The
American Indian Dance Theatre is a professional performing arts company
presenting the dances and songs of Native Americans & First
Nations...
The
American Indian Dance Theatre has been entertaining audiences all over
the world since May 1987, when a group of Native American dancers,
singers and drummers, representing various North American tribes, first
gathered in Colorado Springs to begin rehearsals with a revolutionary
new theatrical dance company. Brought together by the late Barbara
Schwei, a New York concert and theatrical producer, and Hanay Geiogamah,
a renowned Native American playwright/director and a member of the
Kiowa and Delaware Tribes of Oklahoma, they would form the nucleus of
the American Indian Dance Theatre.No one could have predicted the rapid
success this new company would attain in a relatively short period of
time. Today, the American Indian Dance Theatre has achieved worldwide
recognition and acclaim, and occupies a unique position within the
international dance world as well as in the American Indian world.
No
one could have predicted the rapid success this new company would
attain in a relatively short period of time. Today, the American Indian
Dance Theatre has achieved worldwide recognition and acclaim, and
occupies a unique position within the international dance world as well
as in the American Indian world.
Following are sample quotes from dance critics all over the nation.
“The Indian triumph! Dance of elemental beauty and power that transcend the stage!”
Washington Post
“The
Joyce Theater has seen many a dance troupe, but never one like this....
this program is a fascinating one -- filled with male bravura and
female virtuosity.... a feast for the eye!”
New York Times
“This
is surely a new dimension for some very old dances, and a new
development for American dance as a whole..... sheer spectacle with a
transcendental spirituality!”
New York Post
“The
group’s primal power has helped make these dancers and musicians a
sensation from Tucson to Tokyo!”
Wall Street Journal
“It
was thrilling.... the profound integration of dance, music and visual
design all blended by ancient symbolism and an almost touching respect
for nature!
Dance Magazine
“American Indian Dance Theatre offers a rare illuminating theater
experience; for once the audience’s standing ovation was deserved!”
Los Angeles Times
“The
American Indian dance Theatre seems destined to become a vital and
permanent force in the dance world. There’s nothing else quite like
it!”
San Francisco Examiner
Hanay
Geiogamah, who has served as artistic director of the company since it
was formed, adds:”Audiences experience many styles of American Indian
dancing at our performances. All our dances are traditional and
authentic, but have been staged as theatrical pieces. In making this
transition, we are careful not to alter the basic structure of any of
the dances.”
The
American Indian Dance Theatre tours extensively throughout the U.S. --
from the major eastern cities of Boston, Philadelphia and New York
City, to Minneapolis, Cleveland, Madison and St. Louis in the heartland
of America, to Tampa/St. Petersburg and Sarasota in Florida, and to
Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Alaska and
Hawaii in the far west. SRO audiences have enthusiastically greeted the
company in Paris and the French provinces, Austria, Greece, Holland,
Switzerland, at dance festivals in Italy, Ramallah, and Bethlehem, the
Edinburgh International Festival, Yemen, Bahrain and Qatar on the
Persian Gulf, Morocco and Algeria in North Africa, and across Australia
The American Indian dance Theatre has accumulated a number of remarkable achievements in its relatively brief existence.
It
was the first Native American dance troupe to have its own primetime
national television performance special when it was featured on PBS’
GREAT PERFORMANCES in February, 1990, as the focus of a one-hour
program, FINDING THE CIRCLE. A second hour-long special, entitled
DANCES FOR THE NEW GENERATIONS, premiered on GREAT PERFORMANCES in May
1993, and received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. The company was
also featured on Turner Television’s acclaimed multi-part 1995
documentary series, THE NATIVE AMERICANS.
