Lakota dancer reaches out to kids

Kevin Locke doesn't want children to be square.

"They live in a square world," said Locke, an American Indian hoop dancer. "They're in a square room in a square chair in front of a square desk or blackboard. They see square windows, go down the square sidewalks. … They go to the TV and they eat a square meal."

With that in mind, Locke, who is Lakota, plans to bring his program, "The Drum Is the Thunder, the Flute Is the Wind," to the Everett Performing Arts Center on Saturday. During two afternoon shows, he intends to employ traditional instruments and hoop dancing -- notably using circles -- in an effort to draw children out of their routines.

Raised in South Dakota, Locke has been dancing for as long as he can remember. In the 1970s, he expanded his interest by trying to revive the Lakota/Dakota flute tradition, and since has recorded several albums. His work, which serves as an effort to bridge cultural divisions, earned him a National Endowment of the Arts National Heritage Award in 1990.

Despite decades of work and a fair amount of acclaim, Locke is modest about his skills, saying he is still learning his craft.

"I figure if I ever get it right, I'll quit," said Locke, whose Lakota name is Tokeya Inajin, or "the First to Arise."

Along with the rest of the Kevin Locke Native Dance Ensemble, the performer plans to explore ideas about unity during his stop in Everett, using the hoop as both a tool for dance and a symbol of bigger ideas.

"In a circle, there's no corner," Locke said. "There's no dark place."

While Locke's show illustrates a deep love and understanding of folk arts, it also gives him a chance to use his bachelor's degree in elementary education. For the Saturday performances, he plans to bring about 100 hoops for children to use onstage with him, as he walks them through some poses.

By engaging the kids, he said he has a better shot of making an impression on them.

"They're so used to experiencing things vicariously," he said. "Everything is on this flat screen in front of their face."

The show's dancing is paired with music that uses a flute, rattle, drum and singing. The performance includes a presentation of various dances inspired by animals, including the buffalo, prairie chicken and, perhaps most importantly, the eagle.

"The eagle is the physical manifestation or portrayal of the ascendant nature of the human spirit, the capacity of the human spirit to be actively lofty, to soar, to be noble," he said. "These are the themes we generally convey."

Illustrating those themes through dance can be hard work. At 53, Locke goes through regular weight training to stay fit for performances, sometimes running four miles a day in the near-freezing South Dakota winter.

But that work pays off. He stages hundreds of shows a year, he said, with roughly two-thirds of them for schoolchildren. He enjoys performing for the young groups.

"They're just filled with the sense of wonderment and awe," he said.