Event | Concerts and Performances Jones Benally Family Dancers
Date and Location
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When: Tuesday, September 10, 2019
12:00 pm - 01:00 pm EDT
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Where: Thomas Jefferson Building - Coolidge Auditorium (LJG45A)
10 1st Street SE, Washington, DC 20540
Part of Homegrown Concerts and Interviews
Request ADA accommodations five business days in advance at (202) 707-6362 or ADA@loc.gov.
World Champion hoop dancer and traditional healer Jones Benally, his daughter Jeneda, his son Clayson, and his three young grandchildren form the Jones Benally Family Dancers. Navajo dance is a sacred tradition encompassing a wide variety of forms, all of which aim to heal the body, mind, or spirit. When presented outside the Navajo community, these dances are modified for public viewing, but they retain their deep capacity to move hearts and minds. The family sings, chants, plays traditional rhythm instruments, and performs a repertoire of over 20 dances, including traditional forms such as basket dance, eagle dance, feather dance, and corn grinding. They are particularly well known for the hoop dance, in which they evoke traditional figures and shapes using five, nine, a dozen, or many more hoops.
Contact: (202) 707-5510.