Keeping tradition alive

Young Chang

Don’t knock it just because it’s entertaining. That’s what Hanay

Geiogamah’s stance amounts to.

The word ‘entertainment’ has been abused of late, said the director of

the American Indian Dance Theater. To entertain means to enlighten,

amuse, be playful with and sometimes even teach, he said.

So Geiogamah is assertive about the fact that his company’s

performance of traditional tribal dances is also quite fun.

“We are presenting our dances not just to entertain, but to educate

and enlighten, to open up awareness to the kind of people that we are and

our culture,” said Geiogamah, a director, playwright and producer.

Though the troupe is strongly supported by the Native American

community, Geiogamah and his dancers have met a slim amount of opposition

from conservatives who say ceremonial, functional dances shouldn’t be

shows for entertainment. But the director stands by his artistic

judgment.

“One just has to exercise one’s artistic courage and one’s overall

artistic responsibility in this kind of matter,” said the member of the

Kiowa and Delaware tribes of Oklahoma. “A lot of people aren’t that

agreeable about anything that’s progressive or new or experimental.”

Geiogamah, company founder Barbara Schwei, and the dance troupe will

return to Irvine for two shows of Native American music and dance this

weekend at the Irvine Barclay Theatre. They first performed at the venue

eight years ago to a sold out audience.

“In general, we have audiences very much intrigued by other cultures,”

said Douglas Rankin, president of the Barclay. “There is no better

company in terms of conserving, interpreting and executing Indian dance.”

The dances come from about 22 tribes and have names like “Buffalo

Dance,” “Memory Dance” and “Old Style War Dance.”

Each differs in its purpose, spiritual content, musical accompaniment

and the number of dancers performing.

“Some of the dancers dance for the sheer, pure joy of dance, some of

it is functional or seasonal,” Geiogamah said. “Say if you do the Zuni

Rainbow Dance. The function of it is to give thanks to the creator for

rain.”

Fertility dances help ensure fertility in the earth for crops to grow.

Spirit dances are done to communicate and show respect for the spirits.

“We don’t have a studio in the sense that our studio is the pow wow

arena or the ceremonial circle,” said Geiogamah, also a professor in the

American Indian Studies Program at UCLA. “That’s where we train, that’s

where we learn. Then we bring all these experiences to the rehearsal

studio proper and adapt it.”

The company was formed 14 years ago with more than 26 Native American

dancers, singers and drummers from various tribes. Dancers are chosen

from Native American festivals and dance competitions around the country.

Dancers are bold about integrating different tribal styles and even the

old with the new.

With elaborate headdresses and tunics, the performances at the Barclay

will also be set against contemporary music compositions.

“The music was beautiful, one felt one could dance to it, that it

would help to support the dance being performed in a different way,”

Geiogamah said.

But the company is always conscious of retaining tradition.

“We still proceed with caution and respect and carefulness,” he said.

“That’s our responsibility as artists.”

FYI

WHAT: American Indian Dance Theater

WHEN: 8 p.m. today, 3 p.m. Sunday

WHERE: Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive, Costa Mesa

COST: $32 or $26, with children’s discounts available

CALL: (714) 740-7878