New Wiggle excited for Brandon debut

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This article was published 20/10/2022 (1186 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Tsehay Hawkins is currently in the middle of her first Canadian tour as a full member of the Wiggles and is elated that she is able to perform in front of so many families from coast to coast.

Talking to the Sun ahead of the band’s upcoming weekend stop in Brandon, Hawkins said she first came to Canada this past summer, although that visit to promote her new position with the Australian children’s music group was very brief.

“I think I was here for less than 48 hours just to do press and interviews,” the 16-year-old dancer said over the phone from Burlington, Ont. “So I got to see a tiny bit of Toronto.”

The Wiggle’s current tour is far more expansive in scope, having kicked off in New Brunswick and Newfoundland in late September and is scheduled to wrap up in British Columbia by Nov. 1.

Now that the band is entering the Prairie leg of their musical expedition, Hawkins has been amazed by the new sights and sounds she’s encountered so far and can’t wait to see what’s around the corner in Brandon and beyond.

“Just meeting all the fans … you can tell that they have so much love for the Wiggles, so it’s been really cool,” she said. “But also just exploring Canada … it’s a beautiful country. The people are really, really friendly, which feels similar to Australia, in a kind of way.”

Outside of serving as the Wiggles’ first return to Canada since 2019, the ongoing Big Show Tour! is also a major introductory showcase for Hawkins, who officially became a main member of the group earlier this year following the retirement of performer Emma Watkins.

This lineup change drew major headlines across the world, since Hawkins became the first Black Wiggle and the youngest main member in the group’s 30-plus-year history.

Hawkins said that Canadian audiences have given her a very warm welcome since this current tour began late last month, with some fans even adopting her signature look in the crowd.

“I wear sunflowers, that’s kind of my thing, and we’ve been receiving sunflower signs and stuff like that in the audience, and it’s made me feel very proud,” she said.

As a performer, Hawkins is also glad that she’s getting the opportunity to take part in this cross-country tour, as these events have been in short supply since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged in early 2020.

After all, the new Wiggle has been dancing since she was two years old and went on to impress global audiences with her skills in various Latin and commercial dance competitions.

Hawkins’ raw talent eventually attracted the attention of the Wiggles, which allowed her to begin performing for the band in 2020 and take on an increasingly visible role throughout 2021, eventually culminating with her promotion to the main cast earlier this year.

While this period featured a limited number of live performances due to COVID restrictions, Hawkins still managed to learn a lot making content for the Wiggles’ various online platforms.

Within this controlled environment, Hawkins got the chance to sharpen her singing and on-stage presentation skills, which is really paying off now that she’s getting to connect with families across Canada.

“It’s been really cool being in that experience as well, working on set with all the Wiggles and learning from Anthony [Field] and the originals on how to interact with children and what appeals to them on camera that makes them feel included,” she said.

“So learning those skills and using them on camera but also on stage as well has been something really exciting.”

Hawkins’ inclusion in the Wiggles lineup is also part of the group’s broader push to better represent its fans, having introduced a variety of new supporting cast members last year who hail from diverse backgrounds.

Speaking as someone who was born in Ethiopia and raised in Australia through adoptive parents, Hawkins knows how valuable this emphasis on diversity in children’s entertainment can be for developing minds.

“Growing up, especially in Australia, in a semi-rural area, there weren’t many Africans or Black people on TV,” she said, citing the character Princess Tiana from Disney’s “The Princess and the Frog” as a rare exception.

“So I’m really, really proud I get to represent a community for people of colour, and I get so many African families who reach out to me and say ‘my daughter is so excited that she has someone who she looks like and can relate to.’”

But more than anything, Hawkins is just excited to be such a big part of the Wiggles, since she remembers watching the group as a little girl and still can’t believe she gets to perform on stage next to some of its founding members.

Over the next couple weeks, Hawkins hopes that her enthusiasm for the group comes across on stage, especially since she knows how each show can be a foundational experience for the kids in the audience.

“It’s a lot of their first times at a concert or listening to live music, so I guess my goal is just to make the children happy and give the parents a little bit of a break while we do our shows.”

The Wiggles are scheduled to perform at Brandon’s Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium Saturday at 12:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.

Tickets can be purchased online at wmca.ca or by visiting the WMCA box office in person.

» kdarbyson@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @KyleDarbyson