(Fremont County, WY) – World champion hoop dancer Jasmine Bell created a special hoop dance to honor the loved ones who lost their lives during the pandemic. To go along with the dance, the North Bear Singers created an honor song to tell the story of the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, her husband, Luke Bell, of the North Bear Singers, made a special drum that has the names of those lost to Covid-19 from the community.
The two feel “that it is important to come together as one—like the hoop, which symbolizes the circle of life and how we are all connected.”
Both of them created this performance and drum in their dreams before they ever applied for the Wyoming Arts Council Covid-19 vaccine confidence project, Jasmine explained.
“We already had this vision of what we were supposed to do, even before it all happened.”
The drum made by Luke allows them to honor those who lost their lives during the pandemic.
“We are going to be able to carry that on and really honor them and represent them through that because it’s one thing that we have a pandemic, and instead of having just a number of people that passed away from it or that were affected by it,” Jasmine shared. “We can actually give people an actual look inside of the personal stories that go along with it. And so he created this drum. And as we go through the years, there will be people that will share stories about their loved ones that were affected by it, and through their approval, he will put their names on that drum. And so their names will go on that drum, and that’s kind of part of honoring those that have passed on through the pandemic.”
Jasmine also made a dress for the performance, which represents life.
“We go through these dark times in our years, but at the end, you come out, and after the storm, there’s always that rainbow,” she said.
Jasmine is a world champion hoop dancer who has been performing across the U.S. and Europe since age five. Hoop dancing was passed down from generation to generation in her family, and she learned it from her father. Her audiences have spanned from students to the late Muhammad Ali.
“Our goal was to really show people that, you know, we can take all of those different elements, bring them together and create this whole presentation that could really touch people’s lives through the song or through the story or just by watching the dance,” she said.
Eager to share their presentation with the community, Jasmine encourages the community to reach out if you are interested in sharing your Covid-19 story with them. Her email is [email protected].
Learn more about Jasmine and their presentation through the Wyoming Arts Council Covid-19 vaccine confidence project here.