PERFORMING WITH HOOPS AND LARIATS; DANCES HELP KIDS LEARN ABOUT OTHERS.Byline: John Huddy Daily News Staff Writer Students from counties across Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, danced and frolicked Monday with Canadian Indians as part of a program designed to teach youngsters about other cultures. In its third season, the International Passport Series, a partnership between the Civic Arts Plaza Foundation and the Music Center Education Division, sponsored the performance, titled ``The Hoop and the Lariat.'' The production featured Kanata Indian dancers from Niagara Falls Niagara Falls, waterfall, United States and Canada Niagara Falls, in the Niagara River, W N.Y. and S Ont., Canada; one of the most famous spectacles in North America. The falls are on the international line between the cities of Niagara Falls, N.Y. , Canada, showing their authentic hoop dances and native headdresses to the more than 550 youngsters at the Civic Arts Plaza. ``It was really cool,'' said 10-year-old Chris Warner of Castaic Lake Castaic Lake is a lake on Castaic Creek formed by Castaic Dam, in northwestern Los Angeles County, California, near the town of Castaic. The 323,700 acre foot lake (399,000,000 m³) is the terminus of the West Branch of the California Aqueduct, though some comes from the 154 mi² Elementary School elementary school: see school. . ``I really liked the Indian show. I like the way they dress.'' The Kanata Indians then led eager students into the plaza's courtyard to experience the national folk dance folk dance, primitive, tribal, or ethnic form of the dance, sometimes the survival of some ancient ceremony or festival. The term is used also to include characteristic national dances, country dances, and figure dances in costume to folk tunes. of the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. - square dancing - taught by the Happy Squares dance club from Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. . ``This was a first for us,'' said Audrey Bee, president of the Happy Squares. ``The idea was to give the kids a dose of square dancing before they got back on the bus to go home.'' The program also featured the true story of a young slave searching for freedom, ``I, Nat Love Nat Love (1854 - 1921) was an African American cowboy during the time of the Wild West. He claimed to be a character made famous by dime novels; he may have the strongest historical claim to that moniker. In 1907, Love wrote his autobiography, "Life and Adventures of Nat Love. - The Story of Deadwood Dick,'' performed by actor and storyteller Rochel Garner Coleman. ``The Hoop and the Lariat,'' is part of a series of multicultural productions at the Civic Arts Plaza for children. Other performances have included ``African Heartbeat,'' a celebration of dances, songs and music of the West African countries, and ``Ghost Songs,'' a performance highlighting the Latin American ``El Dia de los Muertos Día de los Muer·tos n. See Day of the Dead. [Spanish : día, day + de, of + los, the + muertos, pl. of muerto, dead.] (Day of the Dead).'' ``Kids love it,'' said Mary Ann Tachco, theater operations supervisor. ``It gives the kids a chance to see different cultures and experience folk dancing. For some, it was the very first time that they ever square danced. . . . We want to expose children to different cultures around the world, including our own culture.'' The next International Passport Series performance will be May 11 - ``Footsteps of Tradition: From Spain to South America.'' It will trace the history of Latino arts from Spain to the South American cultures of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador and Peru. Although the series is in its third year, ``The Hoop and the Lariat'' is the first performance to include students' participation in dance activities. ``Kids are so used to being entertained,'' Tachco said. ``They don't do much interactive activities in school anymore. It was good to do this.'' CAPTION(S): 3 Photos PHOTO (1--Color) Chris Wells demonstrates hoop-dancing skills at the Civic Arts Plaza. (2--Color) Nancy Maracle, a Mohawk Indian from the Kanata Native Dance Theatre, performs for more than 550 students. (3--Color) Bianca Gonzalez watches the dancers from the front row. Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News |
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