Ginger Sykes Torres also brought her own interpretation of the hoop dance to the competition, using gymnastics and modern dance styles in her dances. The fact that the first women pioneers of hoop dance were also pushing the boundaries of the dance itself speaks to the nature of female participation—it was an innovation. Powwow competition dances were and still are strictly divided by gender, though this is also due to the roots of the dances. Hoop dance, as a modern dance with fewer ties to particular dancing traditions, was unique in its ability to more quickly adapt to the changing views of Native dancers. Including women in the competition as equals was a result of this flexibility.

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