Waiting to dance

Howdy. That's a West Texas greeting. I'm John Madden, proud associate advisor for the Kwahadi Dancers. My dress (we call it regalia) is a Straight Dancer.

The Straight Dance, sometimes referred to as Southern Traditional, is the formal and original dance of most of the Oklahoma tribes, including the Ponca, Osage, Kiowa, Comanche, Kaw, and many others. It is a dignified style, where the men who dance it keep a steady, flowing pace that is not interrupted with fancy moves or extra footwork. Because of its slow place, some people believe that it is an old man's dance, but this is not the case. There are many fine Straight Dancers in the Oklahoma area, ranging in age from ten to eighty. Some of the best places for Straight Dancers to go include the Ponca Hethuska and the Kiowa Tia-piah Society's Dance. The Ponca Hethuska is held twice a year in the town of White Eagle, Oklahoma, once in April and once in October. It is a formal war dance, meaning that it follows the old ways, and has many strict rules that must be adhered to. There, every dancer is required to dance every dance for the duration of the war dance, which is very tiring. The Kiowa Tia Piah Society holds their annual dance at Carnegie, OK over the Fourth of July. This dance is also excellent place to see Gourd Dancing.

I'm also a Gourd Dancer and will tell you about that later.

I'm Cheokee, adpoted into the Comanche, Tewa and Lakota, plus Scots/Irish.

Come see the Kwahadi Dancers. You'll have a great time, get to take once-in-a-lifetime photos, see outstanding dancing and meet extremely wonderful young men and young women.

The KWAHADI DANCERS.

Thank you,

John Madden