Fancy dancer a brilliant butterfly

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/07/2019 (2358 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Fluttering fearlessly and fast in time to the rhythm of the drum, Cree dancer Alicia Trout, 19, embodies the butterfly as she dances.

“I get told when I dance I don’t look like I’m touching the ground,” Trout said with a shy grin, explaining that is the best compliment a dancer can receive.

A thousand footsteps brought her to Brandon to dance wacipi (powwow).

She began dancing eight years ago, starting off as a jingle dancer — a dance that represents healing.

“Dance to me is everything. If I lose dance, then I will have nothing,” she said.

Trout is originally from Cross Lake, and makes the 13-hour journey back north every summer.

“It’s beautiful out there, it’s peaceful, it’s quiet,” Trout said.

She lost both parents when she was a child, and grew up in the care of Child and Family Services.

“My mom passed from alcoholic addiction, she got sick and she passed April 8, 2004. I was only four years old when she passed,” Trout said.

She knows very little about her parents to this day, but she hears stories about what they were like.

“I wish she (my mom) was still here with me to watch what I can do, but I know she’s watching down on me,” Trout said. “She’s helping me in whatever way she can.”

She recently lost her grandpa last Christmas, as well.

It has been tough without her parents around, but she found her culture through dance.

She dances for her mom, dad and grandpa, but also loves dancing for elders and kids.

It is always great to meet new people and make new friends, she said.

Growing up as a little girl, she fell in love with wacipi.

“Powwow is a celebration. It’s to have fun, to enjoy, for all ages all people,” Trout said. “Anybody can dance. It doesn’t matter if you have regalia, as long as you come out and have fun.”

A dancer’s heart becomes one with the beat of the drum, and Trout can feel the song matching her dance steps from beginning to end.

Trout has many friends from wacipi, and considers them part of her family.

“When I dance I take my mind off of everything — I just think about me, my life and the healing I’m going through,” Trout said.

Trout has become a mentor at the Brandon Aboriginal Youth Activity Centre powwow club, youth cultural worker Billie Brandon said.

“She tries to get them involved as much as they can,” Brandon said.

One need only watch her interact with the kids at the club to see her positive influence as a role model when she dances with the kids, Brandon said.

It is inspiring to watch the kids dance, Brandon said, and an awesome experience to see youth wanting to get involved and learn more about Indigenous culture.

Trout specializes in the fancy dance, the fastest dance for women.

“The dancing, the moves are kind of hard to do,” Trout said.

Every piece of her women’s fancy shawl regalia holds special meaning.

Wearing her brilliant red shawl, Trout looks like a butterfly when she dances.

“They move gracefully and flutter,” Brandon said.

Trout made her regalia herself over the course of a year, and each piece is designed to represent celebration and the butterfly.

She wears a vibrant yellow dress representing the sun, with blue fabric decorated with sequins representing the sky at the bottom. The dress is adorned with images representing the earth.

She has a red bandana tied to her hip, one of the four colours of her medicine wheel.

Her feet are covered by well-worn leather moccasins that while made for dancing, are unfortunately not as comfortable as they look, she said with a smile.

“When you wear them you feel everything,” Trout said.

The final piece is a dazzling red shawl, Trout calls her “butterfly wings.”

Trout is as vibrant and colourful as a butterfly when she dances, Brandon Aboriginal Youth Activity Centre community mentor Miranda Traverse said.

The dance and regalia reflect Trout’s happy-go-lucky nature.

“Dancing is therapeutic for some people,” Traverse said.

» ckemp@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @The_ChelseaKemp