Hoop Dancing
Symbolizes
the Rhythm of Life
WRITTEN BY CHRIS MARCOTTE
“When I dance, I feel connected to my family, no matter where I am. Connected to all the people that have taught me and guided me. These connections remind me to be thankful for each step, song, and story I get to share.”
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—Samsoche Sampson
World-renowned Indigenous hoop dancer Samsoche Sampson, an enrolled member of the Seneca Nation, has danced in pow-wows since he could walk. He learned traditional hoop dancing when he was seven years old and his younger brother Lumhe “Micco” was six. “Our mother instilled within us a strong connection to our Indigenous cultures.” Their father was Mvskoke Creek Nation, and their mother is Seneca Nation. “Mom loves to dance and taught us how to find the rhythm in any kind of music, and this is how we created our own hoop dances. We have choreographed traditional pow-wow and hoop dance into other genres of music. And we continue to evolve.”
The two are now known professionally as the Sampson Brothers. They have a deep understanding of the significance and the role that hoop dancing plays in contributing to the greater human community. They have performed throughout North America and Europe for more than three decades. Over the course of their careers, they have shared the stage with Willie Nelson, Neil Young, Keith Secola (one time as the opening for Creedence Clearwater Revival), Frank Waln, Jana Mashonee, Brulé, and many others.
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​Hoop dancing is a traditional Indigenous dance that incorporates one or more hoops (some dancers can use thirty or more). The hoops are one-foot to two-and-a-half feet in diameter. Generally, the circumference is the same as the height of the dancer. The hoops symbolize the never-ending circle of life. The hoop dancer focuses on very rapid movements to the beat of the drums while creating hoop formations around and about the body such as a butterfly, an eagle, a snake, and a coyote in storytelling choreography.
Samsoche Sampson and son Hvrvnwvce performed at the opening ceremony of the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame, IN in 2023 (photo by Barbara Johnston).
Hoop Dance History
Traditionally, the hoop dance was a ceremonial or healing dance usually done when the community needed healing. It is believed that many of the tribes throughout North America have passed down, through oral tradition, stories of the hoop dance. The hoops were constructed of young willow wands or other strong but flexible shrubbery native to their area. The first documented hoop dancer is said to be Tony White Cloud, an enrolled member of the Jemez Pueblo, New Mexico Nation. White Cloud popularized it in America by performing it in the movie Valley of the Sun in 1942.
Indigenous hoop dancing can be demanding. Sampson works out five to six times a week to maintain cardio and flexibility. Hoop routines are memorized, and bigger shows with longer sets require significant rehearsal time. “It is a lot of mental gymnastics, so it keeps your mind sharp, too,” Sampson says. “Manipulating an object outside of your body is also a way to exercise your brain because you must do all these fast choices within your head of how and when to catch or go through the hoop. And you must keep the rhythm while you’re dancing.”
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Sampson prefers to perform with his brother, as opposed to doing solo performances, because they take turns and have more time to prepare for the next segment. “We’ll start with a spoken word piece, then I’ll do a flute solo, he’ll do an interpretive contemporary hoop dance and—depending on how much time we have—we include other dances: grass, fancy, contemporary, and traditional hoop.”
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Born and raised in Southern California, both brothers now reside in Minnesota, each with their own family. They perform together twenty-five to forty times a year. Their goal has always been to educate others around the world about their culture by setting a positive example through art, education, and dance. Their performances often include demonstration and explanation. When not performing, they’re actively guiding the next generation: “I teach hoop dancing in the northern part of the state,” Sampson says, “and my brother covers the southern part.”
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Sampson is an interdisciplinary artist and the outreach coordinator at the MacRostie Art Center in Grand Rapids. He loves that his position allows him the opportunity to travel to the local Indigenous communities and work with their artists. Sampson and the MacRostie’s Giinawind (gathering place) Gallery foster cultural connections of these local Indigenous artists through exhibits, classes, and performances.
Samsoche and several of the young participants in his hoop dance group demonstrated hoop dancing at the Celebrating Culture event in Deer River in April 2025. For some, it was their first opportunity to wear the regalia they helped to design (photo by Samantha Miller).
