Who made the Apache dance?

Maurice Mouvet
Maurice Mouvet (in the right-side photo) was an American dancer, born in New York City but working in Paris in 1908. These two men both claimed to have invented the Apache dance in 1908.

What is a sunrise dance?

The Apache Sunrise Dance is a four-day female coming-of-age ceremony, in which a girl temporarily becomes Changing Woman, the first lady and mother of her people. It is a significant and highly spiritual event for both the girl and the entire Apache community.

What do the Apache Crown Dancers represent?

The Crown Dancers are the Gaan or mountain spirits. Apaches believe that Usen, the Creator, sent the Gaan to the Apache to teach them to live in harmony. There are five Crown Dancers, including four masked dancers representing the directions of north, south, east, and west.

Who is White Painted Woman?

When her people, the Apache, were hard pressed by evil monsters, White Painted Woman reared a son to destroy those creatures and to make the earth inhabitable for mankind. She is the model of heroic and virtuous womanhood. For the duration of the rite, the young girl dresses and acts like White Painted Woman.

What are Apache Crown Dancers?

Who are the Crown Dancers in the Apache dance?

The Crown Dancers are the Gaan or mountain spirits. Apaches believe that Usen, the Creator, sent the Gaan to the Apache to teach them to live in harmony. There are five Crown Dancers, four masked dancers representing the directions of north, south, east, and west.

How did the Apache Indians perform the mountain spirit dance?

The dance ground on which the Mountain Spirit dancers perform contains a large fire. When the dancers enter the dance ground, they circle the fire in preparation for the dance. Then, at a signal, singers and drummers begin the accompaniment and the dance begins. Often appearing with the Mountain Spirit dancers is a clown figure,…

Who is the messenger in the Apache Ga’an dance?

The messenger really is a highly sacred being with a dual nature, both a frightening figure that scares evil spirits from the bodies of the sick and a comical teacher who facilitates healing through laughter. Unlike the other ga’an, who wear black or dark blue hoods and body paint, the messenger wears white.

Why do the Apache dancers wear eagle feathers?

Some crown headdresses are adorned with eagle feathers, because the eagle is sacred to the Apache. Lightning, another sacred symbol, is often painted on the bodies of Apache Crown Dancers. The dancers are not allowed to talk to one another so they communicate with their sticks during the dance.