Thunderbird American Indian Dancers

The dance performance that I chose and went to see was Thunderbird American Indian Dancers. I chose this performance, because of my interest in the Native American culture and deep history in this country. Interestingly, dancing is an important art form in their culture with many stories that go along with them. Nonetheless, this was a performance I exceedingly enjoyed and would see again. On February 11th I went to go see The Thunderbird dance performance in the Theatre for the New City located on the Lower East Side. This group was made up of 12 singers and dancers who come from different Native American tribes located in New York, New Jersey, Wyoming, and New Mexico. Founded in 1963, the American Indian dance company is the oldest in New
York City. Furthermore, this talented group travels to many different countries like Canada, Israel, and Japan. One awe-inspiring thing this group does is that all the money they receive from these shows go toward scholarships for Native American students in this country. As of now, over 400 Native American students received these scholarships. We have learned about the history and art form of dancing all the way back to Louis XIV. Nonetheless, dancing was banned by the Catholic Church because it represented paganism. However, when the Roman Empire collapsed 476 C.E dancing became a popular and widespread entertainment. Dancing is deeply embedded in the Native American culture. With regard to the dance performance, the style could be considered “hop” movements. However, these movements varied depending on the dance performance. In particular, the Thunderbird style dances were very similar to that of the Baroque “hop-step-step” style.
The dance performance nonetheless had different stories and unique forms of movement that we did not learn in our course.
One of the dances I saw was called the Stomp Dance. The meaning behind this dance was that many Native American kids were sent out to boarding schools. Like every other school, this boarding school had a requirement to dress a certain way which did not allow these students to wear their traditional clothing. However, during recess, many of the students would gather together at a school courtyard. They would come in a circle a simple walking around with swaying movements and sing. This was a deep connection because dancing and singing were one of the few things that had in boarding
schools.
A second performance I saw was the deer hunting. Because Native Americans were always hunting for food like deer and buffalo, they created a dance performance with a deer and a dancer which was also the hunter. The performance in itself was to depict the hunting lifestyle of Native Americans. Most importantly, after the hunter kills the animal he thanks the gods for the opportunity to provide his family with food and necessary tools for survival.
Third performance was the eagle dance.
Many of Native Americans were observed the nature around them from the different hunting animals to types of trees and even birds like eagles. Native Americans meticulously observed the eagles movements on the ground and when it flies in the sky. Hence, the eagle dance mimicked the movements of eagles. For instance, many of the dancers wore specific clothing to represent the wings and moved their arms in the same style. In this art course we have studied and thoroughly analyzed about many different dances that dealt with the appearance of a swan and the smooth movement it portrays when it flies. There are some similarities in the swan dance and the eagle dance in the movement of the arms to depict the wing movement also seen in the Romantic Era. However, the greatest difference was in the footwork wherein the swan dance like in the Matthew Bourne’s performance the movements were smooth and not as fast compared to the Native American eagle dance that was more faster with frequent swaying and hop
movements.
The fourth performance that also contained a story is called the Smoke Dance. Native Americans lived in longhouses with multiple relatives and friends. During winter times, it was essential to start a fire inside the house to warm everyone up. However, when there are days with very little to no wind, it was hard for the smoke to move through the smoke hole located on the roof. To speed up the smoke movement out of the house, family members and kids would dance around the fire with their hands swaying.
The Thunderbird dance performance was an incredible show to watch, because of the idiosyncratic dance movements and the cultural narratives behind each dance. As a traditional performance, the dancers wore special clothing with many different colors and feathers. The women wore decorative earrings while the men wore long furry caps on their head. We have seen the importance of costumes and their details in a number of dances like Baroque style dancers dressed in a much more stylish clothing compared to the Renaissance style which was relatively simple. Furthermore, the lighting remained constant without any special effects and would dim to darkness when the dancers finished one of their performances and set up for the next one. The Theater for The New City houses two theaters that always have different performances and shows. As you walk into the actual theatre room, it is not as big as most theatres I have been too on Broadway and Radio City. On the right side of the stage were chairs set up in a circle where some of the performers would sit down and play music on instruments like a buffalo drum. Nevertheless, there was plenty of space on the actual floor for the performers to move around freely. This was the first time I ever watched a Native American dance performance and it would definitely not be the last time. I really enjoyed the different stories and dance styles that they presented to us. Because Native Americans were the first settlers on this land, the director of the theatre, Crystal Field, wanted them to be the first performance held in the theatre. With so much history and culture that these people hold dear to, I found it exceedingly moving to watch this work of art. The mood in this theatre was moreover energizing and captivating. One of my favorite parts of the show was when the dancers placed a feather on the floor and the objective was to pick the feather up with your mouth while dancing around it. The dancers even asked members of the audience to come on stage and try to pick up the feathers themselves. In essence, the Thunderbird American Indian dance performance was exceedingly thrilling and captivating to watch. With the drums playing and the performers dancing, there was an electric energy that made you want to jump on stage and dance along with them. One of the things that I found intriguing was that there were twelve performances, and each one of them had a deep cultural narrative or theme. While pondering for a few minutes after the show, I realized that in this country there are very little mainstream cultural representations of the Native American arts. These people were the first ones to step foot on this land and in my strongest opinion, I believe that we should as a society teach more about their culture and their ways of life. All in all, this performance taught me a lot and I am looking forward to seeing different Native American performances in the city.