Personal Narrative: Indian-American Dance

We are often told that it’s ok to be different. My younger version would definitely agree. Growing up Indian, I had the benefit of teachers repeating instructions a bit louder and slower. I never worried about getting injured on the baseball field, because I got to sit on the bench. My parents never had to worry about driving me to sleepovers, though I was seemingly friends with everyone in school.

Meli’sa’ thesis provided supportive research regarding the history and successful dance therapy interventions for working with African American male youth. As an African American, I think it is important to provide other dance therapist information for working with African American and educate them about our culture.

The entire essay consists of compare and contrast. Mira, the sister, claims to feel “used” by America because she’s given it her most precious work while still clinging onto Indian citizenship. On the other hand, Bharati feels welcomed in America since it offered her so many opportunities she did not have in India. The two contrasting stories are effective in the way that they depict the emotional struggle immigrants and/or expatriates go through.

On January 23, 1906, Lester Iradell Horton was born to Iradell and Pollyanna Horton in Indianapolis, Indiana. Very little is known about Horton’s early life; however, it is known that his interest in dance was sparked by his fascination with American-Indian culture after watching tribal dances and the work of Japanese performer, Michio Itō. Horton began to study the Iroquois and Red River Indians, as well as the Penobscot and Ojibwe tribes. Alongside studying tribal dances, he began to train in ballet with a local teacher in Indianapolis, Theo Hewes. Nevertheless, the real story doesn’t start until the late 1920s.

Native American Ceremonies’ When I was ten years old I learned of my Indian culture. I learned I was of the Cherokee tribe. My dad had always hung Indian decorations in our home, but I have never given much thought of why he has done so. This peaked my interest, so I started asking questions. He told me we were part Cherokee and part Choctaw native American.

In her article, Embodying Difference, Jane Desmond argues that dance offers important insights into the ways moving bodies articulate cultural meanings and social identities. In other words, she explains the importance of studying the body’s movement as a way of understanding culture and society. She has two main arguments. First, she argues for the importance of the continually changing relational constitutions of cultural forms. Desmond further explains that the key to shedding light on the unequal distribution of power and goods that shape social relations are the concepts of cultural resistance, appropriation, and cultural imperialism (49).

Native American Songs: Reflections of Oppression in the Old American West A view of Native American Musical Practices and History during the period of forced relocation, racism, and cultural struggle in the time of the American West Maxwell Nimz MUS108_3 Jan Michael Looking Wolf Due 5/26/23 Native American culture is incredibly diverse, encompassing a wide array of tribes, languages, and customs. Throughout history, Native American communities have faced a multitude of challenges, particularly during the era of the Old American West. This period marked a time of forced relocation, violent conflicts with settlers and the U.S. government, and concerted efforts to assimilate Native American cultures.

When I came to America, I had to go through much struggle. First and the most important was that I did not know how to speak English. Apart from this I was very shy, so I didn’t communicate with people frequently.     Growing up in America and being a son of two Indian parents, I never felt truly American or Indian. I spoke Punjabi at home, but was educated in English so I had difficulty managing two languages.

A local Northwest Coast dance company, Dancers of Damelahamid, will facilitate day three (Dancers of Damelahamid, 2012). It will take place inside the school’s gym, where they will demonstrate the one of their dances and song for the students. After the performance, the members of Dancers of Damelahamid will educate the students on what the importance of dance is for them, the history of specific dances, as well as the symbolism behind the specific moves they had performed. Indigenous cultures use their varieties of dance to convey different emotions and stories, they use them to connect themselves to their community, nature and spirituality. These dances are more than just movements, they are an expression of their culture, a projection of their hardships and what they have been through in their

If my Native American tribe was to choose a side between the French and the English, I would pick the French. Firstly, the French have a small population in America. Therefore, they aren 't as demanding for certain supplies since there is less of them. That will leave more supplies for the Native Americans. Also, this means that they won 't take up as much land in America as the English do.

Mambo Girl (1957), a movie musical, follows Kailing, a talented young woman widely admired for her singing and dancing capabilities, as she searches for acceptance after learning the truth about her background. Shall We Dansu? (1996) follows Mr. Sugiyama, a Japanese accountant who goes on a secretive and intimate journey into the world of ballroom dance. Both Mambo Girl and Shall We Dansu? emphasize the close relationship between intimacy and Latin dance by linking Kailing and Mr. Sugiyama’s manners of dancing Latin to the emotional connection each has with other characters.

Her uncle Redd told her she should go to the audition and do her best. Then after the audition, she was the only one that did not get dismissed. That meant that she was the one that got to go to the summer dance festival! Then during the summer dance festival, she fulfilled her dream to dance in the spotlight as a ballerina. This book shows that even though differences can make us feel ashamed,they can also help you to be special in life.

6th Jackson “Nobody likes hard work, and sadly, hard work is the key,” said Kayode as we sat down onto his homey couch with rough leather seats. Kayode, with his thick curly mop of brown hair that dominates his narrow face and corrugated forehead, wrinkled by many peaks and trenches, began to hum a song written by his favorite artist, Michael Jackson. “Hard work beats talent when talent refuses to work hard,” he said as he adjusted his posture on the couch. That is the motto of Kayode Omonayin, one of the greatest dancers, and hardest workers I know. With his legs in an Indian style position as if he was trying to take up less space than his prodigious, muscular stature already did, several valley-like creases on his acne-filled forehead, and his fondling of his countable pieces of goat-like facial hair, he began to attempt to recollect the beginning of his story.

I have always had a burning passion for dance since I was a young girl. My first time on a stage, I was immediately hooked. The overpowering feeling of a crowd of people watching me as I do what I love, is a feeling I have always admired. Dance has developed my character and personality in many different ways. I have been taught responsibility, discipline, integrity and much more.

Dance constantly shifts throughout time, and in the 1990’s, the Macarena dance created a “craze” that constructed a new way of viewing a cultural identity, therefore introducing a different social norm for dance. Through simple, inclusive, and fun dance moves, the Macarena represented a social dance, where a variety of people were able to participate, and the dance was capable of being slightly modified within cultures to expand from one cultural meaning and to create a similar, yet different experience for each person who participated. Many may simply see the Macarena as a fun dance, but the roots of the Macarena constructed a new normative for identity throughout dance. The Macarena dance originated in Latin America, by a Spanish duo named