Siblings share toe tapping talent

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This article was published 23/06/2022 (915 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If you’re at the Forks on June 18 and you hear a fiddler tuning up, it’s a good bet someone’s getting ready to dance the Red River Jig: the joyful, high-energy traditional dance of the Métis people. 

It’s done by lifelong dancers of all ages — but it’s not something that’s taught in a studio.

“It’s pretty much passed down through family members,” says dancer Michael “Mikey” Harris (also known as DizzyFeet on TikTok). 

And there’s a reason for that.

“Our ancestors did it silently and as secretly as they could, so it’s been passed down that way through family members.” – Michael “Mikey” Harris

“Back in the day, it was considered a war dance by the government officials and the dance was actually banned in all of our communities — it was really tough to keep it alive,” says Harris, the oldest of the sibling dance trio the Ivan Flett Memorial Dancers  (www.facebook.com/ifmdancers). 

“Our ancestors did it silently and as secretly as they could, so it’s been passed down that way through family members.”

Today, it’s a different story as the Ivan Flett Memorial Dancers — Michael Harris, 22, Jacob Harris, 20, and Cieanna Harris, 18 — take to the stage at the Forks on Saturday, June 18 to celebrate National Indigenous Peoples Day. 

“We’re excited to be onstage. We have some really cool things that we’re working on and we’re working with DJ Kookum,” says Harris.

All three were born in Winnipeg and the family hails from Ebb and Flow First Nation on Treaty 1 territory. Growing up, the dancers had role models close to home.

“When I was just a little guy, I saw my auntie performing with the Asham Stompers. I was really fascinated by it and I asked her to teach me. Jake and I learned right in her living room, every week,” says Mikey Harris. Cieanna was right behind them.

The siblings soon joined the Asham Stompers, dancing professionally in as many as 100 shows a year, including the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. They also formed their own troupe: The Slick and Lil Jay Show featuring Cieanna. All this was accomplished with the full, loving support of their grandparents and parents.

“Our grandfather, Ivan Flett, was the one who was kind of our rock,” says Harris. 

“In 2012, he passed away suddenly, and for us that was really, really, really, tough.” 

They changed their name to the Ivan Flett Memorial Dancers. 

“Every show, and everything we do, is in honour of him,” he says.

“That’s what the dance does for people– it brings us all together.” – Mikey Harris

Their grandmother is also an indispensable and much admired support.

“Our great, amazing grandmother Dawn Flett custom makes all of our beautiful outfits,” says Harris.

“The designs are all by her — that’s her little slogan ‘Designs by Dawn.’ She’s on her own on level and she has inspired other designers to create the way she does.”

The Harris siblings excel at the Red River Jig, a mix of First Nations dancing, French, Scottish and Irish stepping. And since the dance came out of a blending of cultures, there is an artful logic in Harris’ fusion of the traditional jig and contemporary hip hop — a signature style they showed off on Canada’s Got Talent (2022). Harris discovered he had a knack for hip hop in high school. 

“I put some of our fastest jigging steps together with some of these rap songs and that’s how it started,” he says,

The youthful members of their audience love it.

“We start off with the traditional Red River Jig music — and the kids think it’s cool — and then we switch it over to the hip-hop music and, of course, they’re really engaged,” says Harris.

Once they have their attention, the dancers can teach the history and tradition behind the jig.

“At first, the elders and the older folks weren’t too happy with it because we took this traditional dance and we mixed it with modern music,” he says. 

“Once everyone heard our reasoning for doing it, they eased up a little bit. We’ve been shown a lot of love. Everyone just supports it.”

The siblings also teach dance.

“I think we’ve taught in every school here in Winnipeg,” says Harris, who has also taught in New York, Vancouver and Toronto.

“Teaching is something that I’m very passionate about because I want to take the Red River Jig to the next level. I believe that kids should be able to go into a studio and learn it. 

“Also, there’s not a lot of Indigenous choreographers out there so it’s really cool to just be out there kind of representing my people in a way.” 

The dance has come far.

“Whenever the Red River Jig comes on at a social or at a wedding and there’s Métis people there, everyone’s tapping their feet and jigging and it’s a huge, huge party,” says Mikey Harris. 

“That’s what the dance does for people — it brings us all together.”