Photo/ Foto: Julio Pantoja

Fancy Dancing

Biography

Larry Yazzie: (Meskwaki/Dine) is a World Champion Fancy Dancer who consistently takes top honors at American Indian powwows in the United States and Canada. In 1995, he won the World Championship for the Northern Style Fancy Dance. Larry was raised at the Meskwaki Nation’s homeland in Tama, Iowa (USA). At the age of seven he took up Fancy Dancing. The Fancy Dance is beloved for its flamboyant and colorful regalia, as well as for the physical challenge it poses for powwow competition dancers. Creativity and endurance are tested by song after song at an up-beat tempo. Since he was in his early teens, Larry has been competing in the powwow category. As a performer, Larry has toured the United States, Canada, and Europe. In 1994, with the Foxwoods Dance Troupe, he performed in France, Poland, Finland, and Russia at the Goodwill Games in St. Petersburg. With the Discover Native American Dance Troupe, he performed at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympic Games. In 1998, he danced in the motion picture Grey Owl with actor Pierce Brosnan. In 1999, he was featured with the Lakota Dance Troupe at the Native American Film Awards in Los Angeles. In 2001 he co-produced an innovative collaboration with Keith Secola and The Wild Band of Indians, combining Native American dance with contemporary native folk, and blues. In 2001 Larry became an original member of the Kevin Locke Trio.