A traditional hoop and hip-hop dancer is pleading for the safe return of his dancing regalia, after the prized outfit was stolen out of his car in downtown Edmonton.
The traditional burgundy and neon yellow hoop dancing outfit, covered in hand-sewn beadwork and embroidery, would cost more than $4,000 to replace.
But for dancer James Jones, 32, it’s priceless.
“It’s a very sacred item,” Jones said. “Even the dance that I do is a healing dance. It’s a very spiritual dance.
“It just feels like a part of you is missing when your regalia goes missing.”
Jones was returning home from a performance in Maskwacis around 10 p.m. Wednesday when he parked his car on 113th Street near 109A Avenue and locked the doors.
When he returned from his apartment a few minutes later, the car doors were flung open and his belongings were scattered on the pavement.
‘It happened so fast’
“All my stuff was on my sidewalk so somebody went through my car really quick,”Jones said. “When I first came back to my car I just thought, ‘Oh dang, my regalia.’
“It was the first thing that crossed my mind.”
While his golf clubs and hockey gear were left behind, his hoop dancing outfit was gone.
Jones believes someone unlocked the door using a long flexible metal strip with a hooked end known as a slim jim.
“It happened so fast,” Jones said. “It seemed like the people who did it knew what they were doing. I don’t know if somebody was watching my car or if it was a case of bad timing.”
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Jones said it’s taken him years to put the regalia together but he only started performing in it this summer. He planned to wear it for an upcoming performance at the World Championship Hoop Dance Contest in Phoenix, Ariz., next February.
“I hope it comes back and I hope it comes back in good order but if not, I guess I’ll have to start over,” said Jones, who works as a dancer full time but also has a degree in social work.
“I do have a lot of performances coming up, so I definitely need something sooner than later.”
Jones, from the Anishinaabe Tallcree First Nation near Fort Vermillion, has been dancing since childhood. After taking up traditional dancing eight years ago, he’s now ranked among the top five in the world.
He’s toured across Europe, China and North America, hitting some of the world’s most renowned stages including the Sydney Opera House in Australia, Coachella Music Festival in California and the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
For the past five years, he has toured regularly with Juno Award-winning electronic music group A Tribe Called Red, while taking part in cultural performances and mentoring local youth.
He was also featured as a contestant on So You Think Can Dance Canada in 2009.
Jones said he’s filed a police report about his stolen regalia, but he’s not interested in seeing anyone charged.
He hopes the thieves will do the right thing.
“If you have it, please just give it back. I’m not looking for any trouble, or to get anyone in trouble, I just want it back,” he said.
“I’m pretty hopeful. I think the word is definitely out there now.”