Derrick Suwaima Davis

“I got my first dance clothes when I was three. I was always around native songs and dances, but that’s when I considered my life as a dancer officially.” For Davis, who was the Head Man Dancer at the grand opening of the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. in 2004, dancing was both his destiny and means of escape – a place of imagination where he could use its intricate forms as a means of self-expression.

From the Hopi and Choc-taw Nations, Suwaima is a 7 Hoop Dance World Champion and the founder and artistic director of The Living Traditions Dance Group, a non-profit organization working to support and preserve traditional music and dance in Southern California.