The Maui Arts & Cultural Center and Leeward Community College campus will come alive with the sounds and sights of an American Indian celebration when the curtains rise this weekend for performances by the Lakota Sioux Indian Dance Theatre.

The production, "Cokata Upo! Come to the Center," depicts the birth, death and rebirth of a nation as told through traditional, sacred and courting songs and dances. Although the story refers to the Lakota-Sioux Nation, its message of the unification of all people with the Earth and spirit world is universal.

This unique group, returning to Hawai'i after a 10-year absence, features some of the most acclaimed performers of the Sioux Nation. Its members descend from a range of tribes including Lakota, Dakota, Sioux and Cheyenne. The program includes names like Jolene One Star and Lance White Magpie in its list of performers. Heading the list, however, is Henry Smith, co-founder and artistic director of the company and not an American Indian.

Thirty years ago, an idea for a company that combined modern dance and martial arts with traditional American Indian music and dance was born. It was the brainchild of Smith and two Lakota tribe elders, Ben Black Bear Sr. and Lloyd One Star. The event occurred on the Rosebud Reservation in Pierre, S.D. Smith, a New York-based modern dancer and martial artist and director of the Solaris Dance Theatre, was artist-in-residence in Pierre at the time.

After he performed for residents of the reservation and witnessed some ceremonies, Smith and the two Elders discussed the possibility of collaborating. Aided by the Pierre Indian Learning Center and the Medicine Mans' Association, the Solaris Lakota Project was born.

Interviewed by phone from his home in Philadelphia, Smith explained how he came to establish a company devoted to the traditions and rituals of American Indians.

"We originally danced together as a cooperative effort. We did a combination of my modern dance/martial arts work with Indian dances. Later I was adopted by the One Blood family. I've learned some of the language and have participated in some cultural ceremonies," he said.

Despite its strong start, the project was brought to a halt following the death of Ben Black Bear in an automobile accident. The group reconnected after an eight-year mourning period and began touring again. It has since performed in Finland, throughout Greece and across the Mainland, including a stop at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., as part of the celebration for the opening of the National Museum of the American Indian.

Greg Holy Bull, a direct descendant of Crazy Horse, joined the group around 1993 as a singer and Fancy Dancer. (Of dances in the Plains area, Fancy Dancing is by far the most vigorous and demanding.) Speaking from his home near the Spirit Lake Reservation in North Dakota, he explained the value of touring:

"It's always been a tradition to take our stories, legends, music and dance to the people because they can't come to us. It's a sacrifice, but it's also a responsibility."

Regarding the message to be gleaned from "Cokata Upo!," he said, "We have to make our brothers and sisters recognize that we are family."

Carol Egan is a freelance writer living in Hawai'i.