Local hoop dancers going to world championships

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This article was published 18/02/2025 (228 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For those who have attended Summer in the City or a few cultural events in the Steinbach area, they would be familiar with the Mason sisters and their hoop dancing. Kimberly and Charisma are a prime example of reconciliation when it comes to bridging the gap between people with their shows that teach the history and storytelling of the hoop dance.

Now, the duo, along with their eight-year-old sister Nakiyah, are on their way to the 35th World Championship Hoop Dancing Contest in Phoenix, Arizona, Feb. 15-16.

“This is the biggest hoop dancing competition in the world,” said Kimberly. “When you’re here in Canada and Manitoba there’s lots of powwow competitions and tournaments and all that, but there’s no hoop dancing because not so many people do it.”

“That just makes it even more a special moment for us,” said Charisma. “It’s very important that we go not only to gain that knowledge, but that we go to this hoop dancing competition (which is only once a year).”

This is the second time the sisters have gone to the Worlds. Last year, they secured enough points to get close to the final six out of 119 dancers. Nakiyah managed to place seventh amongst 70.

“Hoop dancing is really based on the person because each person brings their own uniqueness to the dance and they have their own style of dancing and their own stories as they dance,” said Charisma. “And I think also that’s a really big part as to why we’re going to the Worlds, is we get to gain that knowledge and experience of other hoop dancers and watching their stories, their formations, and dances. It helps us gain more knowledge of it and we get to bring that back to Canada.”

The sisters started hoop dancing 10 years ago after watching a hoop dancer in Steinbach perform. They said they tailor their choreography to the story they are wanting to tell and to their audience.

“There is usually one person dancing (in hoop dance)…but we choreographed it so that it’s not just one person. It’s an experience to take two people and (it) represents connecting and reconciling and coming together and working together and all that,” said Kimberly.

“We both started at the same time and we’re real close our whole lives and it just made our connection as sisters even closer when we did hoop dancing together,” said Charisma.

Over the years, the sisters said hoop dancing has become more contemporary with the sisters doing innovative formations to contemporary Indigenous DJ music. Another modern move is the sisters represent a minority in the hoop dancing world as there are not a lot of female dancers.

“Yes, that’s a conversation we have quite often,” said Charisma. “It’s definitely more male dominated hoop dancing, but that’s also another reason why we want to go and represent (at the Worlds).”

And representation is important to the dancing sisters. Through their hoop dance they hope to inspire and educate youth.

“It gives us a platform to share these topics and reconciliation, Every Child Matters, missing Indigenous women…We’re just embracing our culture and uniting everybody along with it,” said Charisma.