"Fancy Dance," filmed in Oklahoma, returns to Circle Cinema with sold-out crowd

Photo Courtesy: Sundance Institute 

(TULSA, Okla.) The made-in-Oklahoma film “Fancy Dance” premiered in select theaters Friday night, including Circle Cinema where it was screened at a film festival last July. 

Circle Cinema’s sold out premiere included an extended introduction by director Erica Tremblay, one of the first recipients of the Cherokee Nation Film Incentive. 

“We are thrilled to shine a spotlight on Fancy Dance and celebrate the film’s theatrical release at Tulsa’s beloved independent theater, Circle Cinema,” said Jennifer Loren, senior director of Cherokee Film. “As the first film to utilize Cherokee Film Commission’s film incentive program, we couldn’t be more pleased about the powerful story brought to life by a primarily Native American cast and crew.”

The Cherokee Nation Film Office aims to hire Native Americans for all stages of production, including development, pre-production, production, and post-production, and to promote the creation of films and television shows inside the borders of the Cherokee Nation.

"Fancy Dance," starring Gloden Globe winner Lily Gladstone, later went on to be a Grand Jury Prize nominee at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. 

Gladstone, who is NiMiPuu, or Nez Perce, and Siksikaitsitapi, or Blackfeet, plays Jax in "Fancy Dance," an Oklahoman Seneca-Cayuga Reservation ex-convict who is having money problems. Jax helps her niece Roki (Isabel Deroy-Olson) get ready for a powwow following the disappearance of her sister Tawi (Hauli Sioux Gray), while also searching for her.

According to Urban Indian Health Institute, Oklahoma is rated 10th in the Nation for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, a reality Tremblay set out to highlight during her film. 

The film also premiered at Rodeo Cinema Stockyards City in Oklahoma City and Grove Cinema 7 in Grove, the Seneca-Cayuga Nation's headquarters, Friday night. 

Rated R, “Fancy Dance” will debut globally on Apple TV+ on June 28.