BWW Reviews: Family Fun With the Native Pride Dancers

Summer is, for many of us, a time to switch off our minds and forget everything we stuffed our heads with at school-at least that's what I thought when I was a kid. I mean, seriously-they expected me to remember all that stuff Miss Partridge drilled into me about Virginia history and geography? Gimme a break.

(And no, I won't care how you spell "gimme" until at least Labor Day).

Fortunately for parents in the Washington, D.C. area, there is a chance to continue engaging our kids with the world, and in a fun way: Wolf Trap recently hosted the innovative Native Pride Dancers for a demonstration of Native American dance, a fascinating hour featuring young, dedicated performers. There is enough variety and information to ensure that the young people in attendance would learn a tremendous amount about the cultures populated North America long before Europeans arrived-and get on-stage to join in the dance themselves!

The dances featured at Wolf Trap's Children's Theatre-in-the-Woods were from the Tuscarora and Lumbi tribes; presenter Larry Yazzie made a point of explaining that there are many differences among the hundreds of Native American nations, each of which possesses its own traditions.

The dancers, of course, come out in strikingly elaborate, brightly-colored materials. Yazzie made a point of giving kids a lesson in vocabulary, because our first impulse is to call these colorful pieces "costumes." As Yazzie pointed out, "costume" is a word kids use for make-believe events like Halloween. The feathers, moccasins, and intricately-beaded designs on the stage are far from that; they are both celebratory and integral, communicating the identity of the performer and her or his nation; so a more appropriate word is "regalia." (And yes, the kids got a chance to repeat this big, new word too).

The movements were at times mimetic -a hunting dance demonstrated the rigors of hiding, looking for animal trails on the ground, etc.-or more abstract. Whatever was done, Yazzie pointed out that unlike in Western dance there is no backward movement, none of the to-ing and fro-ing that we associated with step dancing or contradance. The moves, in other words, have a deep cultural connotation and speak to the character of the dancers and the people they represent.

Kids being restless by nature (who among us doesn't remember getting antsy at that age?) the troupe invited a number of them onto the stage to participate in a "snake" dance, winding around the stage to the traditional drum and song accompaniment. Whether you're young or old, the best shows are participatory, and they also happen to be the most memorable. "Learning by doing" is an old mantra that is now coming back into vogue in education circles, even for adult learners; they could learn a few pointers from this troupe as well.

The regalia, meanwhile, were highly elaborate and Yazzie readily admitted that creating a "complete" ensemble can often require a years' preparation (the bead work particularly could cost thousands of dollars). Today it is common for Native American dancers to compete for cash prizes, and to use the money to add an additional piece here, add a little more color there. If this last detail sounds a bit modern, well yeah, that's half the point here: Native American dance is a living tradition that moves and adapts to the times. If you don't have horse-hair to dye and add to your regalia, plastic streamers will do; and if you end up paying a fellow member of the tribe for their artwork, hey-that's how the modern economy works, and it's a sign of the vitality and creativity of these aboriginal American nations.

The climax of the show was yet another demonstration of the ways in which Native American dance continues to grow: Yazzie introduced us to a style that has only been around 100 years, the "Crazy" or "Men's Fancy Dance," featuring moves that would not have looked out of place on the dance floor of the Swing era or today's hip-hop scene. Young people love to innovate, and each generation is entitled to its own moves. So for me the most thrilling part of the show was this vision of Native American dance as a modern, vibrant art looking forward.

Photo: Larry Yazzie. Photo courtesy of Wolf Trap.

Running Time: 1 hour and 15 minutes, including post-show Q&A with the artists

Performances at the Wolf Trap Children's Theater-in-the-Woods are ongoing through August 8. For more information visit : http://wolftrap.org/woods .

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