On Friday, November 14, the Lakota Sioux Indian Dance Theatre will present its program Come to the Center at Door Community Auditorium (DCA). Lakota Sioux Indian Dance Theatre uses dance and song to tell the story of the birth, death, and rebirth of a nation. The New York Times hails their performance as “a visual treat…a ritual celebration that made dancing a ceremonial act” and The Washington Post wrote that the Lakota Sioux Indian Dance Theatre puts on “a dazzling performance…a profound sense of ritual.”
In Come to the Center, or Cokata Upo!, Lakota Sioux Indian Dance Theatre celebrates the culture of the Lakota people, featuring narratives, creation stories, original video imagery, and more than twenty traditional and sacred songs and dances. The program also features Grammy-award winning Native American flutist, Kevin Locke (his Lakota name, Tokaheya Inajin, means “The First to Arise”). Locke is known throughout the world as a visionary Hoop Dancer, preeminent player of the indigenous Northern Plains flute, traditional storyteller, cultural ambassador, and educator.
For more than 30 years, the Lakota Sioux Indian Dance Theatre has carried on the powerful tradition of dance and song in Plains Indian Society. Founded in 1978 on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, the ensemble began with the support of traditional Lakota educators, powwow dancers, singers, and storytellers. Now under the direction of noted choreographer Henry Smith, Lakota Sioux Indian Dance Theatre tours internationally, performing and educating people worldwide about the strong resonance of music and dance in Lakota Sioux society.
The Lakota Sioux Indian Dance Theatre has appeared at the Kennedy Center, the opening festivities for the National Museum of the American Indian, the 2000 Millennium Celebration in Times Square, and universities, cultural centers, reservations, and casinos throughout the United States. The company toured West Africa under the auspices of the State Department in the 1980s and toured Greece as part of the Cultural Olympiad. They have also completed extensive cultural exchange tours to Alaska and Hawaii.
On November 13th, DCA will also host students from all Door County schools for two student matinee performances which were made possible through generous sponsorship support. The student matinees are part of a week-long series of educational activities hosted by Friends of Gibraltar, Gibraltar Schools and DCA as part of a Native American Heritage Celebration.
The Lakota Sioux Indian Dance Theatre will perform at DCA in a public performance on Friday, November 14 at 7 p.m. Tickets for the concert range from $15 to $36. Advance reservations are recommended and can be made through the DCA box office, located at 3926 Highway 42 in Fish Creek. The box office is open Monday-Friday, 12-5 p.m. Tickets can be purchased in person, on the phone at (920) 868-2728, or online at www.dcauditorium.org. Thanks to generous sponsorship support, DCA is able to offer a limited number of special $5 tickets for Door County students and families.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.