O.C. DANCE / IRENE OPPENHEIM : An American Original : Spirituality and Pan-Tribal Sensibilities Are Key to Indian Company

When the American Indian Dance Theatre decides to add a work to its repertory, the process involves more than simply learning new steps.

The company’s new Kwakiutl mask dance is a case in point. The troupe went through a series of negotiations and journeys to include the ceremonial dance, a segment of the “Northwest Coast Suite” that forms part of the varied program the troupe will present Thursday at the Irvine Barclay Theatre. (The program includes another new piece, “Eastern Woodland Suite,” about such New England tribes as the Wanpanoag of Massachusetts and the Penobascot of Maine.)

After gaining permission from the Kwakiutl people to use a portion of their Red Cedar Ceremony, Dance Theatre artistic director Hanay Geiogamah traveled to British Columbia with his dancers, who are Indian but not Kwakiutl. There, under the guidance of the Kwakiutl, the dance was learned and rehearsed in the setting that contributed to its initial creation.

Such thoroughness typifies a company that has received high praise, not only for the quality of its performances but for the spirituality and pan-tribal sensibility that infuses its work.

Now numbering 23 dancers and musicians from 15 North American tribes, American Indian Dance Theatre was founded in 1987 by New York producer Barbara Schwei in conjunction with Geiogamah, a playwright, director, and member of the Kiowa tribe of Oklahoma.

The goal, according to Schwei, was something new: a national, professional, tribally integrated American Indian dance company that would tour first-class venues with intertribal programs “featuring the best dancers and musicians from the Native American world.”

The Dance Theatre, which is not yet 6 years old, tours 25 to 30 weeks a year throughout the United States and has performed in places as far flung as Yemen and North Africa. The troupe will visit Australia later this month.

In 1990, it was the first Indian company featured on the PBS series “Dance in America.” On May 21, PBS will air a second special about the troupe.

The latest program, according to Schwei, takes more of a documentary approach. The company is shown interacting with various tribal communities, while those communities present their own versions of the dances that form the Dance Theatre’s repertory.

Among the things Schwei hopes the upcoming “Dance in America” presentation will accomplish is to better define the Dance Theatre’s relationship to tradition.

Although the public may approach Dance Theatre performances carrying mental images rooted in history, “Indian culture,” Schwei insisted, “didn’t just stop in (the 19th Century).”

“All the dances we do,” she said, “are actually done today. We are not going back to reconstruct the past. Our purpose is to show that Indian culture is alive and well.”

In the Dance Theatre’s current program, the Indians’ evolving traditions are perhaps best illustrated by “Fancy Dance.”

A popular feature of intertribal powwows that, Schwei said, may be attended by up to 1,000 dancers, the competitive “Fancy Dance” has roots in earlier warrior-society dances.

Once part of preparation for battle, the dance has been transformed into a contest including variations on basic steps and costuming of neon brightness that can surprise audiences who may anticipate a visual diet of feathers and deerskin.

Those same audiences might be equally surprised to learn of the Dance Theatre’s increasing involvement with rock music. British rock band the Cult recently used some of the troupe’s music on the title track from the its 1992 album, “Wild Hearted Son.” Such experiences have prompted the company to consider producing another album and perhaps a music video of their own. (“The American Indian Dance Theatre,” an album of music from their performances, was released in 1990 and was the first album of such music to be nominated for a Grammy.)

“You see so many videos,” Schwei said, “where they use images or quick shots of Indians. Our idea is to have an all-Indian production with a few non-Indians participating.”

Geiogamah views his Dance Theatre job primarily as one of shaping the dances as they make their transition from community to stage. He also, however, molds the program as a whole in ways that go beyond the lacing together of individual works.

While denying that the troupe has an underlying philosophy--”in the hard, intellectual use of that term”--he does acknowledge that Indian culture incorporates a “purposefulness” he attempts to preserve or even amplify in performances.

What he hopes is conveyed, Geiogamah explains, is a spirituality that includes “an attitude of sharing,” and an awareness of responsibility “for that we have been given, that which we will be given, and that we can make for ourselves.”

* American Indian Dance Theatre appears Thursday at 8 p.m. at the Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive, Irvine. $20. (714) 856-4646.