ANDREW GARCIA, Ohkay Owingeh/San Juan Pueblo. Director of Tewa Dancers from the North; the film’s central figure, narrator, consultant and member of Mother Earth Productions

"When we dance, we're sending prayers that are going all over the world. We hope that there will be peace among all people. The way that we're going to get strong is by standing together as one. We were all put on this earth by our Creator, and we should work together as people." –Andrew Garcia

Singer, composer, dancer, drummer, dance company director and educator. Co-founder (1974) and director of the drug- and alcohol-free dance group Tewa Dancers from the North.

Andrew Garcia is also a trained addictions counselor, co-founder of the Eight Northern Pueblos treatment program, and has been cultural counselor in the program. Active in the preservation of Pueblo dances, he was Governor of the Pueblo of San Juan and has taught Pueblo dances and culture at San Juan and other pueblos and for almost ten years taught Pueblo Social Dances at the University of New Mexico. He has spoken at numerous substance abuse prevention conferences. Garcia and his grandson Curt Garcia, also featured in the film, are the subject of the children’s book “Children of the Rainbow.” He gave the sunrise prayers at the 2004 Summer Solstice celebration at Chaco Canyon, NM, where he also presented the Tewa Dancers from the North in the plaza of the famous Great House, Pueblo Bonito. In April 2007, he led his group on the latest of many tours, this one to Sao Paulo, Brazil. For more information, go to [ News ].

See interview-article [ www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1083/is_n2_v71/ai_19060976 ]

Contact: Tewadancersfromthenorth@yahoo.com
Phone +1 (505) 692-0365 or (505) 920-1971; P.O. Box 1055, Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo, NM 87566, USA

MARILYN HUNT, producer, director, camera and managing member of Mother Earth Productions

This is her first film. Her experience in dance writing, art history and photography came together in the documentary field. In an earlier project, she was mentored by the award-winning British documentary maker Christopher Jeans, who serves as advisor on the current film. “Dancing from the Heart” took shape following Hunt’s February 1997 feature article about the central figure, Andrew Garcia (see Making of the Film), for the internationally respected Dance Magazine, where she has been a writer, critic and editor from New York and London for thirty years.

Born in Oklahoma City, Hunt grew up on a farm in Texas and now lives in New Mexico and New York City. After taking an M.A. in art history at Columbia University, she was a research associate at the Guggenheim Museum, New York, and since then has written on dance for publications including the New York Times, The Independent newspaper of London, and Ballet Review, in addition to Dance Magazine. She organized and moderated a symposium on Indian-Hispanic dances of New Mexico at the University of New Mexico, June 1999. Her New Mexico photos have won awards and are shown regularly at Johnsons gallery of Madrid near Santa Fe; she had a show there in early 2005 of dance photos of Andrew Garcia and his family, along with the video of “Dancing from the Heart.” She is a member of the Independent Film Project, Dance Films Association, and Dance Critics Association and is past president of the Society of Dance History Scholars.

Contact: info@dancingfromtheheart-movie.com

BRUCE LEWIS, co-editor and camera

Producer, director, director of photography, writer, editor, and head of Way Out West Productions. His documentary work includes "Survivors of the Shoah" (Steven Spielberg), "Murray Gell-Mann: Nobel Prize-Winner Series" (BBC-TV), "Native American Elders" (Michael Blake) and "Geronimo and the Apache Resistance" (WGBH, PBS), "The Rainmaker." Features, series and specials include "God Drives a Pontiac," "The Trailblazer," "Maestro Fausto," "Susan B. Anthony Slept Here," and "Unspeakable" (starring Dennis Hopper, 2001). Also commercials and infomercials.

Contact: wow@newmexico.com
Office 505-989-7374; 80 E. San Francisco St., Suite 11, Santa Fe, NM 87501; cell phone 505-470-1231

GIRISH BHARGAVA, supervising editor

In his 30 years of broadcast editing, Girish Bhargava has won numerous industry citations, including two Emmy Awards (for the Adams Chronicles and The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson) and several Monitor Awards, including the feature film George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker. He is President and Senior Editor of Telstar Post, Inc., a video post-production facility located in New York City.

