Nakotah LaRance (Hopi/ Tewa/Assiniboine) of Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo, NM, won his second consecutive adult world hoop dance title at the 26th annual Heard Museum World Championship Hoop Dance Contest to become the best hoop dancer in the world.
PHOENIX-Nakotah LaRance (Hopi/Tewa/Assiniboine) of Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo, N.M., earned 237 points to win his second consecutive adult world hoop dance title at the 26th annual Heard Museum World Championship Hoop Dance Contest Feb. 14. The honor also included $3,500 in prize money.
LaRance's total, out of a maximum of 250 points, bested that of the second-place finisher, former champion Dallas Arcand (Cree/Nakota Sioux/Metis), of Kipohtakaw First Nation, Alberta, Canada. Arcand had 231 points, earning him a $2,500 prize. In 2015, LaRance's victory over his next closest opponent, seven-time adult world champion Derrick Suwaima Davis (Hopi/Choctaw) of Old Oraibi, Ariz., was also by six points, 241-235. This year, Davis placed fifth. Eighty-one contestants-23 more than in 2015-competed this weekend in the museum's Libby Amphitheater in youth, teen, adult and senior divisions.
Third place in the adult division went to Scott Sixkiller Sinquah (Gila River Pima/Cherokee/Hopi), of Phoenix, who received 227 points and a $2,000 prize. Patrick Willie (Navajo), of Orem, Utah, earned 224 points to place fourth. Davis was fifth with 223 points, while Lane Jensen (Navajo/Maricopa), of Dilkon, Ariz., placed sixth with 212 points.
World championships were also won Sunday in the senior, teen and youth divisions:
•Terry L. Goedel, (Yakima/Tulalip), of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., repeated his 2015 feat as senior champion, earning $2,500 with a total of 231 points.
•Teen champion Talon Ree Duncan (San Carlos Apache/Mandan/Hidatsa/Arikara), of Mesa, Ariz., won with 239 points, earning $750.
•And Jaron Yazzie (Navajo/Apache) of Farmington, N.M., won the youth division for the third consecutive time, with 235 points, earning him a $350 prize.
The two-day event Saturday and Sunday featured 81 competitors from the United States and Canada, with one dancer coming from as far away as the Canadian province of Ontario and one from Honolulu, Hawaii. An estimated crowd of 5,000 was present over the two days of the competition.
Dancers were judged on a slate of five skills-precision, timing/rhythm, showmanship, creativeness and speed. To earn a spot in the finals, a dancer must survive two preliminary "rounds" of competition. Six finalists compete in the adult division's final round while three each compete in the others. A "tiny tots" division for dancers age 6 and younger is not scored; it drew 11 participants.
