Barbara Schwei, 57, Founded Indian Dance Theater
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Barbara Schwei, who died Wednesday at age 56, was the founding producer of the American Indian Dance Theatre.
The group, which Schwei co-founded in 1987, performed traditional Native American dances in venues across North America, Europe, and Asia.
Schwei, the only non-Indian member of the troupe, attended every pow-wow she could find to assemble her dancers and musicians. Nearly all were Indians raised in traditional settings who had learned dances from fellow tribe members. The troupe’s membership varied greatly over the years, and more than 20 different Indian tribes were represented at various times, including Kwakiutl, Haida, Zuni, Apache, Makah, Skokomish, Creek, Chippewa, Cheyenne, and others.
“I became interested in this great cultural-exchange program I decided the world should have,” Schwei told the Boston Globe in 1990.
The Dance Theater represented the culmination of many years of interest on Schwei’s part in making Indian dance seem like something other than musty relics presented with academic commentary. Yet she also wanted to avoid the hackneyed war-whoops, tomtoms, and tomahawks of stage tradition.
Schwei and her dancers scouted tribal gatherings for new dances and then asked tribal elders for permission to add them to their repertoire. “We would never try some of the religious dances, of course,” Schwei told the Anchorage Daily News last year. “That wouldn’t be appropriate. This is theater.”
Under the artistic direction of Hanay Geiogamah, himself an Indian and a professor at UCLA, the troupe also developed new dances. In addition to traditional songs and arrangements, it used music from contemporary composers, including electric guitarist Robbie Robertson, who is both a Native American and a rock star. Mr. Robertson at one point joined the musicians for a tour of Europe.
The group was featured in two “Great Performances” specials on PBS, one of which was nominated for an Emmy. An original cast recording was nominated for a Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Recording, the first-ever nomination for Native American music.
Schwei grew up in Wisconsin and very early became interested in Indian culture. Moving to New York, she worked as a publicist and then as a theater producer. One early success was the stage musical “Nash at Nine,” based on the poems of Ogden Nash, with music by Milton Rosenstock. She later presented several European pop stars in concerts at New York venues like the Felt Forum and Lincoln Center, including Enrico Macias, Gilbert Becaud, and Charles Trenet.
The Dance Theater’s fall tour of the West Coast will go forward as planned, under the production of Les Schacter, the troupe’s longtime public relations representative.
Although Schwei had managed to run the Dance Theater nearly grant free, Mr. Schacter said that he and Mr. Geiogamah would be attempting to attract sponsorship and foundation money to put it on a more sustainable financial footing.
Barbara Schwei
Born November 30, 1946, in Milwaukee; died Wednesday at her home in Manhattan of complications from breast cancer; survived by her brother, Peter.