The White Thunder Dance Theatre was started in 1989. The mission
statement behind the
theatre is "to give young people a chance
to learn more about their culture and at the same
time learn more
about the performing arts".
We are made up of 15 different members of many different nations. The
type of dancing and
singing that we do is of the plains style. We
are set apart from other groups with the fact that
we have live
drumming and singing when we perform.
There are many different dances that we perform. We are able to do
performances from
five minutes to forty-five minutes in length. We do
performances for many different groups
and events. Childrens
festivals, conferences, schools, dinner theatre and special events.
If you would like more information please send me an E-mail and I will
forward more detailed
descriptions and prices.
The type of dances that we do are of the plains style. Dances include: Mens fancy dance, Womens fancy dance, Mens grass dance, Womens jingle dance, Mens traditional dance, Womens traditional dance, Hoop dance, Eagle dance, Friendship dance, owl dance, rabbit dance, two step and many others. In the pictures below are some of the members of our dance group.
Three hoops representing the past, present and the future
Eight hoops that represent the rose
Five hoops that represent the eagle
Eight hoops that represent the world
16 hoops that represent the full eagle
The eagle holding the moon and the sun
The hoop dance means many different things to many different people. As we progress in our lives the meanings come to us. My hoop dance represents the story of life. Life is like a hoop there is no begining and there is no end. The first hoop that I pick up represents the time before I was born, the second represents my birth. The rest of my hoops represent my friends and my family. As I do this dance you will see many different forms, the wind, the rose, the moon and the sun. You will also see the eagle. As I progress through this dance the forms become more complex, like life. All of the forms represent different stages of my life. All these things are parts of my world. I then make the world and set it down. I dance around the world in the form of the eagle. I then jump back into the world. This represents our death, we are always told by the old people, 'don't be afraid of death, its not an ending. Its part of the circle.'
I recently trained some students in Browning, MT. It was a great experience. There will be pics here when I get them.
Phoenix is comming up, Feb 2, 2001. See you there.
Gary Abbott
434 West 2nd Street
North Vancouver, BC
V7M
1E4
E-mail: snyper@uniserve.com