A Yup'ik dance troupe's elder is gone. But her comedic legacy lives on.
BETHEL, Alaska — For the first time since eminent Yup'ik Elder Maryann Sundown passed away in 2011, dancers from Scammon Bay, Alaska, returned to the Cama-i Dance Festival stage.
Sundown was well-known to her community as the "Dance Diva." She and her sister, Agnes Aguchak, left behind a unique comedic legacy in Yup'ik dance. The subtle motions, deadpan facial expressions, and slapstick humor of their dance style is extremely visual. From her impressions of martial arts master Bruce Lee to the comical mosquito dance, her performances connected people through laughter.
Maryann's son, Harley Sundown, is the leader of the Scammon Bay Dance Group, composed of indigenous Yup'ik performers. He remembers how the audience loved her.
"Bruce Lee and Macarena made the non-Natives see the novelty side of what she could do on the stage, and that's why a lot of people loved her: because she could cross over," Harley said.
Video produced by Katie Basile at KYUK and Joey Mendolia at Alaska Public Media. This report originally appeared on local station KYUK.
Support Canvas
Sustain our coverage of culture, arts and literature.
Comedy has long been a way to bring a different, lighter lens to heavy topics. That holds true for Palestinian…
Gibson, a celebrated poet and performance artist who through their verse explored gender identity, politics and their 4-year battle with…
No other dramas came close to the dystopian workplace series “Severance,” which achieved a convergence of acclaim and audience buzz…
Superman, one of the summer’s most eagerly anticipated blockbusters, delivered with a big opening weekend. Jeffrey Brown sat down with…
Presidential advisor and former News Hour contributor David Gergen died at 83 after being diagnosed with Lewy body dementia. Throughout…
As a new “Superman” reboot opens in theaters, here's a roundup of big summer spectacles, comedies and lesser-known streaming gems.
At an Omaha, Nebraska, festival this summer, new work explores the intersection of art, disability and technology, asking questions like…
The huge amount on Thursday blew past what auctioneer Sotheby’s had said was the previous record for a handbag. The…
From college stardom at Iowa to shattering attendance records and becoming a top financial driver for the WNBA, Caitlin Clark’s…
Journalists Josh Dawsey, Tyler Pager and Isaac Arnsdorf are out with a new book unpacking the twists and turns of…
An artist who was once uprooted from her homeland has spent decades transforming works of nature into works of art.…
Virgil Abloh was a boundary-breaking designer who made streetwear luxurious and luxury feel accessible. Abloh was the first Black artistic…
Michael Madsen, whose menacing characters in “Reservoir Dogs” and “Kill Bill” made him a standout in Quentin Tarantino’s films, has…
Sean “Diddy" Combs was acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering charges, but found guilty of prostitution offenses. The mixed verdict…
Colum McCann's Narrative 4 organization is bringing the power of story to students in a time of division. The project…