Albert Apsassin is back on the powwow trail.
And the three-year-old, whose Chicken Dance was the most-watched video on APTN’s National News Facebook page last year, is ready to bust out some new moves.
“He really likes the men’s Fancy Dance,” said his mom Martina Desjarlais from her home on the Alexander Cree Nation near Edmonton.
“He likes how fast the music is.”
WATCH the video here:
Albert was only two years old when he chalked up record online views for the national news site in 2018.
The video, filmed by his mom, reached nearly 60 million people and was viewed a staggering 32 million times.
It generated nearly 5 million reactions, almost a million shares, and attracted more than 62,000 comments.
“A lot of people just really loved his video,” said Martina, a dancer in her own right who listened to “tons of powwow music” when she was pregnant with Albert.
“Every time somebody sees me at a powwow they say, ‘Oh my God, are you Albert’s mom?’”
Interest from U.S.
The video even attracted interest from the United States, with different agencies wanting to buy and broadcast it.
But the family declined the offers wanting to keep the video private for now.
Still, Martina understands the attraction.
“He puts so much heart into his dancing,” she said of the boy she describes as “very outgoing.
“I never forced him to do it. He did it on his own.”
In the winter, Martina takes her son to powwow practice twice a week when he’s not watching powwow videos on Youtube.
Including his own.
“He does watch his own video a lot,” she said with a chuckle.
“He says, ‘Look mom, it’s Albert.’”
