Reluctant to dance, Odjig hooked on it now

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When Lisa Odjig was a teenager in Wikwemikong, Manitoulin Island, she wasn't sure what she wanted to do with her life, but she knew it wouldn't involve hoop dancing.

The 27-year-old, who went on to win the World Championship Hoop Dance Competition in 2000 in Phoenix Ariz., reluctantly began hoop dancing at 16 when an uncle urged her to take up the art.

"I kept telling him I didn't want to do it, but as soon as I tried it I was hooked," laughs the tall, lithe Odawa/Ojibway woman.

She now practises dancing three to four times a week and does physical work-outs on the other days. A theatre arts student at the University of Calgary, Lisa is usually touring when she's not studying. As well, she designs all her own outfits.

Her performances have led her to such prestigious places as the Salt Lake City Olympics, Canada Day celebrations in Ottawa attended by Queen Elizabeth and Prime Minister Jean Chretien, and the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation in March, 2002 in Winnipeg. The foundation gives out awards to Native peoples in every facet of life. Lisa frequently performs for private businesses and corporate group functions, too. Her beginnings were a little more humble - she danced at pow-wows and family gatherings.

"People started telling me how good I was and how much they enjoyed it," she said. "That gave me the confidence to perform internationally."

Hoop dancing, the Native art of using thin, circular reeds or willow branches to tell a story through dance, began thousands of years ago and was only done by men until around 50 years ago. Lisa is the first woman to ever win the World Championship Hoop Dance competition.

"Hoop dancing is a healing dance - it brings physical, emotional, mental and spiritual healing to people, animals and the environment," said Lisa. "The story is told through the hoops by the way in which they connect."

The story Lisa was telling in her dance during the Red Spring Sisters' concert at the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto was of eagles and the strength they represent. "I wanted to tell people that, just like the eagles, we have to keep going and be strong and determined, even in hard times," she said.

Lisa became involved with Native Women in the Arts when she met Sandra Laronde, artistic producer and founder of the organization, at the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation in March, 2002 in Winnipeg.

"She performed in a pre-show dance," Sandra reminisced. "When I saw her dancing, I thought she exuded the kind of image Native Women in the Arts wants to put on stage-one of pride, confidence and a great ability. I'd already invited her to another dance performance we put on in 2001-sight unseen - but she wasn't available," she said.

Sandra remembers seeing Lisa dance as early as 1998 when she performed with the American Indian Dance Theatre.

"I knew one of the choreographers and Lisa was doing another type of dancing - not hoop dancing. Even then, I thought she was a great dancer."

The sense of unity and loyalty felt towards female Native artists evident at the Red Spring Sisters concert was a culmination of three days of intensive work-shopping for Native women wanting to hone their traditional or contemporary singing abilities. Native women from across North America drove and flew to the event organized by Laronde, a well-known Canadian actress, writer and performing artist.

Her organization, Native Women in the Arts, was founded in 1993 and now has a membership of more than 3,000 women and arts organizations across Canada. The group encourages artistic and cultural expression through creativity, activism and social responsibility.

What does the future hold for the immensely successful and popular Lisa Odjig? "I see myself directing theatre, maybe play writing. But as long as I'm able to, I'll keep on dancing," she says.