Ceremony

Our visit to Nauvoo was a wonderful experience, but it was occasionally lonely for me. The people were wonderful, but I missed my own culture and spirituality. 

Toward the end of the pageant, Daniel - a Native man from Kansas - drove six hours to see the show and connect with members of the cast. He was in the pageant himself several years ago, so he knew many of the same people. I am not sure how he found out about me, but he heard there was another Native in the cast, so he tracked me down, and we had a great visit. 

Out of the blue, he said that he brought a hand drum and that he wanted to sing. So the two of us went into the Grove - the same grove where Joseph Smith once preached some of his most important sermons - and sang from our respective traditions. It was an amazing, impromptu ceremony that totally lifted my heart. By the end, any heaviness or loneliness simply fell away. 

I'm still grateful to Daniel for helping me that afternoon. 

Les Miserables

Dakota played the part of Marius Pontmercy in Les Miserables at the Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox, in a special combined performance of the Spokane Symphony and the Spokane Civic Theater. His character sang "A Little Fall of Rain" and "Empty Chairs," among others. He has performed some of these songs before, but tonight was his best performance ever. His beautiful singing moved me to tears!   

Dakota's Solo

Dakota sang a solo in a place called "The Cellar" in Coeur d'Alene. His solo was part of a collection of performances from the cast of Les Miserables. As always, he did an amazing job, and he even got a standing ovation at the end.  

Sorry for the poor video quality. The lighting was terrible in that place. 

Concert

The Mead High School Concert Choir performed an amazing concert at the Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist. These are some of the pictures from that event. 

Dakota in the nave of the church. 

Dakota singing. 

The west entrance of the church. 

Detail of the west door. 

A scene from the Garry window, 

depicting Chief Garry instructing Governor Stevens. 

Garry instructing the Spokane people. 

The Eternal Father and Mary. 

The Holy Trinity. 

A wood carved pulpit showing Christ. 

 

 

Dakota. 

Loch Lomond

The Mead High School Concert Choir sang "Loch Lomond" at St. John's Episcopal Cathedral. Dakota had a solo part in the performance. Unfortunately, the video track was ruined, but the audio was preserved. I added photographs of the event to the sound track. 

Amazing Grace

The Mead High School Concert also sang a moving version of Amazing Grace at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Spokane. Simply beautiful!

Cathedral Concert

The Mead High School Concert performed "With a Voice of Singing" at St. John's Cathedral in Spokane. They delivered a magnificent performance! 

Dakota is in the back row, in the middle. 

When We Grow Up

Dakota performed an original song When We Grow Up at the Mead HS Talent Show, accompanied by Zach Merkling on the cajon. Dakota composed the song himself and performed the vocals. 

Auditions

Dakota and Whitney auditioned for CYT Spokane's upcoming production of the Little Mermaid. Dakota sang, "I'll Make a Man Out of You," from Mulan and Whitney sang, "Don't Rain On My Parade," from Funny Girl. When the cast list appeared, Dakota was cast as Prince Eric and Whitney was cast as one of the mermaid sisters. 

McKenna did not audition.



Tickets go on sale January 2, 2013.

For showtimes and tickets, please click here, or visit: www.cytspokane.com

Soy Un Hijo De Dios

Hermana Raymunda sang "I am a child of God" in both Spanish and Quiche.

Feeling Good

Dakota recently performed a powerful rendition of Feeling Good at his grandmother's 70th birthday party. His vocal quality just keeps getting better. Watch the video below and judge for yourself:

Recital

Dakota and Whitney participated in a vocal recital with Marsha Schlangen's class. Beautiful singing!

Mary Did You Know

The CYT Christmas Quartets performed today at the Valleyford Community Church. They sang "Mary Did You Know?" Dakota has a solo at about the 2:15 mark.

Singing

Dakota continues to sing with the CYT Christmas Quartets. They recently performed on the radio and at the Spokane Country Club, but they also perform for retirement centers throughout the Spokane area.

On the one hand, I'm thankful that Dakota is learning to increase his talent and self-confidence through public performances. On the other hand, I hope that he continues to practice his talent as a form of service to others. Within our ancestral tradition, singing is a cultural, spiritual, and ceremonial responsibility that is practiced for the good of the community. Singing promotes the spiritual well-being of the people without necessarily depending the entertainment value of the song. In some small way, maybe singing Christmas carols for the elderly approximates the spiritual work of Dakota's ancestors.