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THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY TO PRESENT
THUNDERBIRD AMERICAN INDIAN DANCERS'
POW-WOW AND DANCE CONCERT FEBRUARY 5 TO 14, 2027
All proceeds benefit Native American scholarship fund.
WHERE AND WHEN:
February 5 to 14, 2027
Fridays at 8:00 pm; Saturdays at 3:00 pm and 8:00 pm, Sundays at 3:00 pm
Theater for the New City, 155 First Avenue (at Tenth Street). Presented by
Theater for the New City.
$25 general admission. MATINEES ARE KIDS' DAYS: At all matinée performances,
children ages five to twelve who are accompanied by a ticket-bearing adult
are admitted for $1.00 (adults $25).
TNC box office: 212-254-1109, www.theaterforthenewecity.net
Running time 90 min (all shows). Reviewers are invited to all performances.
PHOTOS AND VIDEO ARE AVAILABLE. See directions at bottom of this document.
NEW YORK, August 7 -- Theater for the New City (TNC), 155 First
Avenue, will present its annual Thunderbird American Indian Dancers Pow Wow
and Dance Concert from February 5 to 14, 2027. There will be dances, stories
and traditional music from Native Peoples of the Northeast, Southwest and
Great Plains regions. The event has become a treasured New York tradition
for celebrating our diversity by honoring the culture of our first Americans.
TNC donates all proceeds from the event to college scholarship funds for Native
American students.
A Pow-Wow is more than just a spectator event: it is a joyous reunion for
native peoples nationwide and an opportunity for the non-Indian community
to voyage into the philosophy and beauty of Native culture. Traditionally
a gathering and sharing of events, Pow-Wows have come to include spectacular
dance competitions, exhibitions, and enjoyment of traditional foods.
Throughout the performance, all elements are explained in depth
through detailed introductions by the troupe's Director and Emcee Louis Mofsie
(from the Hopi and Winnebago tribes). An educator, Mofsie plays an important
part in the event by his ability to present a comprehensive view of native
culture. He has been the recipient of a Bessie Award for Outstanding Service
to the Field of Dance and was honored, along with Garth Fagan and Martha Myers,
with a Lifetime Achievement Award from American Dance Guild.
Highlights will include storytelling, a Hoop Dance, a Deer Dance (from the
Yaqui Tribes of Southern Arizona), and various ensemble dances: a Grass Dance
and Jingle Dress Dance (from the Northern Plains people), a Shawl Dance (from
the Oklahoma tribes), a Rabbit Dance (from the Great Plains people) and a
Smoke Dance (from the Iroquois). As the audience enters the theater, they
will be serenaded by the Heyna Second Son Singers.
Pageantry is an important component of the event, and all participants are
elaborately dressed. There is a wealth of cultural information encoded in
the movements of each dance. More than ten distinct tribes will be represented
in the performance. The dancers are people of all ages, raging from teenagers
to senior citizens.
Native American crafts and jewelry will be sold in the TNC lobby.
Matinées are kids' days, when children aged five to twelve
accompanied by a ticket-bearing adult are admitted for $1.00 (adults $20).
At the conclusion of these matinées, young audience members are invited
to pose for pictures with the dancers.
ABOUT THUNDERBIRD AMERICAN INDIAN DANCERS
The Thunderbird American Indian Dancers are the oldest resident Native American
dance company in New York State. The troupe was founded in 1963 by a group
of ten Native American men and women, all New Yorkers, who were descended
from Mohawk, Hopi, Winnebago and San Blas Kuna tribes. Prominent among the
founders were Louis Mofsie (Hopi/Winnebago) and his sister, Josephine Mofsie,
Rosemary Richmond (Mohawk), Muriel Miguel (San Blas Kuna/Rapahannock) and
Jack Preston (Seneca). Some were in school at the time; all were "first
generation," meaning that their parents had been born on reservations.
They founded the troupe to keep alive the traditions, songs and dances they
had learned from their parents, and added to their repertoire from other Native
Americans living in New York and some who were passing through. Jack Preston
taught the company its Iroquois dances, including the Robin Dance and Fish
Dance. To these were added dances from the Plains, including the Hopi Buffalo
Dance, and newer dances including the Grass Dance and Jingle Dress Dance.
The company was all-volunteer, a tradition that exists to today. Members range
in professions from teachers to hospital patient advocates, tree surgeons
and computer engineers.
The troupe made a home in the old McBurney YMCA on 23rd Street and Seventh
Ave. Within three or four years, they were traveling throughout the continental
U.S., expanding and sharing their repertoire and gleaning new dances on the
reservations. A number of Thunderbird members are winners of Fancy Dance contests
held on reservations, where the standard of competition is unmistakably high.
The Thunderbird-TNC collaboration began in 1975, when Crystal Field directed
a play called "The Only Good Indian." For research, Ms. Field lived
on a Hopi reservation for three weeks. In preparation for the project, she
met Louis Mofsie, Artistic Director of the dance troupe and a representative
of the American Indian Community House. Mofsie suggested a Pow Wow and dance
concert to celebrate the winter solstice. Field, who is herself 1% Native
American, committed herself to bring this to fruition. The event has continued
annually.
The troupe's appearances benefit college scholarship funds for Native American
students. The Thunderbird American Indian Dancers Scholarship Fund receives
its sole support from events like this concert (it receives no government
or corporate contributions), and has bestowed over 350 scholarships to-date.
Theater for the New City has been presenting Pow-Wows annually as a two-week
event since 1976, with the box office donated to these scholarships.
Theater for the New City is located at 155 First Avenue (at Tenth Street).
Performances are February 5 to 14, Fridays at 8:00 PM; Saturdays at 3:00 PM
and 8:00 PM and Sundays at 3:00 pm. Tickets are $20 general admission. At
matinées, children ages five to twelve accompanied by a ticket-bearing
adult are admitted for $1.00 (adults $20). The TNC box office is 212-254-1109,
www.theaterforthenewecity.net.
# # #
CRITICS ARE INVITED to all performances. Press contact Jonathan
Slaff (212) 924-0496.
VIDEOS ARE AVAILABLE upon request.
2024 PRODUCTION PHOTOS: https://photos.app.goo.gl/wKjAMXA8zt6qMoLA7
2023 PRODUCTION PHOTOS: https://photos.app.goo.gl/BQefisDJzPgvr7Db9
2019 PRODUCTION PHOTOS: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ebLLGRPPQVHjJsxt8
RECENT YEARS' PHOTOS: https://goo.gl/photos/tcrxbtPYtF2hdvhV6 and https://goo.gl/photos/SLr4PXEHJrsq34j9A
HISTORICAL PHOTOS of Pow-Wows from 2004 to 2015: https://goo.gl/photos/wUcenp6ZcPDcBCYD7