Public Invited to Free Performance by SMSC Youth at Prior Lake High School

Wearing handmade regalia and dancing to traditional songs, more than 70 youth from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) will share their Dakota culture, traditions, and spirituality at a free dance exhibition at the Prior Lake High School auditorium at 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 8. The performance, which is open to the general public, will be followed by light refreshments. 

SMSC Youth Royalty and members of the SMSC Youth Leadership Council will take on speaking roles in the performance, which will also include taped comments by some of the dancers.

This event, now in its 17th year, will honor Dakota life. Through song, dance, and the spoken word, the students will illustrate Dakota values, which have been important to the Dakota people throughout time and remain significant today.

Each performance will begin with a prayer, followed by a grand entry in which the dancers enter in a procession behind flags and eagle feather staffs. The dance styles which will be featured include fancy feather, fancy shawl, traditional, grass, and jingle. A large group of Tiny Tots – endearing children age six and under – will also participate in regalia. The Hoka Hey intertribal drum group, including adults and youth from several tribes, will sing traditional songs. The event will conclude with audience members being invited to participate in a round dance.