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The goal of the Lakota Theater Program is to communicate the struggles of the people today and offer an appropriate and privileged way for outsiders to 'enter' the Lakota culture. We believe that by bringing attention to the Lakota People and the Pine Ridge Reservation, programs of renewal can gain the support they need. We are collaborating with Owe Aku (Bring Back the Way) a grassroots organization whose purpose is preservation and revitalization of Lakota culture, language, and self-sufficiency to produce the first of the Lakota Theater productions. This program will assist in economic and community development and will be a public relations/education event performed here in the US and in Europe. The five-year goal for this program is the establishment of ongoing theater that communicates the current stories and conditions of Native Americans and provides jobs and economic stimulation on the reservation.
Help the Lakota people renew their economy and their communities. This program promotes development that brings jobs and educational opportunities to both the youth and the adult members of the tribe.
The Lakota Theater Program communicates the struggles of the Lakota people and offers a way for outsiders to 'enter' the Lakota culture. We believe that bringing attention to their way of life on the reservation will generate support for programs that help the Lakota people to regain their identity and their culture and improve the quality of their lives.
While there are no simple answers to the complex problems facing the Lakota, there are people who are working to make a change politically, socially, and culturally from within the tribe. The Lakota are fully aware that most of the people living in America know nothing about them and those that do, understand little. They and their people have been waiting a long time to be recognized and respected by non-native Americans. When we asked the people what they wanted the theater to do, they said, "Tell what's going on here. Tell what is happening to us".
The Lakota Theater Program offers a forum where native participants can use the Lakota culture to tell stories about their nation. The Lakota people want to be recognized, as a people, as a nation, as a culture, and they want to be heard when defending themselves against political and social injustices. Having others value their way of life affirms their cultural identity. Many spiritual and community leaders feel it is especially urgent for the youth to make peace with their Lakota heritage in order to build a healthy self image, avoid the temptations of drugs and gangs, and overcome the deep depression that leads to suicide.
Young people from 16 to 25 years old are involved in the program through research, interviews, and performance. The long term goal of the Lakota Theater Program is to offer training and opportunities in theater to young people, and to inspire them to turn to elders for guidance and information concerning traditions and culture.
The Lakota Theater creates paid skilled work for Lakota tribal members and
involves them in cultural research, writing, design, and performance. Live theaters
all over the country operate almost exclusively on donations from individuals
and corporations. The actors, directors and artists that create the work are
respected and esteemed. It must be the same for the Lakota people who have the
opportunity to use theater as a forum for sharing their philosophy, their art
and their wisdom.
The Lakota Theater Program is a first step in organizing a permanent theater
company. The program offers training and experience in administration, grant
research, communication and publicity as well as in the artistic trades necessary
to mount a production.
Native people in general, and the Lakota people in particular, have initiated many efforts to improve the quality of their lives. The success of these efforts depends greatly on the support and recognition they receive from non-natives. The Lakota Theater Program will communicate to non-natives about these efforts, and help to bring about understanding and support for native causes.
The artistic work for this program is lead by The MoVe Dance Theater, a company
based in France, and directed by Melissa Baker. Melissa is an American, trained
in theater at the Tisch School of the Arts, New York University, and at the
University of California, Davis. After directing a theater company in New York
in the early 90's she went to France to train in Comédia Del Arte mask
performance. Then, in New Caledonia, a French territory in the South Pacific,
she directed several works for the Phenix theater company, both with the indigenous
Kanak people and the 'Caledoche' descendants of the prison colony, as well as
with Wallisian teenagers in the urban housing projects.
The MoVe Company is currently creating theater with communities of Muslim women
from North Africa in Lille, France. The French Cultural Ministry has provided
funds to support bringing the Lakota Theater to France.
To learn more about the Theater Program or to sign up to participate, contact Jeri Baker (Bakers2@ptd.net, 570-595-5015).