The Four Host First Nations that are helping Olympic organizers sponsor the 2010 Games have asked to meet with a pair of Russian skaters who have been criticized for a dance routine that aboriginal leaders find culturally offensive.
Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin got high marks from judges at the European championships on Thursday after performing an original dance. Mr. Shabalin told a reporter yesterday that they will use the controversial routine at the Olympics in Vancouver.
The dance is based on traditional practices of Australia's aboriginal people.
"My first reaction is that I feel really disheartened that this took place, particularly given how the indigenous people in Australia feel about it," Tewanee Joseph, CEO of the Four Host First Nations, said yesterday.
"I'd love to meet with the Russian pair, with the skaters themselves. We are going to extend an invitation to them," Mr. Joseph said.
"They are coming into our territory. They should feel comfortable here, but at the same time, we want to educate them on our culture and we will encourage them to contact the aboriginals in Australia before the Games," he said.
Victor Kraatz, a world champion ice dancer from Vancouver, said he felt the Russians had "decided to go a little bit Hollywood" in their depiction of the aboriginal dance and had "dumbed down a little bit" its character.
He said he knew that Australian aboriginal leaders were unhappy, because he's worked in the past year with Australian ice dancers Danielle O'Brien and Gregory Merriman, who also do an aboriginal dance.
Mr. Kraatz said that while Ms. Domnina and Mr. Shabalin watched videos of aboriginal dances on the Internet, Ms. O'Brien and Mr. Merriman sought the advice of an elder before doing the dance, to determine if it could be done without offending anyone, to study the movements and do research.
The Australians did not qualify for the Olympics.
The Russians, who are the reigning world champions, said yesterday at the European Figure Skating Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, that they were surprised to hear Australian aboriginal leaders had taken offence.
"We didn't know anything about it," Ms. Domnina told reporters.
The dancers wore dark bodysuits adorned with patterns that mimic the body paint traditionally worn by Australian aboriginals. They also had on red loincloths and bunches of green leaves.
"Our dance, our ceremony, our image - and, importantly, how they are depicted - are sacred to aboriginal Australians," Bev Manton, an aboriginal leader, wrote in an editorial in the Sydney Morning Herald.
"From an aboriginal perspective, this performance is offensive," she stated.
Mr. Kraatz said that aboriginal women do not wear body paint, as Ms. Domnina did during the routine. And that aboriginals will find it offensive that they wore red, because it is to be used only for ceremonial purposes.
Mr. Joseph said if artists, or in this case ice dancers, are going to depict a native theme in their work, they should do it respectfully.
"There is a way to do it. I think we are always open to sharing our culture, but the first thing is to actually engage with aboriginal people," he said. "If you are going to use an aboriginal song, or aboriginal art work, you need to know where it comes from and what it means."
Other indigenous leaders also expressed dismay, saying the dance theme rips off their culture.
It's highly unlikely that the Russians could replace the routine for another that would look polished and refined with only 27 days to go before the ice dancing event begins at the Olympics, Mr. Kraatz said. If they were skating to more traditional music, it would be easier to make a switch, he added. "I would say they are making a lot of fun of the aboriginal people and there is no content there to come up with new material," he said.
"I'm at a loss as to what the Russian team will do."
He also said that these routines need to be rehearsed many times to perfect them. And that under extreme pressure, mistakes will happen, even after 1,000 repetitions.
Mr. Kraatz said Natalia Linichuk, the coach and choreographer for the Russian team, is not likely to have created the dance just to get attention. "We're talking about a potential Olympic medal," he said. "Knowing that the next Olympic Games will be held in Sochi, I don't think for a moment she would do anything to embarrass people."
However, he said, nobody should ever discount Ms. Linichuk. "The one thing that nobody should forget is that she has been around for many years," Mr. Kraatz said. "And she is a very good chess player in terms of strategically doing things .... She's a force to be reckoned with."
The 2010 Games are the first to have full involvement of native groups. The Four Host First Nations - the Lil'wat, Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh bands, in whose traditional territory the Olympics are being held - are recognized by VANOC as partners in the Olympics.
Mark Hume