Breaking
Uniting communities, this Métis dancer has pioneered a whole new genre -- and it’s drawing global attention.
Mikey Harris, also known as DizzyFeet, is an Indigenous dancer, choreographer and educator from Winnipeg, Canada. Pioneering a genre of his own, his unique style -- which fuses traditional Métis Jigging and hip hop -- the TikTok sensation is drawing global attention. At just 21-years-old, Harris has performed across North America for over 14 years, dancing at events such as the 2010 Winter Olympics, Parliament Hill New Years Bash and the Indigenous Music Awards. He’s also the co-director of Ikigai Collective and the leader of the Ivan Flett Memorial Dancers.
From instructional music to innovative creators
“At first, I was really having a tough time because of the pandemic. I was like, man, I can’t dance right now. Dancing in your living room isn’t the same [...] I got into TikTok back in November and I promised myself that I would upload three to four times a week and it kind of just blew up from there,” says Harris. His goal back then was to reach 100k followers by Christmas; however, the sheer uniqueness of his craft has today garnered Harris just shy of one million followers, spread over TikTok and Instagram. This, a clear testament of the cultural revolutionary capacity that lies within the digital creator-led, instructional dance movement.
It goes without saying that every generation has their own series of trending dance moves. The 70s had a myriad of flower power hippie moves and disco; the 80s had the head bang, the robot and the electric slide; and millennials, well, they were subject to an eclectic array of dance moves, ranging from the late 90s grunge sway to 1,2, step and Souljah Boy. Though today’s music seems to have stayed clear from the instructional music trends of the 00s and 10s, Gen Z has used this as an opportunity to take the dance creator lead -- and popular video sharing apps have taken note, carving out space for innovative creators like Mikey Harris.
Pioneering a genre in the digital age
When Harris first stepped into the hip hop space, he noticed an obvious deficit of indigenous representation: so when Harris’ hip hop mentor, Shaqueel Lawrence, suggested he put his own spin on things, incorporating a piece of his heritage was a no-brainer. “He knew I was a Jigger, and was like, ‘you’ve got to put that with hip hop music, man. That will go crazy!’ I didn’t believe him and I was really shy at the time.”
After pioneering the foundation of this genre hybrid, Harris went on to teach his siblings, whom he had been dancing alongside and performing with his whole life. “Jigging is a family thing because it’s been in my family for a long time -- it’s kind of just passed down by family members. I was taught by my grandmother, I taught my siblings, and now I dance (this hybrid genre) with my siblings.”
“When I blended Jigging with hip hop, it was mainly to attract the attention of younger youth,” says Harris, who has performed for school-age kids as a dance educator. Harris’ attention-grabbing videos do just that, all with the aid of trending music and engaging dances that prompt dancers of all levels to try it themselves. While this genre-hybridization is a clear expression of creativity, Harris explains his effort to draw in a younger audience is part of his concerted effort to preserve and build upon Métis culture. “The kids listen to it (hip hop), and I thought, man, imagine if we put all these fast Jigging steps to hip hop songs [...] The main thing was to get the kids' attention; to show them that this is a traditional Métis dance and hip hop -- because they don’t like watching my traditional stuff all the time and I don’t catch 14-year-olds listening to the Red River Jig traditional song.”
Preserving and expanding on history
For Harris, the idea of co-creating and genre-hybridisation spans far beyond the digital age: it’s something that descendants of his family were doing over 200-years-ago. The Red River Jig, a dance that was created in Winnipeg, Manitoba in the early 1800s, was originally used to attract fur traders into Métis colonies to trade furs. As an amalgamation of First Nations, English, Scottish and Orcadian footwork and folk movements, this early Métis dance acted as a non-verbal language that connected communities through mutually-understood celebration. The dance, which is a marriage of sprightly step work, is traditionally accompanied by a fiddle and can be danced alone, in pairs, or as a group.
“Overall, I’ve had such a positive response [...] Of course, you have your elders who have been doing the traditional stuff for a long time and they think it’s not right to put the traditional stuff to the hip hop music. But, everything evolves, things change, and If we want this dance to expand as far as it can, we have to do something. The youth are the ones who are going to carry it on.” And for those youth that Haris is so inspired to empower? Well they’re wearing their knowledge of Jigging like a badge of honour, proudly learning his moves -- some, expanding further on the cultural legacy he’s built. “They’d know almost every single one of my dances and they would just yell out the songs, asking ‘can you do this one? Can you do that one?’ So it’s working!” Harris says with a warm smile.
“I’ve gotten a lot of messages from people, saying ‘thank you for making being Métis cool and inspiring us,’ ‘thank you for making us feel like we have something to be proud of,” Harris joyfully explains.
In addition to sharing, preserving and expanding on Métis culture, Harris’ rise to fame -- alongside this increased visibility -- has undoubtedly helped many other Métis people feel seen within the Indigenous community and global digital spaces.
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