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Fancy shawl dancer to showcase talent with Toronto Raptors basketball team

Fancy shawl dancer to showcase talent with Toronto Raptors basketball team

A fancy shawl dancer from Esgenoôpetitj (Burnt Church) First Nation in New Brunswick has been chosen for a creative mentorship program with the Toronto Raptors. 

Kyana Kingbird, 29, who is Mi’kmaw and Ojibway, will be part of the NBA team’s Welcome Toronto creators program, now in its second year. The program’s aim is to spotlight emerging Black, Indigenous, non-binary or female artists, motivate youth, and to give basketball a further reach in Canada.  

Kingbird, who has been a dancer since she could walk, was one of three finalists chosen out of over 400 applicants.

“I want every rez kid to know that they can,” she said. 

“It’s hard when you grow up on the rez and you feel like, you know, there’s so much stacked against you, and you feel like success is so much farther out of your reach than other kids. I just want them to know it’s not.” 

Each artist will have the opportunity to work with the Toronto Raptors’ creative resources team, and showcase their…

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