At 8 years old, Shanien Sonwai Larance's father made a point for her and her two brothers to train together every day in a leisure center in Flagstaff, Arizona. Crackles of different colors sprinkled the ground while the children of the Light were preparing for their training time after the school in Dance of the Native American hoops. Although she wanted to go downstairs to play with her friends, her father affectionately said “train now, and one day, this dance will open doors to you.”
He was right. Thanks to the hoop dance, Larance has become a defender of Aboriginal communities, sharing its Native American culture with the world. It is affiliated with the Hopi, Tewa, Navajo and Assiniboine tribes, which has strongly shaped its cultural identity.
During festivals, Aboriginal art exhibitions and Powwows, the father of Larance created a stand where he sang while Larance and his two brothers made hoop dances for advice and donations that served as a monthly allowance. His older brother, Nakotah, finally took a generalized renown for his skills, becoming a world champion nine times in Dance Hoop. “If you ask a hoop dancer in the world” who is the best dancing in Amerindian hoop? ” They will probably say Nakota Larance.
When Larance was 19 years old, she followed Nakotah and began to tour with the spectacle of the Cirque du Soleil “Totem”, which combined various cultural performances around the world and highlighted the Native American influences. During the next nine years, she has traveled internationally, performing in “Totem” while mastering the hoop dance under the supervision of her brother. When Nakotah left the tour, Larance remained. “The show developed me in the young woman I am now,” she says. “From a young age, I always wanted to share my culture, and the show helped me do this and follow my dreams.”
In 2020, when the pandemic struck and “totem” closed, Larance moved to his home in the ancestral lands of his family to New Mexico. That summer, Nakotah died tragically in an accident, modifying the course of Larance's life. Since then, she devoted her career to the hoop to honor the heritage of her brother and took over as a master instructor of her non -profit organization, The Lightning Boy Foundation.
Larance’s commitment to raising her community and preserving her brother's memory made her an inspiring figure. In 2022, she and her father were the star artists during the inaugural celebration of the Amerindian heritage held in the White House. More recently, Larance was selected for the campaign Le New Mexico True Legacy, where it represents the spirit and culture of its country of origin.
Here, Larance discusses his greatest inspirations and his future plans.
On the influence of Nakotah:
“After Nakota Came Home from Tour, he decided he wanted to Teach Kids How to Dance. He liked to say that he had peter pan syndrome and he wanted to be a kid His white, so he really bonded with children on another level. He actually bonded with before Becuse He Had a Childlike Heart.
On the importance of hoop dance for youth:
“The aim of teaching is to physically recognize and grasp our culture through the dancing of the hoop and to share this with the world. The hoop dance concerns the circle of life and respects everything in this circle. These children learn to respect, encourage and be kind to each other while sharing their stories. And we dance for our family.
On future plans:
“I started working on a new show in Santa Fe Mystical. It is an Amerindian dinner and I am the creative director. It has been open for two months now, and we have only had two shows, but I hope it continues on a bihebdomedary basis. We are really excited because it is one of the first platforms of the New Mexico where you can see coherent indigenous performance without having to be invited to a special event which comes once a year. It is a truly unique experience to see live performances, so I hope to develop the public and continue to share the dancing of the hoop and my culture with as many people as possible. »»
