DANCE/MUSICMUSIC TRADITIONAL ARTISTIC PROCESSES ® CLASSICAL 1. CREATING (Cr) Artsource CONTEMPORARY 2. PERFORMING, PRESENTING, PRODUCING (Pr) The Music Center’s Study Guide to the Performing Arts EXPERIMENTAL 3. RESPONDING (Re) MULTI-MEDIA 4. CONNECTING (Cn) ENDURING FREEDOM & THE POWER THE HUMAN TRANSFORMATION VALUES OPPRESSION OF NATURE FAMILY Title of Work: About the Artwork: Eagle Dance and Hoop Dance The eagle is sacred to all tribes and is a symbol of wisdom, Creators: strength and vision. The Eagle Dance varies from region Company: American Indian Dance Theatre - Founded 1987 to region, but this interpretation is a blending of two Artistic Director: Hanay Geiogamah b. 1945 Founder/Producer: Barbara Schwei styles: one from the Northern Plains and the other from the Zuñi Pueblo. The dances reflect the life cycle of the Background Information: eagle from its first steps and attempts to fly, through Hanay Geiogamah was born in Anadarko, Oklahoma, maturity and into the spirit world. The Hoop Dance is and was raised with the traditions of the Kiowa Tribe, a based on a legend of a dying man who wished to leave principal group of the Southern Plains. The Kiowas have something on earth. The Creator gave him a hoop of a strong tradition of music and dance, and have produced wood and told him that for each natural form he could some of the leading Native American composers. One of recreate, one more hoop would be added. He grew Hanay’s most comforting memories as a child is of his stronger, for each additional hoop allowed him to create father getting up before dawn and performing his morning other designs. ritual of preparing for work. He would fix himself coffee, Creative Process of the Artist or Culture: turn on the radio to country western music, and whistle Dance and music serve as a framework to which ancient tribal songs. This gave Hanay a sense that he was American Indian philosophy and tradition are attached. an American Indian - even though his modern world Mr. Geiogamah developed a system for categorizing was in such contrast to the traditional ways of his American Indian dance: seasonal/functional; spiritual/ culture. As he grew to maturity, Hanay’s interest in his ceremonial/religious; and celebrational/bravura. Each traditional culture increased; he sought ways to express has its own musical support system - himself and communicate about his culture through a musical catalogue that evolved drama. In 1972 he formed the Native American Theatre from the 430 tribes in the United Ensemble, writing, directing and producing many States. He researches and collects works. In 1987, he and Barbara Schwei formed the traditional dances from many tribes American Indian Dance Theatre to present American and puts this material together in new Indian dance and music professionally and remedy the “Music and dance are ways without altering the original intent frustrating lack of experienced traditional performers. imbued in me. I have full respect for the of the dances. Mr. Geiogamah is a Professor in the school of Theatre, traditions and I’m grateful for them, for Film and Television at UCLA and has served as the they have helped me Director of the American Indian Studies program there for make my way through a difficult world.” many years. He is also is recognized as the most important - Hanay Geiogamah Native American playwright of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. California Oklahoma Background on the Eagle Dance: Multidisciplinary Options: It is believed that eagles are messengers between • See Sample Lesson III. Study the elements which man and the Creator. The dancers mime the move- comprise various cultures. Make a list of the universal ments of this creature in order to take the thoughts needs of mankind which are met and expressed and messages of humans to the ‘higher above.’ The through each individual culture. Discuss what makes eagle maintains itself and keeps its dignity, while all people the same and what creates the unique differences. respecting the balance of nature within which it Audio-Visual Materials: lives. It is thought that the eagle reigns with fairness • Artsource® video excerpt: Eagle Dance and Hoop and compassion. Dance from Finding the Circle, Dance in America, courtesy WNET/THIRTEEN and American Indian Background on the Hoop Dance: Dance Theatre. The Hoop Dance was originally designed to teach • Michael Lacapa illustrations from the book The and tell stories of creation. The dancer manipulates Mouse Couple, courtesy of Kathleen Lacapa-Boehl and up to 40 reed hoops to show how all natural things Kiva Publishing, Santa Fe, New Mexico. are connected, yet grow and change. The hoop • Photos: courtesy of American Indian Dance Theatre. dancer explains that “When I was a boy I saw trees and butterflies, eagles and squirrels, and I saw how Additional References: they were all connected and that they were related • Cohlene, Terri. Dancing Drum: A Cherokee Legend. and even a part of me. As I got older I began to Troll Communications, 1998. understand that life is a continual flow of creation - • McGrath, James. Dance With Indian Children. being born and changing and growing and passing Center for Arts of Indian America. 