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By Brittney Pastion of CFWE-FM
Windspeaker.com Contributor
A hoop dancer from Alexander First Nation, Alta. will take the stage at the Cultural Olympiad Art Performance Festival as part of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
In February, 20-year-old Dallas Arcand Jr. will team up with Wendy Walker and Dawn von Arnim, who make up the a cappella group Reconciliation. They will showcase Alberta and Indigenous people at the world event.
Arcand Jr. first started his hoop dancing journey watching his dad, Dallas Arcand Sr., three-time world champion hoop dancer, perform at various events. He can remember back to his first time his father threw him on stage. He was 12 years old and he performed in front of 18,000 spectators.
He said ‘You’re coming up there with me, my boy’, providing an outfit and some hoops.
The moments leading up to his hoop dancing debut was a blessing in disguise. Arcand Jr. used to dance grass, but his regalia had been stolen out of the truck. Arcand Sr. wasn’t about to let his son sit around. ‘You’ve got to work, if you’re going to come back stage. You don’t just get that pass for free”.
It was in 2016, when Arcand Jr. was given the opportunity to perform for a Korean sports team while they visited Edmonton, an opportunity that ultimately led to the 2018 Winter Olympics invitation. The sports team loved the 2016 performance, and invited him back the next year to perform for a second time.
Afterwards they told Arcand Jr. that they had never invited a performer back a second time.
“So they were so blown away the first time, they had to have me back the second time. As a result of that, they were in talks with my manager” for the Olympics.
With his father setting the bar high, the expectation was always for his son to go past him, Arcand Jr. said. Remembering back to his dad’s words “I worked this hard to get here. Now, it’s your turn to go farther than me.”
“It’s an amazing feeling to finally go past my dad and to make him proud and everyone else.”
Arcand Jr’s nation is in awe of the news.
“Everyone is telling me how proud they are, and I haven’t even left yet.”
There will be two 30-minute choreographed sets put together with Reconciliation, opening with some flute playing and closing with the hoop dance.
The story Arcand Jr. is telling through his hoop dance is from long ago when First Nations lived in tipis, when a young warrior was running away from his enemies.
“This young warrior prayed to Creator and he prayed and asked him for help getting away from his enemies, these predators. So the Creator granted him the hoops, and so with the hoops he gave him (the ability to) shape shift into different animals.” The hoop formations mimic all types of animals, from eagles to turtles.
Reconciliation is made up of Métis woman Wendy Walker and Dawn von Arnim, who is of German descent.
Arcand Jr. said he hopes their performances will show “that First Nations, we’re here in the world” and “it’s time to stop holding grudges as well. It’s time that we move forward.”
Arcand Jr.’s message to young people is that anything is possible. If you set your mind to getting something accomplished “you will go far.”
Arcand Jr. is set to perform alongside Reconciliation on Feb. 10 and Feb. 11 in South Korea.