by Lucie Roy
Canadian Hoop Champion and renowned international performer Dallas Arcand was at Primeau on Thursday afternoon.
Arcand, who is from Alexander First Nation, was awarded first place at the Annual World Championship Hoop Dancing Competition in Phoenix, Arizona in 2012. For three years, Arcand has been named a World Champion Hoop Dancer.
Arcand is also a musician and music producer and played the drum and the wooden flute for the students.
In the 2008 Aboriginal People’s Choice Awards, Arcand won for Best Flute CD and Best Instrument CD. He also won a Canadian Aboriginal Music Award in Toronto for Best Flute CD.
He was named the Aboriginal Role Model of Alberta in 2008.
At the Aboriginal People’s Choice Awards in 2007, he was recognized for Best Producer/Engineer for an album by Kra Z Kree.
His Aboriginal name is Dancing Buffalo Man. Aboriginal names are chosen at birth, and for many years he had no idea that dancing would become a major influence in his life and now he delights in sharing his culture.