Lori Henry

Dancing Through History: in Search of the Stories That Define Canada Lori Henry

Some people travel to discover a country's cuisine, others for the wildlife. Lori Henry travels to learn about a culture through its traditional dances. In Canada, hundreds of ethnicities have made the country their home and Lori crosses the vast terrain to learn how some of their traditions and lifestyles have evolved through dance.

She learned about circus dancing with the Cirque du Soleil, Inuit drum dancing and throat singing in Nunavut, step dancing in Gaelic Cape Breton, Highland dancing in New Brunswick, pow wow and hoop dancing in Wikwemikong and Winnipeg, the Metis Red River Jig in Saskatchewan, Ukrainian dancing in Saskatoon and Jasper, ceremonial dances in Haida Gwaii, and witnessed one family's history through dance from the Gitxsan nation.

The rhythm of the country is mirrored in the way it dances and Canada's steps parallel the first people and those who immigrated here for a better life.

These stories are about much more than dance itself.