Glenda Frank
| Thunderbird American Indian Dancers
41st Annual Thunderbird American Indian Dancers'
Dance Concert and Pow-Wow.
Authenticity is rare. Some rappers do come from the ghetto; some from middle class neighborhoods in Queens. For every Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe, there are a thousand imitators. The Thunderbird American Indian Dancers bring us more than authenticity. They bring skill, grace, and a most welcome running commentary that opens the door to Native American culture. These are the people, these the dances and songs that have been handed down generation to generation. They are colorful and charismatic, part of the history of this country. And they make perfect family entertainment. I was charmed. My sometimes fidgety grandsons, who sat enthralled for the 90 minutes, are still talking about meeting the performers and beating the tom-tom after the show.
The performers come from ten different tribes: Seneca,
Chickahominy, Winnebago, Pueblo, Sioux, Taino, even the Mayan, and
they join together to bring us representative (and dramatic) dances
in full, stunning regalia. There is a story teller (Matoka Eagle from
Santo Domingo, Tewa), who scares the children with the legend of the
giant Basket Woman with nasty fingernails and teeth whose favorite
meal is children who won’t bathe. It is as though we were seated
around the fire hearing one of the many stories that helped the tribes
pass long, dark nights.
Other dances reflect prayers. The Hopi Eagle dance by Raymond Two Feathers (a Cherokee) is an invocation for rain. The very popular Deer Dance (from the Yaqui of Arizona) is an enactment of the hunt and a thanksgiving to the deer for giving up its life so that the tribe might flourish. Children are invited to the stage to copy the Winnebago Feather Dance, a contest which is first enacted by Native Americans from two generations, wearing stunning tribal beading and feathers. It is a feat of grace and agility. They warm up with dance, then incorporate picking up the feather with their mouths, without knees or hands touching the floor. The younger man lifts the feather with ease; the older dancer circles it many times – perhaps to build the suspense – while both parents and grandparents hope he too would prove himself still a warrior. The final number is, fittingly, Singing Out The Drums. Then everyone is invited to the stage to join the tribes. This Dance Concert and Pow-Wow is a community exchange
– tribe with tribe, performers with the audience, a symbiosis.
A pre-teen Native American girl who joined the dancers excited younger
viewers and established the generational spread on stage that is reflected
in the audience. Crystal Field, director of Theatre for the New City,
has generously offered the space to the company for 20 years. All
proceeds benefit Native American scholarship fund. |
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