Nakotah Lomasohu Raymond LaRance | |
---|---|
Born | Utqiagvik, Alaska, U.S. | August 23, 1989
Died | July 12, 2020 30) Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, U.S. | (aged
Occupation | Dancer |
Nakotah Lomasohu Raymond LaRance (August 23, 1989 - July 12, 2020) was a Native American hoop dancer and actor [1] [2] [3] He was a citizen of the Hopi Tribe of Arizona. [4]
LaRance was born on August 23, 1989, in Barrow, Alaska (now Utqiagvik). His parents are Marian Denipah (Navajo/Tewa) and Steve LaRance (Hopi/Assiniboine). Nakotah, hereceived a Hopi name “Lomasohu”<name name=not/> by his paternal grandmother. Lomasohu means "handsome star" in the Hopi language. His parents were both jewelers and artists. He grew up in Flagstaff, Arizona, [1] and spent summer in Moencopi, Arizona, then moved to New Mexico.
At four years old, LaRance began dancing as a fancy dancer [5] and competed in the youth division of the World Championship Hoop Dance Contest in Phoenix, Arizona. [6] He performed on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno in 2004. [1]
LaRance won three championships in the youth division and three in the teenage division of the World Championship Hoop Dance competition. [1]
In 2009, LaRance 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. [1] [7]
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. [1]
LaRance taught hoop dancing to students at the Lightning Boy Foundation in New Mexico. [8]
LaRance died at age 30 on July 12, 2020, after a fall from climbing a bridge in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico. [1]
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