Because educating others about culture is a personal passion, Sampson wrote and received a Minnesota State Arts Board Cultural Expressions grant. This prestigious honor allows him, as a culture bearer, to work with youth and their families who have a desire to learn more about their cultural identity. During the 2024-2025 school year, he partnered with the Anishinaabe Gikinoo’amaadiwin (education) Program’s Drum and Dance group in the Grand Rapids School District. Sampson guided the participants by encouraging them to learn about cultural connections and family history, which could include clan systems, that then inspired the designs and creation of their regalia.
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“It [the hoop] is perpetual. It has no beginning. It has no end. But we are all undeniably a part of this circle of life.”
—Samsoche Sampson
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Dancing is an integral part of the Sampson family culture. They attend about five traditional pow-wows a year where they can dance. Sampson and his son Hvrvnwvce (Little Falcon), participated in a father-and-son dance at the Cha-Cha-Bah-Ning (Inger) Pow-wow when his son was three, and they took first place. Another son, Opany (Dancer), is two and still learning but loves to dance. Sampson’s wife, Fawn, an enrolled member of Leech Lake Anishinaabe, has been a jingle dress dancer her whole life and grew up on the pow-wow circuit. She also designs and creates her own regalia as well as helping others with theirs.
Micco (left) wears a version of a hoop dance outfit. Samsoche (right) wears a men’s fancy dance regalia (photo by Jeff Schad).
Notes from an Observer
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On April 1, 2025, I had the opportunity to see Sampson and several young hoop dancers from the Gikinoo’amaadiwin Program participate in the Celebrating Culture event in Deer River. Sampson explained the significance of the hoops and demonstrated some of the movements. The drummers took up their sticks and began. The heartbeat of the culture resonated through the drum as it has for centuries at ceremonies and celebrations. As each hoop dancer found their rhythm, they started to dance. They stepped and twirled within the hoops or through and around their hoops to an amazed audience of more than 200 community members. The youngest created the movements they were comfortable doing with abandoned joy.
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Every movement of Sampson’s teaching had a purpose. He artfully wove not only his body through the hoops but also his explanations throughout the dance; he is a skilled storyteller. Children and adults alike were intrigued as he held the hoop in his hands. “It is perpetual,” Sampson says. “It has no beginning. It has no end. But we are all undeniably a part of this circle of life.”
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Adding another hoop with the gentle movement of his foot, Sampson capitalized on the image. “In addition to that, not only are the human beings from around the world a part of this circle, but also the birds, the bees, the trees, the creepy crawlies, the earth itself. The flowers, the oceans, the stars, the moon. Everything you can think of in this entire galaxy is a part of your world.”
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Children who have come to a class are eager to reach for hoops that are just their size, but Sampson is teaching them patience as he holds a hoop parallel to the ground. “Nothing is above. Nothing is below. But we are all still equally important in this world. I am only one person. I can only see the world from one perspective. This is just a slice of the world until you run into another being”— with a magical glint in his eye, Sampson puts two hoops together, so that they interlock; the faces before him are in awe—“and share their world with yours. When your worlds intersect, it’s up to you how you try to understand and learn from each other. You have the power of choice. You could make it worse, you could ignore it, or you can heal it.” Before he began teaching the basic moves of hoop dancing, Sampson had already relayed the message of connectedness.
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The hoop dance is new to me, and I am fascinated by the importance of both the hoop and traditional hoop dancing. Sampson has an easy and intuitive way of guiding participants through the basic movements. He encourages them to find their own way through the hoops before he offers assistance, and this builds confidence and ensures a new generation of hoop dancers will carry the dance forward.
Opportunities to See Hoop Dancing
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Upcoming Events
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August 23, 2025: the Sampson Brothers perform at All My Relatives Festival, Sioux Falls, SD. levittsiouxfalls.org/event/the-sampson-brothers
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Follow Sampson Bros. on Facebook: facebook.com/share/169qvaMgUk/?mibextid=wwXIfr
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Links to Sampson Brothers’ past performances
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PBS acclaimed series If Cities Could Dance youtube/0ZQo06NawBc
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Minneapolis TED talk: youtube.com/watch?v=uaZbaPQnXE0
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City Hoops: youtube/gnhUft-kcx