Living Legends recently returned from a tour in the Four Corners area, making stops in Blanding, Utah; Gallup, New Mexico; and Holbrook, Arizona. The group performed at outreaches for local college and high school students and interacted with the many Native Americans in the area.
It is in this very place that Living Legends first got its start. In 1968 Dale Tingey, the LDS mission president for the Southwest Indian area, decided to start a program for young Native Americans to share and express their culture through song and dance. The group was formerly called the Lamanite Generation, and it was after a 1971 performance in Blanding, Utah, that the idea was presented to make the group a part of BYU. Under the direction of Janie Thompson, the group flourished at BYU and began touring internationally.
President Dale Tingey has said of Thompson and her help with the Lamanite Generation, “I will forever be grateful for Janie and her love, patience, and good influence on these young people. She was very spiritual, sensitive. She capitalized on their experiences and cultures. Now this beautiful, spiritual performing group continues on at BYU, reaching around the world as Living Legends.”
Gallup, New Mexico, presenter Tara Lucio, a former member of Living Legends, feels one reason she wanted Living Legends to perform in her city was because of the motivation the group provides for the native community to embrace its culture and better its people. “The performance had a tremendous positive impact on our community. People started arriving at the auditorium two hours before doors opened, and there was standing room only when the show began,” Lucio said. “People were excited to see Living Legends, whether they’ve seen the group before or if this was their first time.”
Lucio said that through her experience in the group she was able to better appreciate not only her culture but also the other cultures represented in Living Legends. “I learned that though we come from different cultures and backgrounds, we have many commonalities among our people,” Lucio said. “We can learn from and support each other as we strive to remember who we are, where we came from, and what we hope to accomplish.”
Many members of the Native American section of Living Legends felt that this tour provided them with a special connection to their culture. Tiana Bettinson, a first-year member, said that when she found out about the tour in the Four Corners area she knew that she needed to be involved somehow.
“All I could think about was what a wonderful experience it would be for my family on the reservation to see the show,” Bettinson said. “It strengthened my cultural identity to see the places where my ancestors came from. I had been to the Four Corners and the reservation before, but I was a lot younger and much less appreciative of my culture. It was an amazing experience to see this land through older and more mature eyes. I felt a connection to the people on tour because they were my people, and I knew that I was a part of them.”
Source: Performing Arts Management