SPIRIT: A JOURNEY IN DANCE, DRUMS AND SONG {PBS PLEDGE VERSION} (TV)
Summary
A televised version of the stage show of the same name, incorporating an interpretation of traditional Native American culture and mythology through song, music, and dance. The performance, taped live at the Weidner Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin, is introduced by Kevin Costner.
Act One opens as the narrator expounds on the ancient and lost world of Native America, lamenting that the spread of industrialization and urbanization has cut off individuals from their ancestors. In “Urban Overture,” male and female dancers -- each clad in suit and tie -- express the stifling rigidity of modern life and a sense of being trapped. One man, called “grandson” by the narrator, breaks free of the trappings of modern life and tries to return to the ways of the ancestors, as conveyed in “Firedance.” The narrator notes that the “Firedance” is representative of the old myth of the Thunderbird, a man who is reborn through fire. After reading "Coashelleaqua (The Shawnee Letter)," the narrator tells the grandson of his secret lineage, spoken in the “Hidden Heritage” as the names of great Native American tribes are chanted around a drum, accompanied by dance.
Next, the narrator explains that a man must go alone into the mountains to learn the secrets of the eagle. In “An Eagle Above,” the grandson finds the eagle and is given a feather, symbolic of the knowledge he has gained. Next, in “Passage,” the narrator explains how the grandson is listening for the voice of the Great Spirit via the animals and stars, and the grandson paints himself in preparation. The narrator tells him to “live completely” with the spirit of his people, symbolized by the “Spirit Dance,” bringing Act One to its conclusion.
Act Two opens as the grandson is embarking on a journey to the spirit world, exchanging his old life for a new one. The narrator explains that he is seeing this world for the first time in “The Place Where the Crying Begins.” In “The Dream,” the spirit world is further revealed to the grandson, who observes both its beauty and sadness, while the narrator explains that there is “two in everything,” thus no one is ever truly alone.
In “Aubenaubee (Prelude to Rebirth),” the narrator exposits that “life is a great circle,” and that the completion of that circle is fast approaching. Finally, in “Thunderbird,” the metaphorical journey is complete; the grandson returns from the spirit world whole and the circle concludes, a cause for celebration.
Cataloging of this program has been made possible by Verizon Communications.
Details
- NETWORK: PBS
- DATE: March 18, 1999 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:43:46
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:93315
- GENRE: N/A
- SUBJECT HEADING: N/A
- SERIES RUN: PBS, TV - 1999
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Divonne Jarecki Holmes à Court … Executive Producer
- Bob Marty … Executive Producer
- JoAnn Young … Executive Producer
- Abe Hoch … Executive Producer
- Burton Goldstein … Executive Producer
- Jim Scalem … Senior Producer
- Peter Holmes à Court … Producer
- Martha Guffey … Associate Producer
- Randy Letterman … Associate Producer
- Shelby Werwa … Line Producer
- Milton Lage … Director
- Peter Buffett … Created by, Composer
- Jay Bannon … Writer
- Wayne Cilento … Choreographer
- Jody Ripplinger … Choreographer
- The Greenbay Girl Choir … Choir
- Paul Gutierrez … Singer, Dancer
- Chief Hawk Pope … Singer, Narrator
- Joanne Shenandoah … Singer
- Raymond Christjohn … Singer
- Jason Johnson … Singer
- Donovan Killspotted … Singer
- Mike Peltier … Singer
- Ron Tooivetsee Anquoe … Dancer
- Ted Banfalvi … Dancer
- Jay Barrett … Dancer
- Cristina Danforth … Dancer
- Connie Danforth … Dancer
- Keiko Davis … Dancer
- Angelo H. Fraboni … Dancer
- Michael Gregory Gong … Dancer
- Jason Longfeather King … Dancer
- Nancy Lemenager … Dancer
- Marla Mahkimetas … Dancer
- Mayumi Miguel … Dancer
- Susie Misner … Dancer
- Judine Richard … Dancer
- Claudia Skenandore … Dancer
- Curt Summers … Dancer
- Samuel N. Thiam … Dancer
- Rocker Verastique … Dancer
- Yakoskanehkat Webster … Dancer
- Lori Elizabeth Werner … Dancer
- Peter Buffett … Instrumentalist
- Robert Mirabal … Instrumentalist
- Doug Lunn … Instrumentalist
- Kurt Wortman … Instrumentalist
- Chad Hamill … Instrumentalist
- Reynaldo V. Lujan … Instrumentalist
- Peter Maunu … Instrumentalist
- Paul Gmeinder … Instrumentalist
- Michael Masters … Instrumentalist
- Anthony Stogner … Instrumentalist
- Edward Willett … Instrumentalist
- Kevin Costner … Narrator