Navajo singers to perform in Oman
Tséyi' Bureau
WASHINGTON, D.C., July 5, 2012
(Courtesy photo)
The Chinle Valley Singers, shown in a recent performance, leave for Oman Friday to perform in the annual Salalah Festival, the sultanate's largest music festival.
T
he Chinle Valley Singers, a family singing group specializing in traditional Diné songs, leaves for the Sultanate of Oman tomorrow to perform in that country's largest music festival at the invitation of the American Embassy there.
It's the eighth international tour for the singing group, which has previously performed in Estonia, the Philippines, Italy, England, the Netherlands, Latvia and Dubai.
The singers will share their music July 11 at the Dofar Municipality Recreational Theater and July 12 at the Oman auditorium.
Elsie Deswood, Linda Davis, Dempsey Deswood, Darren Deswood, Diadre Deswood, Amanda Teller, Dovetta Richards and Bodina Teller comprise the group, and for this tour, the singers will introduce their newest members, Brandon Guthrie and 16-year-old Presley Bo Teller.
"They're the third generation," said Linda Davis, explaining that the group originated with Davis' mother, the late Elizabeth Davis.
"My mom knew so many songs, the old, old songs," Davis said. "We miss her so much."
Davis has missed several foreign tours because of her day job teaching third grade at Crystal Boarding School, but for this tour, she'll be in her element.
"I understand we'll be visiting a school," she said. "I've already prepared a world history lesson on the code talkers."
When she comes back, she said, she'll prepare a lesson on Oman for her Navajo students.
Richards said the group has learned a lot in its world travels, including sensitivity to other cultures.
For instance, for this performance in a Muslim country, they'll have to revise the part when they teach the audience a song-and-dance step.
"Generally, we invite some audience members onstage to dance with us," Richards said. "In Muslim cultures, women can't dance with men they aren't related to, so we'll just invite the women up to dance with the women in our group."
Of all the countries they have toured, which was the most fun? Davis and Richards agreed the Estonians were the best audience.
"They love anything to do with singing and dancing," Richards said.
But Davis argued that if they had spent one more day in Estonia, she would have wasted away.
"All they had to eat for breakfast and lunch was bread, cheese and cucumbers," she said. "We lost a lot of weight."