Turtle Mountain Tribal Arts Association Dance Troop

In September 2015 TMTAA was awarded a NACBI grant, which is being utilized to develop a Native American Dance Troop. The project consists of 4 phases, beadwork, regalia creation, basket making and dance choreography. A number of Turtle Mountain youth and adults are now working on the first phase of the project, which is beadwork. They started out by creating patterns for their regalia and beadwork, once they were sure about the designs they then selected colors and started beading. The participants will work on their beadwork and regalia through May 1,2016; at that time they will begin practicing to dance as a team. During each dance performance, each dancer will be give a few minutes in the spotlight. The grant is also providing funding for community members with experience in beadwork, regalia creation, basket making and Native American dance to assist the participants. The dance troop is striving to start performing by mid May 2016.