Osage ballet Wahzhazhe

'Wahzhazhe': An Osage Ballet at the National Museum of the American IndianOpening March 20 and running through March 23 at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. is the Osage ballet, Wahzhazhe. Performances are free and will be staged daily at 3 p.m. in the Rasmuson Theater, 1st level.

The Osage ballet, Wahzhazhe, is a contemporary ballet that brings together unique and diverse qualities of Oklahoma history and culture: a reverence for classical ballet that was the legacy of two famous Osage ballerinas, Maria and Marjorie Tallchief, and the richness of Osage traditional music, dance, and textile arts. The creative set designs transform the stage into accurate depictions of Osage lifestyles and the costumes are created to appear as the traditional tribal clothing that was worn during the past 200 years.Comment:  For more on Native ballet, see Boise Philharmonic's Sacred Land and A Story Before Time.