Hoops and fire to descend on Ramble & Ride
Dancer Marika Cockney to wow Old Town with fusion of yoga, dance and Inuit tradition
Robin Grant
Northern News Services
Friday, August 4, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Canada's most famous hoop dancer will be wowing audiences with hula-hooping feats and fire at Old Town Ramble & Ride on Saturday afternoon.
Inuit hoop dancer Marika Cockney is the guest artist at Old Town Ramble & Ride this weekend. She was recently voted the 2016 Canadian Hooper of the Year by the CanSpin Awards. She's performing at the Government Docks on Saturday afternoon. - photo courtesy of Marika Cockney
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As the festival's featured artist, Inuit hoop dancer Marika Cockney will be performing hand spins, knee hooping, foot passes and foot catches inspired by yoga, dance and Inuit culture.
Cockney said she discovered her love of hoop dancing a couple years ago while in Costa Rica getting certified as a yoga teacher.
"It looks very magical," she said of the art. "It's very beautiful and feminine. There's a lot of power behind it. It's helped me with confidence. It's really interesting for people to see something that is so athletic and artistic at the same time."
The 25-year-old hoop dancer said her work not only incorporates dance and yoga but includes elements of Inuit culture, such as face balancing - balancing the hoop on her chin or forehead - and performing high kicks. She also wears Inuit regalia, a fusion between traditional and modern design.
In addition to performing at special events across North America, Cockney said she runs youth empowerment workshops mostly held in Indigenous communities. She said the workshops are the most important thing about her work. She hopes hoop dancing empowers youth like it empowered her.
"(Hoop dancing) completely transformed my life," she said. "It's given me an outlet and a way to express myself and build strength and flexibility."
Eco-friendliest year
Yellowknife's most eco-friendly festival is looking to be even more so this year.
"We're focusing a lot more on composting," said festival co-ordinator Lisa Giovanetto, who is new to the post this year.
"We are encouraging all the vendors to use 100 per cent recyclable material."
While bottled water will be sold during the festival, Ecology North is setting up a booth with water jugs and encouraging festival goers to bring their own refillable bottle, mug or cup.
"It doesn't make sense to use imported water in bottles because there is such good water in the NWT," said Ecology North water specialist Brenda Van Hauvart. "People have access to good water, there is no need in most cases to buy bottled water."
Old Town Ramble and Ride events
Like every year, Ramble and Ride is kicking off with its featured event, a bike rally in Somba K'e Civic Plaza on Friday.
Katch the King, a three-day Chase the Ace hosted by the Snow King is taking place this year at Down to Earth Gallery.
Some other events include the opportunity to see inside the Hudson Bay Heritage building on Wiley Road as the Old Town Art Show will be held in the building.
"It will be neat to not only see the local art inside but to see the heritage building itself," said Giovanetto.
Music will be playing at different stages around Old Town throughout the weekend, featuring both local and out of town artists.
Quebecois soprano Léa Weilbrenner is scheduled to perform tomorrow. The Montreal-based opera singer won the Montreal Prix d'Expression Musicale in 2008.
She has sung in diverse orchestras in Montreal and with the Madiba Chor ensemble in Berlin.
Weilbrenner is well-known for her interpretation of Mozart, Vivaldi and Schumann.
