Indians with Manil Rohit on NDTV Good Times, nominated Hooper of the Year (Asia) 2017 on the international platform , & chosen Hooplogie Influencer of the Year 2017! She can be seen hooping in Ad campaigns for McDonalds, IBIS Hotels, Royal Challenge T20 Play Bold Anthem & Delhi Daredevils IPL 2018 Anthem. She has choreographed Hoop acts for the Hero Group, & hooped at many Decathlon Sports Store outlets in India. Her hoop act in 'Gang of Girls', ‘Kachra Rani’, & short film 'A Dream Caught: Clean-India Hooping' are collective efforts made using hoola hoops as a medium to convey messages regarding social issues. Having taught herself by watching tutorials & videos on the internet, she aims to teach this skill in the years to come. More than just a toy, a hoop has become an extension of her & what everything in her life is curated around. She aims to continue to explore the possibilities in the world of hooping despite it not being an established choice of profession in the country. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at