2nd edition 1974. on to become something new. When I started • Goble, Paul. Beyond the Ridge. Bradbury Press, NY: 1989. dancing, I discovered that my hoops had stories in Sample Experiences: them and the shapes I made could reflect and teach LEVEL I and honor the forces in life that connect all of us to * • Learn the Apache Changing Ceremony poem, In each other.” The dancer forms these shapes: a Beauty I Walk. Interpret the ideas in the poem butterfly, a turtle, an eagle, flowers and a snake. through chosen gestures and creative movement. • Select a traditional song of one of the Native Discussion Questions: American cultural groups from your music book. After the video has been viewed: Learn to sing it. • What feelings did you have after watching the • Make rattles of shells or seeds and create chants to Eagle Dance? honor selected animals, telling a characteristic of each. • What movement words would you use to describe LEVEL II the ? List them on the board. Eagle Dance * • Select a Creation Story from one of the Native • Using Mr. Geiogamah’s system of categorizing American cultural groups and express the different traditional dance (see “Creative Process”), what characters and ideas, making a group dance which type of dance do you think the Eagle Dance is? The shows the story. Hoop Dance? Give reasons to support your answers. • Research and learn American Indian sign language • What were some of the natural images recreated and use it to communicate words, ideas and feelings. by the hoop dancer? Why did he create them? Refer to the Artsource® Unit, Geri Keams, Addendum. • What did oyu notice about the movements of the LEVEL III hoop dancer? Describe them. * • Create a mythical culture, based on the elements of • Compare the two dances in terms of use of space, which cultures are composed. Choreograph a dance tempo, energy, costume, purpose, feeling, etc. How which expresses one or more aspects of this culture. were they alike? How were they different? • Read a book, such as Beyond the Ridge, by Paul Goble. Follow it with a discussion of views on life and death. 2 * Indicates sample lessons DANCE IN BEAUTY I WALK POWER OF NATURE LEVEL I Sample Lesson INTRODUCTION: One of the most admirable aspects of Native American philosophy is the value that is placed on respecting nature. This Apache poem illustrates an aesthetic appreciation for the natural world and is part of a changing ceremony that takes place when an adolescent girl makes the transition into womanhood. OBJECTIVES: (Student Outcomes) Students will be able to: • Have an increased appreciation for respecting the beauty of nature. (Connecting) • Create movement to an Apache Changing Ceremony poem. (Creating & Performing) • Describe, discuss, analyze and connect information and experiences based on this lesson. Refer to Assessment at the end of this lesson. (Responding & Connecting) MATERIALS: • Native American traditional music (optional). Suggestions: In Beauty, We Return by R. Carlos Nakai. Canyon Records, 2004. He has many other recordings. • Drum and beater. PROGRESSION: • Talk about nature and ask the students what specific things in nature they find beautiful. • Introduce the poem, In Beauty I Walk. Explain that it is a poem/song which is sung at the time when an Apache girl makes the transition into womanhood. Although it is specifically used for this purpose in this tribe, it has a universal theme of appreciation for nature to which all can relate. • Read aloud the following poem: Black and white copy of an illustration by Michael Lacapa from The Mouse Couple 3 IN BEAUTY I WALK An Apache Changing Ceremony IN BEAUTY, I WALK WITH BEAUTY BEFORE ME. I WALK WITH BEAUTY BEHIND ME. I WALK WITH BEAUTY BESIDE ME. I WALK WITH BEAUTY ABOVE ME. I WALK WITH BEAUTY BELOW ME. WITH BEAUTY ALL AROUND ME, I WALK. WITH BEAUTY WITHIN ME, I WALK. IT IS FINISHED IN BEAUTY. • Ask the students what they think the poem means. Briefly discuss this. • This poem can be interpreted in movement by having the students walk freely in space as the words are spoken, using their eyes to imagine the beauty they remember from being in nature or from seeing movies or photos of nature (some students have been deprived of opportunities to be in nature). • Another possibility is to have the students perform a simple gesture which shows each idea in the poem as it is said. These gestures can be done in individual ways, or the class can select specific gestures which they do in unison.