As the dancers move in the chill winter air, spectators remain hushed. They don’t clap.
That’s because this dance is not a performance; it’s a prayer. And visitors seem to know that instinctively.
All winter, visitors and friends of New Mexico’s Pueblo people have the opportunity to share the prayer by attending any one of a number of dances at the various Pueblos.
Whether celebrating at Christmas, marking a saint’s day or gathering to honor a tribe’s new government, Pueblo members have many “doings” throughout the winter.
To watch the Deer dancers come over the rise at Taos Pueblo, or to hear the drums at Ohkay Owingeh, or to see a plaza fill with dancers at Santa Clara is a holiday gift to yourself. Those memories of movement and music and feelings of stillness and peace will return to you throughout your life as bits of grace in a busy world.
The article continues, including a calendar of events.