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Acknowledgments
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Acknowledgments As a ballet dancer, I eventually chose bare feet over pointe shoes for performing , teaching, and choreographing dance theater in Mexico and the United States. Writing followed close behind. There is no doubt that one can dance and write—move and think. This book is the result of a lengthy process of dancing, writing, and creating. From the outset, many people shared my journey. In the late 1990s when I began my fieldwork, others joined me along the powwow trail: Laurin, Brina, Yuh-jen, Jerry, David, my students at the Gallatin School of Individualized Study at New York University who over the years took my course “Transcultural Performance,” and—at that first National Museum of the American Indian powwow at the National Mall in Washington, DC, in 2002—Joanna and Isaac. Later on, Tibor generously drove long distances with me to events in Maine. To all: thank you for coming. Once I was immersed in the powwow spirit, new friends made me feel at home. I met many people along the way—in New York City, Montana, North Dakota, and New England. I am especially grateful to Cliff Matias (Taíno/ Kichwa) and the Redhawk Native American Arts Council, organizers of the Gateway powwows for almost two decades, and the Thunderbird Dancers, who year after year offer their Thunderbird Mid-Summer Pow Wow in Queens, New York. Above all, my respect and admiration go out to the hundreds of powwow dancers I saw perform over the years: each individual contributes in her or his own way to the beauty of the grass, traditional, jingle dress, and fancy dance styles within the powwow circle. I have many to thank for the realization of this project into print. Early readers include José Esteban Muñoz, who was constant in his belief that a non-Indian could write about Indians as a venture across borders. May Joseph , Brooks McNamara, Barbara Browning, and Randy Martin read the text with keen and discerning eyes. As brilliant scholars who have forged new territory in dance scholarship, Barbara and Randy responded with judicious feedback. My friends and colleagues Kanta Kochhar-Lindgren, Yuh-jen Lu, Laurie Margot Ross, Brina Coronado, and Ellen Goldman offered astute and useful comments. Special recognition goes to Harriett Skye (Lakota/Sioux) who carefully read several drafts and offered detailed reflections about the meaning of powwow for herself and her people; she is forever present in these pages as a mentor and friend. I also thank Susanna Sloat, Tara Browner, and the anonymous reviewers whose expert advice helped transform a rather unwieldy manuscript into a book. Special thanks also to Richard Sassaman, who patiently formatted the photo shots from a sundry assortment of pre-digital and digital fieldwork material. My sincere appreciation to Julie Malnig who, in 2001 as editor of Dance Research Journal, supported the publication of “Performative Power in Native American Powwow Dancing.” Likewise, Ted Bain invited me to contribute “Space, Time, and Popular Culture: Native American Indian Intertribal Powwows ” to the Mid-Atlantic Almanack when he was editor in 2000. Many of the ideas in this book were first tested in these articles, in my undergraduate and graduate courses, and at numerous national and international conferences. While writing this book, I had the good fortune to work with some amazing and supportive people at NYU and the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies in New York. During my archival research I was lucky to have the skillful help of librarians at the Elmer Holmes Bobst Library at NYU, the National Anthropological Archives at the Smithsonian Institution, and the research room at the National Museum of the American Indian in New York. Thank you. No artistic or scholarly project is possible without family and friends. I am grateful to my uncle, Dr. Philip A. Corfman, who provided me with a lovely, quiet place to work when I first started to write. I thank Tibor J. Pusztai for reminding me that artistic creativity is at the core of it all—and for paprikás chicken and walks with Winston. Thanks also to Herb Rabin, Jean Vitrano, Jessie Greenbaum, Linda Homer, and Mary McLaud, who helped keep my body, mind, and soul intact, and to my dear friends Margot, Patty Wolcott Berger, and Emily Leeser for their wisdom and affection. In travels along life’s pathways , my sisters Molly Axtmann and Joanna Axtmann have always been inspirational models of artistry and hard work—Molly in music, Joanna in the visual arts. My mother...