Let's Dance, Anna Tsouhlarakis

Artwork Overview

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Anna Tsouhlarakis, artist
Cultural affiliations: Diné (Navajo), Creek, Greek
born 1977
Let's Dance, 2004
Where object was made: North and Central America
Material/technique: color; sound
Credit line: Museum purchase: Peter T. Bohan Art Acquisition Fund
Accession number: 2009.0032
On display: Marshall Balcony
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Label texts

Bold Women

This video shows artist Anna Tsouhlarakis learning various dances, including the Harlem Shake, the Hora, and an Irish jig, each taught by a different person. Each of the thirty dances is performed outdoors and accompanied by culturally relevant music. Tsouhlarakis competed as a powwow dancer growing up in New Mexico. In this performance she opens up a world of non-Native dances, breaking stereotypes of expectations for Native artists and conveying a message of inclusion.

Exhibition Label: Jul-2009, Nancy Mahaney
From the artist: “Over the course of 30 days I danced 30 dances with people from diverse backgrounds. The dances included the Hora, Indian Two-Step, Harlem Shake, and an Irish jig from County Limerick….Within in my artwork I have tried to divulge the step in which Native art has not gone, which is towards the reclamation of Native identity. By reclamation, I mean depicting images of Indians in non-stereotypical ways as well as redefining what Native means.”

Tsouhlarakis’ work emphasizes the ubiquitous nature of self expression through dance. The Indian Two-Step or Powwow Two-Step is a social dance performed between dance competitions at Inter-Tribal Powwows. These dances provide opportunities for all the people attending the Powwow to participate, and contrast sharply with the formality and ceremonial dress of the competition dances. We invite you to learn these dances along with Anna in celebration of our shared cultural diversity.

Exhibitions

Bold Women
Susan Earle, curator
2025