Ringing the changes

A woman in a bellhop costume introduces the hula hoop to the world Photograph: Corbis

Richard Knerr, right, and Arthur Melin, founders of the company that created the hula hoop Photograph: AP

Yana Rodianov, a former world hula hoop champion from Russia, rehearses with Gerry Cottle's circus at the Roundhouse in London Photograph: Frank Baron/Guardian

A pupil plays with a hula hoop at Deepdale School Photograph: Christopher Thomond/Guardian

Alesya Goulevich set a new world record in 2004 by spinning 100 hula hoops simultaneously, shattering the old record of 83 Photograph: Rex Features

Mike Finch, the artistic director of Circus Oz, with Kareena Oates, a hula hoop specialist, in rehearsals at the Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent Photograph: Don McPhee/Guardian

A woman plays with hula hoops at the Big Chill music festival Photograph: Jim Dyson/Getty

The former Japanese prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, plays hula hoop with a schoolboy during his visit to Banda Aceh, Indonesia Photograph: Binsar Bakkara/AP