NEWS RELEASE
GUELPH DANCE
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Guelph, ON (May 4, 2017) – Guelph Dance is bringing Indigenous Hoop Dance performer and educator Jessica McMann to Guelph the week of May 8 to teach in five public schools. Students at Arbour Vista Public School, Mitchell Woods Public School, Rickson Ridge Public School, Taylor Evans Public School, and WC Winegard Public School will learn about this cultural dance form and have the opportunity to dance with the hoops to create formations, designs, and symbols of nature. McMann, a Cree musician, hoop dancer, and choreographer, is firmly grounded in the traditional teachings of Blackfoot and Cree culture. She has been performing fancy shawl and hoop dance for 15 years. Her week-long residency in Guelph is supported by The Canada Council.
McMann’s workshops precede three performances by two-time world hoop dance champion Lisa Odjig, who will appear during the Guelph Dance Festival, May 31-June 4. Odjig’s performances take place at Hanlon Creek Park on Friday, June 2, 6 p.m., and at Exhibition Park on Saturday, June 3 and Sunday, June 4 at 12 p.m. Odjig will also teach a one-hour hoop dance workshop at 1 p.m. following the Sunday performance. These performances and the workshop are open to the general public and the cost is pay-what-you-can.
For more information about the Guelph Dance Festival, visit www.guelphdance.ca or call 519-780-2220.
About Guelph Dance
Established in 1998, Guelph Dance is a nationally recognized leader in contemporary dance, offering a platform for professional, new-generation, and youth dance artists to share their vision, push creative boundaries, and engage community audiences.
Guelph Dance gratefully acknowledges the support of its funders: the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the City of Guelph, the Guelph Community Foundation, the Community Fund for Canada’s 150th, the Good Foundation, and the Rotary Club of Guelph-Trillium.
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