Nakotah LaRance facts for kids

Nakotah Lomasohu Raymond LaRance (August 23, 1989 - July 12, 2020) was a Hopi-Tewa hoop dancer and actor of Assiniboine, Navajo people, and Ohkay Owingeh descent. He was a citizen of the Hopi Tribe of Arizona.

Background

LaRance was born on August 23, 1989, in Barrow, Alaska (now Utqiagvik), to Marian Denipah and Steve LaRance. They were both jewelers and artists. The family moved to Flagstaff, Arizona, and then New Mexico

Dancing career

At four years old, LaRance began dancing as a fancy dancer and competed in the youth division of the World Championship Hoop Dance Contest in Phoenix, Arizona. He performed on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno in 2004.

LaRance won three championships in the youth division and three in the teenage division of the World Championship Hoop Dance competition.

In 2009, he joined the Cirque du Soleil troupe as a principal dancer. He worked as a traveling performer with the troupe for over three years. In 2015, he danced at the opening of the Pan American Games in Toronto with Cirque du Soleil.

He won the title of World Champion at the Hoop Dance Contest three times, as part of the adult division in 2015, 2016 and 2018.

LaRance taught hoop dancing to students at the Lightning Boy Foundation in New Mexico.

Death

LaRance died at age 30 on July 12, 2020, after a fall from climbing a bridge in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico.