PATCHOGUE, NY – OCTOBER 17, 2006 – Larry Yazzie has been “fancy dancing” ever since he was seven. Now a World Champion Fancy Dancer, Yazzie has been brought to various corners of the world to perform. On Thursday November 7, 2006, St. Joseph’s College welcomes the Native American dancer and storyteller at an event sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Student Life. The performance is in celebration of Native American Heritage Month and will take place in the McGann Conference Center located in O’Connor Hall on the College’s Suffolk Campus from 12:40 to 1:40 p.m.

Winner of the 1995 World Championship for the Northern Style Fancy Dance, Yazzie has loved and respected this style of dance since childhood. Fancy dancing is acclaimed for its bright and vibrant regalia and the physical challenges it poses on its dancers. It is crucial for dancers to maintain a high level of creativity and endurance in order to successfully and flawlessly maneuver on the dance floor.

Originally from the Meskwaki Nation’s homeland in Tama, Iowa, Yazzie has danced his way across the United States, Canada and Europe. He has performed with the Foxwoods Dance Troupe in France, Poland, Finland and Russia, and performed at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics Games with the Discover Native American Dance Troupe. He was also a featured dancer in the motion picture Grey Owl, starring Pierce Brosnan, and in 1999, he performed with the Lakota Dance Troupe at the Native American Film Awards in Los Angeles, California. In 2001, Yazzie co-produced an original collaboration with Keith Secola and the Wild Band of Indians in which they created a balanced blend of Native American dance with contemporary native folk and blues.

Yazzie has been a member of the Kevin Locke Trio since 2001 and has served as Head Man Dancer, Arena Director and a Northern Singing Judge. Due to his reputation, he was featured in an article on the art of Fancy Dance in The Smithsonian Magazine. Not restricting himself exclusively to dancing, Yazzie also teaches educational programs on topics ranging from American Indian dance to religion to contemporary issues.

For more information about this event, please call (631) 447-7434 or visit www.sjcny.edu. St. Joseph’s College is located at 155 W. Roe Blvd. in Patchogue, and is accessible via the South Service Road of Sunrise Highway, just east of Exit 52 (Waverly Ave.).

About St. Joseph's College

St. Joseph’s College has been dedicated to providing a diverse population of students in the New York metropolitan area with an affordable education rooted in the liberal arts tradition since 1916. Independent and coeducational, the College provides a strong academic and value-oriented education at the undergraduate and graduate levels, aiming to prepare each student for a life characterized by integrity, intellectual and spiritual values, social responsibility, and service. With campuses located in the Clinton Hill area of Brooklyn and in Patchogue, Long Island, the College offers degrees in numerous majors, special course offerings and certificates, affiliated and pre-professional programs through its School of Arts and Sciences and its School of Professional and Graduate Studies.