Lakota artist performs this week

Performer Locke has taken Native American dance tradition to more than 70 nations

Kevin Locke, a Lakota performing artist, will present "The Hoop of Life" at The ArtsCenter Friday at 7:30 p.m.

The performance combines flute playing, hoop dancing and storytelling to share the cultural traditions of the Lakota.

The hoop dance represents the process of regeneration, of life emerging from the darkness of winter into the bright exuberance of spring. Locke uses 28 black, yellow, red and white hoops to bring images of flowers, butterflies, stars, the moon, the sun and more to life. Locke will also present numerous shows to local schoolchildren during a five-day residency this week. He will perform 15 shows in 10 local schools and The ArtsCenter.

His school programs combine dance, flute, songs, storytelling and Indian sign language to offer students a multi-disciplinary, interactive experience and understanding of Native American traditions and people.

Locke will also conduct two workshops in which he will work hands-on with students in the Grape Arbor afterschool program in Chapel Hill and the Communiversity afterschool program at the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Locke was reared by an elderly uncle on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in South Dakota.

He began his first training in his culture's art forms early on and has since performed in more than 70 nations as a cultural ambassador to spread messages of unity through diversity.

Named a Master Traditional Artist by the National Endowment for the Arts and a winner of the Native American Music Award, Locke is one of the most renowned American Indian performers and educators today.

The activities of Locke's residency are funded in part by a grant from the Southern Arts Federation in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the North Carolina Arts Council.

The performance Friday at The ArtsCenter is suggested for all ages. Tickets are $8 for students and ArtsCenter members, and $10 for the public. Tickets are available at www.artscenterlive.org, by calling the box office at 929-2787, ext. 201, or by stopping by The ArtsCenter, 300-G E. Main St., Carrboro.