The department of dance at Denison University is hosting a performance featuring visiting world dance instructor Daystar Rosalie Jones. The performance will be at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday (Sept. 15) in Slayter Auditorium and is part ofIdentity, Gender, and Politics: A Symposium on Native American Culture. The departments of women's studies, dance, and education, the Laura C. Harris Endowment and the office of the Provost are sponsoring the event. It is free and open to the public.

Jones was born on the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana and is of Pembina Chippewa ancestry on her mother's side. She holds a master's degree in dance from the University of Utah with postgraduate work at Juilliard School in New York City. She studied Korean, Hawaiian, East Indian and Flamenco dance, mime with Reid Gilbert, and modern dance with Jose Limon and Hanya Holm. Over many years, she has gained knowledge of the indigenous dance and cultural forms of the Plains, the Northwest Coast, and Conchero Dance, among others.

As a teacher, Jones was responsible for the revitalization of the performing arts at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, N.M. during the early 1990s when she was chair of the department. In 1995, Jones was awarded a two-year National Endowment for the Arts Choreographer's Fellowship. Jones is the director and founder of Daystar Dance Company. Founded in 1980, it was the first dance company in the U.S. created with all-native performers and specializing in the portrayal of the personal and tribal stories of Indian America. The company has toured throughout the United States and Canada, and in Germany, Bulgaria, and Turkey.

About Denison:

Denison University, founded in 1831, is an independent, residential liberal arts institution located in Granville, Ohio. A highly selective college enrolling 2,100 full-time undergraduate students from all 50 states and dozens of foreign countries, Denison is a place where innovative faculty and motivated students collaborate in rigorous scholarship, civic engagement and the cultivation of independent thinking.

For press inquiries:

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Barbara Stambaugh

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