Two members of the Tau Dance Theatre perform Pōhuli, the troupe’s signature blend of hula, modern dance and ballet. The Hawaii-based TDT will perform the original dance “Indigenuity” at the Ellen Eccles Theatre in Logan at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 30.
LOGAN — The CacheARTS 2022-23 national touring season will kick off with the Tau Dance Theater (TDT), the only professional dance company founded by a native Hawaiian, based in Honolulu.
Established in 1996 by Peter Rockford Espiritu, the TDT has produced original, epic works that have earned critical acclaim.
“As we commemorate the centennial year of the Ellen Eccles Theatre,” said Wendi Hassan, executive director of the Cache Valley Center of the Arts, “we begin with a celebration that honors the thousands of years of culture that came before and the indigenous culture bearers who are still actively creating and innovating today.”
Hassan added that the TDT is traveling from Hawaii to Logan with the help of a generous ArtsForward grant from the Association of Performing Arts Professionals.
In its signature blend of hula, modern dance and ballet, the TDT will perform a dance called Indigenuity at the Eccles Theatre at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 30.
Espiritu explains that Indigenuity is an artistic celebration of gifts from our ancestors, native pride, cultural and spiritual awakening. It transforms the arts through the respectful evolution of indigenous dance, music and theater. Indigenuity is created with a vision to unite us as one artistic tribe, celebrating our cultures.
That performance will be part of a residency by the Hawaiian entertainers that will include a workshop with local dance companies and a matinee performance for about 1,000 local students and educators.
During their visit, the dance troupe will also interact with members of the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation.
TDT dancers will participate with the Shoshones in a land recognition ceremony at the Cache County History Courthouse on at noon on Wednesday, Sept. 28. The public is invited to that event.
Additionally, the TDT members will visit the site of the Bear River Massacre, where hundreds of Shoshone were killed by U.S. cavalry in 1863. The site visit will take place on Saturday, Oct. 1.
That visit will be followed by a dinner at 4:30 p.m. at the Cache Valley Cenyer for the Arts. Local Native Americans and Pacific Islanders are invited to attend. They can RSVP at at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tau-dance-luau-in-logan-ut-tickets-416248338987
Hassan said that the goal of Indigenuity is to bring together Native Hawaiian and Native American cultures. Toward that end, the TDT has lined up what she called an array of “amazing special guests.”
They will include singer Shelley Morningsong, a Northern Cheyenne and 2019 Native American Music Awards artist of the year; Fabian Fontenelle, a member of the Zuni/Omaha tribe who took top honors for Men’s Traditional Dance at the 2019 and 2022 “Gathering of the Nations;” Native Hawaiian musician P maika’i, a granddaughter of Hawaiian music legend Aunty Genoa Keawe; and Kealoha Kelekolio, master storyteller and former cultural educator at the Bishop Museum in Hawaii.
The Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation is a federally recognized tribe of the Shoshone people located in southern Idaho and northern Utah.
Tickets for National Touring Season events are available at www.cacheARTS.org
CacheARTS marketing director Alek Nelson adds that the theater’s touring season will also include the Ellen Eccles Theatre’s 100th anniversary celebration in March of 2023. The date of that event and details of the celebration will be announced at a later date.
The Capitol Theatre was built on Main Street in 1923. Originally home to opera and vaudeville productions, the theater was subsequently used for community events and movies.
After falling into disrepair by the late 1980s, the theater was purchased by the City of Logan and a not-for-profit group now known as CacheARTS was organized to renovate and operate it.
The newly restored theater reopened as the Ellen Eccles Theatre in January of 1993.
CacheARTS is an independent group that facilitates the highest and best use of the publicly-owned Eccles Theatre, the Thatcher-Young Mansion and the Bullen Center.