Indiana State University Newsroom

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- A Native American dance company will kick off the 2009-2010 Indiana State University Performing Arts Series beginning at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 23 in Tilson Auditorium.

The Lakota Sioux Dance Theatre was founded in 1978 at the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota with the support of traditional Lakota Indian educators, healers, community leaders, championship pow-wow dancers, singers and storytellers as a way to preserve and rekindle the Lakota culture for future generations.

The Lakota Sioux Dance Theater will perform Cokata Upo! (Come to the Center!) in three parts: birth, death and rebirth of a nation. The program includes the grass, jingle dress, fancy, traditional, horse, buffalo, eagle, round and inter-tribal dances juxtaposed with dance interpretations of the Lakota warrior tradition. The dances are performed against a backdrop of spectacular video imagery and traditional, sacred and courting songs.

The performers look to the Waken (sacred) nature of the animal nations to redefine and assert their cultural identity and to ultimately seek a harmonious balance with the environment and with all nations around the world. The performance is infused with a sense of unity and the message that people, earth and spirit world are one.

Tickets will be available at the door. Adult tickets are $11 and $16. Tickets are $10 for youth ages 2-18. ISU students are admitted free with a valid student ID and are invited to participate in a punch card program. Tickets are available in advance at the Hulman Center Ticket Office or by calling 1-877-ISU-TIXS.

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Contact: Jennifer Cook, Hulman Center, (812) 237-3770

Writer: Paula Meyer, ISU Communications & Marketing, (812) 237-3783 or paula.meyer@indstate.edu