When ShanDien Sonwai LaRance was 8 years old, his father made it a point to train together every day with his two brothers at a rec center in Flagstaff, Arizona. Hoops of different colors littered the floor as the LaRance children prepared for their hour of after-school training in Native American hoop dancing. Even though she wanted to go down and play with her friends, her father lovingly told her, “Practice now, and one day this dance will open doors for you.” »
He was right. Through hoop dancing, LaRance became an advocate for indigenous communities, sharing her Native American culture with the world. It is affiliated with the Hopi, Tewa, Navajo and Assiniboine tribes, which has strongly shaped its cultural identity.
At festivals, Native art shows and powwows, LaRance’s father would set up a booth where he would sing while LaRance and his two brothers performed hoop dances to get tips and donations that they used as a gift. monthly allowance. His older brother, Nakotah, eventually gained worldwide fame for his skills, becoming a nine-time world hoop dancing champion. “If you ask any hoop dancer in the world, ‘Who is the best Native American hoop dancer?’ they’ll probably say Nakota LaRance. He left such a strong impact,” she says.
When LaRance turned 19, she followed Nakotah and began touring with the Cirque du Soleil show “TOTEM,” which combined various cultural performances from around the world and emphasized Native American influences. Over the next nine years, she traveled overseas, performing in “TOTEM” while mastering hoop dancing under the tutelage of her brother. When Nakotah left the tour, LaRance stayed. “The show made me the young woman I am now,” she says. “From a young age, I always wanted to share my culture, and the series helped me do that and make my dreams come true.”
In 2020, when the pandemic hit and “TOTEM” closed its doors, LaRance moved to his family’s ancestral Tewa lands in New Mexico. That summer, Nakotah tragically died in an accident, changing the course of LaRance’s life. Since then, she has dedicated her hoops dancing career to honoring her brother’s legacy and has taken over as master instructor of his nonprofit, the Lightning Boy Foundation.
LaRance’s commitment to uplifting her community and preserving her brother’s memory has made her an inspiring figure. In 2022, she and her father were the featured performers at the inaugural celebration of Native American heritage held at the White House. Most recently, LaRance was selected for the New Mexico True Legacy campaign, where she represents the spirit and culture of her home state.
Here, LaRance discusses his biggest inspirations and future plans.
On Nakotah’s influence:
“After Nakotah came home from tour, he decided he wanted to teach kids how to dance. He liked to say that he suffered from Peter Pan syndrome and wanted to be a child his whole life, so he really connected with children on another level. In fact, he connected with everyone on another level because he had the heart of a child. I was still touring when it started and became the master instructor for the Lightning Boy Foundation, with the mission of teaching Native youth how to hoop dance and keeping them connected to their cultural identity. And after losing my brother, I became the master instructor charged with carrying on his legacy and vision.
On the importance of hoop dancing for young people:
“The goal of teaching is to physically recognize and grasp our culture through hoop dancing and share it with the world. Hoop dancing is about the circle of life and respecting everything within that circle. These children learn to respect, encourage and be kind to each other while sharing their stories. They say that as hoop dancers, we dance for those who cannot, for our elders, for those who have passed away, for our ancestors. We dance for our brothers, for our sisters and we dance for our family. We are very proud to be able to instill this respect and storytelling aspect in our indigenous youth and to see them grow into confident and healthy young adults.
On future projects:
“I started working on a new show in Santa Fe at Mystical. It’s a Native American dinner show and I’m the creative director. It’s been open for two months now, and we’ve only had two shows, but I hope it continues on a bi-weekly basis. We’re really excited because this is one of the first platforms in New Mexico where you can see Indigenous performances on a consistent basis without having to be invited to a special event that happens once a year. It’s a truly unique experience to see live performances, so I hope to expand the audience and continue to share hoop dancing and my culture with as many people as possible.
