Vogue called it a full display of “indigenous beauty and skill.” Atlas Obscura deemed it a “unique competition.” Many Phoenicians know it as “that big thing that happens at Heard Museum every year.”
It’s the World Championship Hoop Dance Contest – and for the first time in its 30-year history, the entire event will be online only. The competition, which combines athleticism, artistry and tradition, features more than a hundred hoop dancers in several age categories from more than a dozen tribes in the U.S. and Canada. It streams for free from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 13.
In the competition, dancers manipulate up to 50 hoops through various movements with almost every part of their bodies to form shapes of symbols like eagles and baskets and tell stories to the beat of drums.
“The roots of hoop dancing can be traced back to traditional Native healing ceremonies,” says Dennis Bowen Sr. (Seneca), longtime host and emcee of the World Championship Hoop Dance Contest. “Considering what we have all experienced this year, I can’t think of a better way of sharing this tradition of healing and offering hope and joy to audiences across North America.”
Visit heard.org/event/hoop for updates and check out the event Facebook page for more information.
