Student blogger Oscar Starschild has been exploring the classes and programs offered through KPE's Sport and Recreation. He writes about the experience of Métis jigging in his latest blog.
Recently, I learned about and got to do a bit of Métis Jigging, which is a traditional First Nations dance to the tune of a fiddle. The instructors were great. In addition to playing the fiddle, Alicia Blore, one of our instructors, shared with us some interesting information about the music and history of Métis jigging.
We learned about how this style of dancing developed in the Métis culture, associated with the Red River region, and then spread across Canada. Jigging is a very social dancing style, and you’ll frequently change partners whilst jigging. Which is why our instructors humorously suggested how jigging might’ve served as a kind of speed dating in its earliest days. Today, Métis Jigging remains a popular dance across Canada and is even represented on the global stage through dance competitions.
In learning to jig, we got started on some beginner jigs before moving onto some of the more famous jigs, like the Red River Jig. All I can say is that it quickly became very fast paced. Unfortunately, I couldn’t keep up but enjoyed myself, nonetheless. I definitely want to try jigging again and it’s something I can see myself picking up more regularly over the summer break.
Jigging is a lot of fun and a great cardio workout. So, it’s something that I think everyone should try. The event was organized by KPE and hosted at the Goldring Fitness Studio, which have many other educational dance programs and sessions, so go ahead and get in some dancing this term.