As a hoop dancer and fancy shawl dancer I often get the question, “What does dancing mean to you?” or “What is the meaning behind it?” and my answers usually vary. For myself personally, dancing is very special to me. I was taught that hoop dancing is a form of healing for oneself, for their friends and family and for the community as a whole. I was also taught that it was a form of storytelling and that each and every dancer is unique in this way, through telling their own stories. I love to dance because I dance for those things, it brings me joy to see children get excited or for crowds of people to be so engaged and enthralled by the shapes I create. It’s an amazing feeling to spread that happiness and educate everyone on a little piece of who I am and what our Indigenous culture strives for.
I have also been a teacher/mentor at two programs here in Winnipeg. One with the City of Winnipeg for inner city youth and the other for a group of young women with the Wii ChiiWaakanak Centre at the University of Winnipeg. After a couple of years of them dancing, I was curious to hear what it meant to them and how they felt as a dancer, so I decided to ask.
Some of their responses surprised me in a very good way.
Here is what they said.
Are you a dancer as well? Showcase cultural talent? Dance ballet, jazz, hiphop, tap or any others? What does it mean to you and how do you feel when your out there showing your thang? I’m curious to know, let me know down below in the comments.
Thanks for reading!
