Culture Event

Dinetah Dance Group

Dancing is the loftiest, the most moving, the most beautiful of the arts, because it is not mere translation or abstraction from life; it is life itself. ~Havelock Ellis

This event took place at Pine Hill, New Mexico during the culture week, April 12-15 which was open to community members and K-12 grade students.

Every American child should grow up knowing a second language, preferably English.

~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960 Quote was retrieved from http://www.quotegarden.com/language.html

Interview:

I had the honor to interview, Mr. Shawn Price the group director before they performed on April 12, 2005 at Pine Hill Schools. The age of the dancers ranged from 14-17 years old and they practice every Sunday. The greatest benefits for the students~ they learn about how rich our Navajo culture is and the importance it is to keep them alive. The dance group is from Albuquerque but the dancers are from different parts of the Navajo Nation. The dancer's parents support the group and dancers. The most interesting place the group has traveled too was Washington D.C. to perform at the American Indian Museum.

Mr. Shawn Price's short speech:

Before the performance started a short speech which gave the student the meaning behind the dances. Mr. Price spoke about the veterans "Remember our people" when they took up arms, it was a time to fight and volunteer, during World War II. He remembered that no other ethnic group in the United States has 99% participation in the WAR! They volunteered to fight. This study has always stuck in his head and always amazed him -this is the reason he shares this story with students. "No need for any draft if everyone did the same as our grand parents did in WWII. They did what they had to do~ in their honor we dance to celebrate them."

My Observation : The song had a slow pace at first and without any warning it soon became a faster pace. As a person watching the performance it was breath-taking and gave me chills down my back, because I was taught to respect all types of traditional dances and prayers. Visually the dancers performed every step in perfect formation with the dancers were holding a rattle in one hand. This unique sound was pleasant to hear because it reminded me of rain. Why rain? While living in Tuba City, Arizona I use to watch Hopi rain dances and when they would sing the rattle plays a main part of their songs. Overall, I enjoyed the performance and I encourage everyone in the class to keep their ears open for the ï¿½Dinetah Dance Groupï¿½ performance annoucements. You don't want to miss a chance to see them dance.

More Pictures

Created at NMSU-Grants

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Also a release form was signed for the interview and pictures through NMSU.
This page is copyright© 2005 by Renaye Apachito
Last version: 04/20/05

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