I first met Maura around 2014 when I was working on my practicum at the Kansas City Indian Center (KCIC) for my MSW. Gaylene Crouser, the Executive Director for KCIC introduced us. Since then, I have always appreciated Maura for including me in her projects and I enjoy witnessing the effort she puts toward improving and enhancing the artistry, creativity, and holistic wellness of the Native community from youth to elders.

The latest project Maura has brought to Osage homelands is WIND, a performance at the Auditorium at the Woodneath Library Center in Kansas City, MO. It highlights the cultural traditions of travel and kinship between Indigenous communities from North and South America before the make-believe southern "border" was even a thought in the mind of the colonizer. Maura's perspective toward wind, is that it is free to move where it pleases, going around, through and over the landscape and cityscape. Wind in the form of breath gives us life and fuels our ability to speak, shout, weep, sing, and make prayers. Wind is invisible yet omnipresent.

"WIND" performance in Kansas City, MO. Left to right: Amado Espinoza, Maura Garcia, and Yura Sapi.

Jimmy Lee Beason II (JLB): How did this all come together?

Maura García (MG): It began a long time ago, almost a year and a half ago. It was on a whole different continent, with different people, but the idea was to rekindle the connection between North and South America. As Indigenous people we've always traveled, and had trade and commerce. Arts, stories being traded back and forth regardless of the borders that now exist. I think it's very important to re-establish that connection and to remember we are not beholden to any of the borders imposed by colonial nations. That was one of the reasons behind it. And one of the forces that disregards any borders that we make is wind.

Wind, we love it. I'm using it right now. It's in this space, it destroys and it also caresses.

In Cherokee language when we say someone has died, 'uyohusv’i , which means they have lost it, the wind - you have lost the breath. That's the first thing when a baby comes out, that's what you wait for is that breath. So just to focus on wind as a force of power, as a force of possibility, as force of movement, that was the impetus behind everything.

JLB: When did you first get into dancing?

MG: I know my father took me to a dance class, I don't know how old I was. I must've been three years old or something. He asked me, “Do you want to go back? And I did! That was the beginning.”

In terms of making it a career, I danced and then said, No I can't dance, I have to have a 'real job.’ But when I finally realized that I could have this as my profession and be a working artist … I think it was going to Canada and seeing the possibility of First Nations performance, seeing the possibilities of many facets and many ways of being a professional dancer in the world. So that was inspirational to me, just trying to make it happen.

JLB: How often do you practice your craft? Do you do it every day? What is it that keeps you going?

MG: I like listening to other art forms and people who are using different parts of themselves to give back to the world. Dance is peculiar, being based on the body and it will not let you stop. Which to me has been a blessing because it requires that I take care of myself. I remember when I was little I heard Robert Lawson talking about his brother in NY, and he said, “Yeah he's a dancer and he lives like a priest.” I didn't know what that meant, but I remember thinking that's something different.

And when I'm here I'm actually working less than when I'm in my normal training mode because I train between 15 to 20 hours a week depending on what's going on.

So when it's time for the show, it feels easy. Because I'm an independent artist, I would say there's some very inner spiritual things that I have to do, but also there's some very regimented, not very exciting things, like making sure I'm always warming up in this particular way and cross training in these particular things. Improving technique and stretching these particular muscles on certain days. I also get a lot of inspiration from, and this may sound weird and I'll explain why, but professional football players, because they have everything they're supposed to have. They have someone who measures their blood and makes sure they're getting enough nutrition and someone that's making sure they get enough sleep and massages. So I try to observe that and think, "I don't have that money and I don't have that support but how can I create things like that in my life."

"Horizons" music video shot on the Colville Reservation.

JLB: Who inspires you?

MG: My first dance teacher Sadia Shakur, because she really helped me to understand professionalism in the field of dance, cross training, and self-care. And then I got to observe her because I was in a pre-professional company, just to observe how she spoke with the lighting staff and how respectful and kind she was to the people bringing chairs and how she made a family of an entire production. And just her way of being in the world in all aspects of dance and what it meant to be a dancer, in terms of how you live your life, and how you're stepping, what you're eating and how you're sleeping. Those types of things, I have to really credit her for that. Sometimes I'll watch birds, and see a particular bird, and I'm inspired by that bird. Also, someone that really had an impact on me was Margaret Grenier who has a company in Vancouver. And they do a lot of Pacific Northwest style Indigenous dance, but fully contemporary with interactive projections and puppets. The first time I saw it, I think I cried. I had never seen anything like that and just didn't think that was possible. So that was very inspirational to me. Also my grandmother and Benny Smith who passed away a few years ago, was a mentor, friend, and elder who taught me many things. And also my dear friend Esther Harjo, someone who also recently passed but yet another pillar of strength and never giving up.

JLB: Why is it important for you to incorporate your culture into your craft?

MG: I think everyone incorporates culture into their craft, although their culture may be the White Anglo culture. If a culture is different from White Anglo culture, it is not considered “normal.” We are conditioned and trained to do “the normal.” So, to not do someone else's culture, and instead to do my own, is to go against what we have been brainwashed to believe is normal and is an act of activism.

