ShanDien Sonwai LaRance – Dance/USA Artist Fellow

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Image description: ShanDien Sonwai LaRance stands in Traditional white Native American dress. She holds a feather in her right, hand over her chest. ShanDien is a young Native American woman. She wears her hair down, straight and black. Behind her on the wall are traditional woven rugs with many colors; dominantly in red, orange, and brown colors. ShanDien is wearing a red coral necklace and turquoise inlaid bracelet. Photo by Wes Cunningham from One Trip Media.

ShanDien Sonwai LaRance

she/her/hers 

Tewa Land; Ohkay Owingeh, NM

ShanDien Sonwai LaRance who is Hopi, Tewa, Navajo, and Assiniboine, is a champion Native American hoop dancer, choreographer, and instructor from Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico. Growing up immersed in the Native American arts and traditions, ShanDien dreamed of sharing her unique culture with the world. She learned to hoop dance from her older brother, Nakotah LaRance (1989-2020) at eight years old. ShanDien toured with Cirque Du Soleil as a principal dancer for nine years. During that time, she traveled to over 20 countries performing her hoop dance for thousands of people. ShanDien has since become a global ambassador for Native American and First Nations People. Since returning home, ShanDien has won multiple hoop dance competitions and has started a new career in acting and modeling. She aspires to continue teaching the Native American hoop dance to her Indigenous communities focusing on the youth. ShanDien works with a non-profit organization, The Lighting Boy Foundation as the lead instructor and is currently working on her own website, Handsome Star Hoop Dance. Through her website, she hopes to make learning the Native American Hoop Dance more accessible to Indigenous communities, creating a Native wellness movement that supports community transformation rooted in traditional and ancestral teachings.

For more information about ShanDien Sonwai LaRance: 

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Image description: ShanDien Sonwai LaRance is a young Native American woman. She is posing in her Native American Hoop Dance Regalia, holding 5 white hoops in both hands, shaped in a geometric flower/basket shape. ShanDien wears a yellow scarf tied around her neck and two braids in her hair. Her dress is light blue with sparkles and applique designs. Red fringe hangs off of her dress just below her knees. She wears red leggings with traditional dance leggings that match her dress. She wears a brown leather studded belt with flower designs. She is posing in a field of green brush and a grey sky with clouds. Photo by Wes Cunningham from One Trip Media.

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