In a gymnasium packed with of middle-schoolers, a deep voice broke out:

“When I weep, he cries and comforts, and when I triumph, he puffs with pride. He sings, yet I cannot hear, and he dances, yet I cannot see.”

Accompanied by flute and throat singing music, Lumhe Sampson performed a poem for Chaska Middle School West in early December. It was part of a multicultural assembly organized by the school’s American Indian Parent Advisory Committee.

The parent group has put on events like this for three years now, said Mary Jo Nairn, lead instructional coach for the district.

“So they really are interested in funding things like this – anything that promotes this positive culture,” Nairn said.

EXPRESSING

Sampson’s poem, written while in college over a decade ago, is about his father who passed away while Sampson was a baby.

“I didn’t get to grow up with him, learn from him, laugh with him or any of that stuff,” he told students. “But it was moments where people compared us and see us in the same light, I feel like we are together.”

Together Sampson and his younger sibling, Samsoche, make up the Sampson Brothers, an American Indian hoop dance duo. The Muscogee (Creek)/Seneca siblings have performed around the world and at hundreds of schools since early childhood, teaching crowds about hoop dancing and their culture.

The two grew up in California. As children, they met a man from Northern Saskatchewan, Canada. Their mother made him an outfit in exchange for hoop dancing lessons for the boys. They began with five hoops and now use upward of 16.

Between dances, Sampson invited students to yell out what shapes they saw in his art. Some yelled “snake” or “Mickey Mouse.” To him, the hoops are more than outlines and patterns.

“It gives us a chance to tell our own story, and we are all unique,” Sampson said.

“We all have our own stories, and while we might have similarities and parallels, often times more than not, we find ourselves very significant in this world.”

BREAKING

Throughout the roughly two-hour assembly, student DJs coordinated music and microphones, helping to announce the performers. Up next was BRKFST Dance Company, featuring four breaking dancers.

Breaking, commonly known as breakdancing, was born in the early 1970s from New York City gangs. From there, it’s grown into a hip-hop based individual art intended to be accessible and experimental, the group said.

It’s a history the group wants students to be aware of when watching and learning.

“It’s about educating the youth about the form,” said Lisa “MonaLisa” Berman with BRKFST. “We talk about the history of where breaking came from and the roots of hip hop.”

The four dancers performed a few numbers for the students, both individually and together. After some time, BRKFST invited children to come to the floor and try some moves.

“That’s what breaking is about – it’s about making your own movement,” said Joseph “MN Joe” Tran with BRKFST who, like Lisa, has been breaking since the early 2000s.

A call for volunteer dancers brought students from the sixth to eighth grade to the gymnasium floor – enough to prompt a request to stretch their arms out to make room for everyone.

CREATING

Whether hoop dancing or breaking, performers said they enjoy coming to schools to educate, share and create.

“We like to make art that speaks to not just the youth, but to people that have been in the scene for a while,” Tran said. “I really love to do it and it’s just fun.”

“It’s fun to create your own moves and possibly create a dance move that has never existed in the world before,” he continued.

Dancing simply inspires, the groups said. At the end of the day, they hope students gain appreciation and maybe some creative vision with respect to all cultures.

“Now we are aware of this world in its entirety,” Sampson said. “There’s no excuse for us not to acknowledge and uphold and respect all of that.”