Once I became aware of everything that was considered regular or normal actually stemmed from a culture, I realized that my culture, those things I was taught, are just as valid because that is who I am. Really, throughout US history in southern places, to speak aloud, to be Native, and practice our cultural ways were literally illegal at one point and people had such shame. So it is an act of freeing myself and my ancestors by proudly representing and talking about culture in my work."

JLB: You started off the WIND performance with a prayer and the performers standing in a circle holding hands. Why is this important to you and is this something you always did?

MG: That is how I was raised dancing. I was taught to dance by a Muslim woman and a lot of her students were Muslim and before shows that is what we always did. In sports we also did something similar. Also, in ceremony before we begin, we start with a procedure to begin. Prior to the circle, I went and prayed to the four directions and left an offering. Praying for protection of everyone and the performance will bring something good to the world. It is always something I've done. If it is the first night, people are nervous. It is a time to focus and regroup, to support one another. Even if it's a show where everyone is not on stage at the same time, it is a chance for everyone to be united.

JLB: Do you think there is a spiritual component to what you do? In what way if so?

MG: A dance and performance can be for many reasons, sometimes it is in honor of someone, or to bring joy to someone or entertainment, to turn someone on or make someone cry, or an offering to the spirits or ancestors. Sometimes the performance is an offering in itself. This last performance is an offering to the wind, like a gift and also an offering to the KC community. Also in my mind, my intention is offering in respect to Esther Harjo who passed recently.

I dance in many settings, I perform go-go dance as well, and my goal there is to channel the energy of sun and light so people can feel good. Each of us has a life's purpose to do things while we're here. Every interaction with a living being is an opportunity to positively affect the world. And that purpose can be expressed through all sorts of parts of our lives, whether it's performing or checking out at the grocery store. So it is an opportunity to put these positive and powerful things in the world whether there are 10,000 people in the audience or one.

"Going to Water" performance at the Roundhouse Performance Centre, Vancouver, BC, Canada. Photo by Chris Randle.

JLB: What keeps you motivated to continue dancing?

MG: Well one I can't keep still, so that makes it easy!

My initial thought is, “Why would I do something else?” But just in general, if I'm feeling unhappy or there's awful things going around, happening in the world or for anything, when I see the sunlight and hear birds in the morning that keeps me going. As soon as I hear those birds, it's alright.

When I'm doing other things, I can find the enjoyment in them, but I feel like I'm not really doing what I'm supposed to be doing. And I remember Benny Smith was talking about this idea of your life's purpose, we have these gifts that we're given and they're for us, but they're also for our community, every being on Earth, and he said, “your gift is dance and this is what you're doing in the world,” and I remember I felt very happy to have that confirmed by someone else too. And that's ok, that's beautiful and I'm going to try to make that happen however I can.

ᏄᏫᏓᏱ Maura García (non-enrolled Cherokee/Mattamuskeet) is a 2024 recipient of funding through the DEMIL Art Fund, which supports the creative practices of veteran artists working to build community, connection, and healing through their work. She served four years in the U.S. Navy, but her artistic focus now centers on justice through movement — uplifting silenced stories and confronting the legacies of oppression.

Maura is an award-winning dancer specializing in performance, dance-making and facilitation. Recognized as a 2025 Finalist for the Dance/USA Fellowships to Artists Program, Maura inspires people to liberate themselves through vibrant performances that channel the sensual rhythms of the natural world. She has toured throughout the United States, Canada and Australia, sharing her dance in theaters, nightclubs, museums, Urban Indian Organizations, universities, private events, and site-specific outdoor performances. Maura's artistic vision is to heal by making more space for joy in the world.

As a performer, Maura has danced at renowned theaters such as The Dance Centre in Vancouver, BC, the Edlis Neeson at MCA Chicago, the Jenny Belzberg at Banff, AB and La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in New York. She specializes in rhythm-based dance styles, martial arts fusion, and revolutionary sensual performance for adult audiences.

As a dance-maker, Maura collaborates with Indigenous and POC artists to create multi-media dance performances, interactive dance experiences and community arts projects. Named to the 2025 Creative Capital Short List and awarded a 2024 MAP Fund grant, her creative work uncovers stories hidden by colonialism and unleashes the power they have to change our realities.

As a facilitator, Maura has shared her movement practice with community and student groups at places like Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Duke University, Haskell Indian Nations University, Multicultural Arts Victoria in Naarm, Melbourne, Australia and the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC. Through her outreach, she offers transformational residencies, dance master classes and one-on-one sessions, to help people connect more deeply with themselves, other humans and the earth around them.

Jimmy Lee Beason II, author and professor at Haskell Indian Nations University, discusses his children’s book, Native Americans in History: A History Book for Kids, and shares his insights on the importance of Native visibility, education, and his writing perspective as an Osage Nation citizen. From every background and tribal nation, native people are a vital part of history. Beason’s book is a collection of Native American stories that explore 15 Native Americans and some of the incredible things they achieved. The book encourages kids to how each of these individuals used their talents and beliefs to stand up for what’s right and stay true to themselves and their community.

Dancing is a Gift to Share: Interview with Maura García