How to: Men's Fancy Dances

Native American fancy dancing mixes the traditional with the flashy.

The fancy dance is one of the more modern dances in the Native American powwow. The fancy dance, also known as the feather dance originated on reservations in Oklahoma in the 1920s, out of the effort to entertain visitors, according to ThinkQuest.org. Dancers dress in colorful regalia including feathers, ribbons, bustles, bells, animal hair, headbands, and beaded and fringed aprons. Fancy dancing is fast and energetic and calls for jumping and twirling, and requires strength, stamina and agility. It is practiced by Native Americans all over the country now, sometimes as a competitive sport.

Instructions

1. Choose a headdress. All fancy dancers wear a headdress made of animal hair and holding two eagle feathers which are kept spinning and fluttering with a roach. The headdress, like the rest of the outfit, is meant to represent the spirits of the rainbow.

2. Design aprons, side tabs and leggings. Aprons for the shoulder and waist are made on a loom and are beaded and fringed. Dancers wear matching side tabs to cover their thighs, and strips of bells just below the knee. Angora goat hide is wrapped around the calves. As with the rest of the outfit, the design and flourishes of aprons and leggings should be unique and reflect the personality of the dancer.

3. Fashion bustles for the neck and waist. These are the distinctive marks of the fancy dancer. The matching bustles are made from brightly colored stripped feathers decorated with dyed hackle feathers and plumes. Like the other regalia, they are meant to flow with the dancer's movements.

4. Create a dance combining the original with the traditional. The fancy dance is a highly athletic dance emphasizing tricks and footwork. Dancers dance to the various beats of a drum, including a medium war beat, a crow hop, a ruffle and a fast beat, and they must strike a pose whenever the drumbeat stops. Dancers must stay on their toes, so to speak, as the drummers sometimes try to trick them with unexpected stops.

Tips & Warnings

• Dancers also carry coup sticks -- originally small sticks carried into battle by warriors -- which are festooned with ribbons or feathers. It was considered a sign of great bravery for an Native American to touch an enemy with his coup stick, even more so than killing him.

References

• ThinkQuest: Fancy Dance
• Powwows: Original Fancy Dance Category