As the editor of most programs in the long-running Dance in America series, he has worked with virtually every great American choreographer of the time, including George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Paul Taylor, Agnes de Mille, Merce Cunningham and Twyla Tharp. In spring of ‘98 he earned another Emmy nomination , for Variety and Virtuosity: American Ballet Theatre Now. He recently edited a documentary called God in Government about the role of religion in various countries. A project for Dance in America in 2005 was a 2-hour production of Swan Lake by American Ballet Theatre. Other credits include the dance sequences in the feature film Dirty Dancing; Hamlet directed by Kevin Kline; and “Fosse” with Ben Vereen, which received the 2002 Directors’ Guild of America Award.

Phone (212) 730-1000; Telstar Post, 155 W. 46 St., second floor, New York, NY 10036; Email: gbharg@aol.com

CHRISTOPHER JEANS, advisor

Winner of a British Academy Award, documentary filmmaker, producer, director, including for BBC: “Yellow Cab” about plainclothes policemen in Harlem; 13 films for the series “100 Great Paintings”; and the series “DEA [Drug Enforcement Administration].”  “Hunger in America” ( PBS); “Saddam’s Killing Fields” (ITV, Britain, and PBS, 13 awards); and the dance documentary “Out of Touch.” He has also served as a program executive in both the US and Britain, currently as series producer for BBC World’s series Earth Report.

MERRILL BROCKWAY advisor

Co-founder and producer-director emeritus, PBS's "Dance in America" series; and other award-winning cultural television.

DOREA GARCIA

The daughter of Verna and Andrew Garcia, Dorea started dancing when she was 4 years old and has traveled all over the world. She enjoys sharing her culture with others. She works full time as a payroll specialist for the Pueblo of Santa Clara. Dorea is the mother of dancers Kayla and Jahneah Martinez.

Dorea ia also a visual artist working in pottery and stone sculpture. Please go to "Dancer Dorea Garcia Winning Kudos" in News for information and photos of her work.

REY ANN NASTACIO

Rey Ann is also Andrew and Verna Garcia's daughter. She moved to Ohkay Owingeh from Zuni Pueblo, and is the mother of dancers Butterfly, Curt and Darron Garcia.

CURT GARCIA

Curt Garcia of Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo is a grandson of Andrew Garcia. In addition to “Dancing from the Heart,” he has appeared in the National Museum of the American Indians’ signature film, “A Thousand Roads” (Chris Eyre, 2005), and TNT’s 2005 series, “Into the West.” He has been dancing since he was four as a member of the Tewa Dancers from the North. He also sings with the troupe. He and his grandfather have done many lecture-demonstrations together, and the two of them are the subjects of the children’s book “Children of the Rainbow.” He has become a talented teacher of the dances and says, “My main goal in life is to save our traditions.” He is on the administrative staff of the Santa Fe Indian School. He and his wife Valerie Martinez, who also dances, have two sons.

ELMER “BUTTERFLY” GARCIA

Butterfly Garcia of Ohkay Owingeh is a grandson of Andrew Garcia and a member of the Tewa Dancers from the North as dancer and singer. He appeared in TNT's 2005 series, "Into the West," and continues to work in the film field. He also has a band.

VALERIE MARTINEZ

Valerie, from Ohkay Owingeh/San Juan Pueblo, is a member of the Tewa Dancers from the North. She is married to Curt Garcia, and they have two little boys.

KAYLA MARTINEZ

Kayla started dancing at the age of 4 years old and has been traveling all over the world to such places as Canada and India, as well as Washington D.C, etc.. Kayla also loves drawing and painting. She enjoys sharing all she knows about her culture and is very proud to be Native American.

JAHNEAH MARTINEZ

Jahneah was dancing at the age of 5 and has since then traveled to different countries to share her culture with others. She loves to make pottery with her mother Dorea who has been teaching her so that she can carry it on.

MELISSA MONTOYA

The newest member of the Tewa Dancers from the North. The photo was taken in Toronto at the Living Ritual: World Indigenous Dance Festival, where she performed with the group and also demonstrated for Andrew Garcia's master class.

DARRON GARCIA

Darron is the third son of Rey Ann Nastacio and a member of the Tewa Dancers from the North. He graduated from Espanola Valley High School in May 2006.

VERNA GARCIA

Verna comes from Zuni Pueblo, and is an expert on dance regalia and its making. She is married to Andrew and is the mother of Rey Ann and Dorea.

ANDREW A. GARCIA

Andy's son, he makes silver jewelry and teaches jewelry-making. He sings with the Tewa Dancers from the North, and formerly danced as well.

MELANIE F. GARCIA

Member of Tewa Dancers from the North

VINTON LONNIE

From Hopi; head of security, Big Rock Casino (Santa Clara), Espanola; and singer with Tewa Dancers from the North