And So We Walked

top of page

TOURS

WELCOME TO INDIAN COUNTRY

LEGENDS OF NATIVE COMEDY

AND SO WE WALKED

ANTHONY HUDSON/CARLA ROSSI

IN THE COURT OF THE CONQUEROR

BANGARRA DANCE THEATRE

TAU DANCE THEATER

Z PUPPETS ROSENSCHNOZ

ATAMIRA DANCE COMPANY

THE LAND HAS SPOKEN

(Page Under Construction-Available 4/18)

AND SO WE WALKED
An Artist's Journey Along The Trail of Tears

Offical Website

Bert Vanderveen Photography

Bert Vanderveen Photography

Delanna Studi, Cherokee artist and winner of the 2016 Butcher Scholar Award from The Autry Museum of the American West, has written And So We Walked: An Artist’s Journey Along the Trail of Tears, a frank, heartwarming and inspiring story about a contemporary Cherokee woman and her father who embark on an incredible 900-mile journey along the Trail of Tears to truly understand her own identity and the conflicts of her nation. The six-week journey retraces the path her great-great grandparents took in the 1830’s during the forced relocation of 17,000 Cherokee from their homelands. And So We Walked is a powerful, multi-faceted dramatic memoir that draws on extraordinary interviews, historical research, and the artist’s personal experience to convey the complexities and conflicts with which the Cherokee wrestle.

“Every great story has truth in it, and the truth demands to be told,” the Cherokee writer-actor DeLanna Studi says at the beginning of “And So We Walked,” her autobiographical solo show at the Emerson Paramount Center. “And a true story is dangerous.”

Dangerous to what, and to whom? Well, in the case of “And So We Walked,” the danger is to complacent assumptions — and to those who are determined to hold onto them — about our national past."

"Each play has the ability to make you laugh and open your eyes to see the world around you in unexpected ways."

- American Theatre

"Studi is an excellent actress and storyteller. She does such a credible job creating the vocal qualities and mannerisms of other characters that you forget it’s a one-woman show. Indeed, the most poignant and unforgettable character is that of her father, who comes out of himself when he’s among the Cherokee and is allowed to reclaim the parts of him that were forced into hiding at boarding school. He is also protective of his daughter, particularly as she’s involved with a man that everyone but she knows isn’t worth it. Studi’s reaction to her father’s popularity on the trek, which is really her project, is hilarious. Like all good storytellers, Studi knows when to insert humor."

- Theater Mirror

"Rochester's Geva Theatre Center is currently presenting a powerful one-woman show centered on the heritage and spiritual journey of a Cherokee woman wanting to connect with her past and her ancestors. It's a powerful, sobering, heartfelt theatrical experience that you don't want to miss."

- Broadway World

“And So We Walked is woven together wonderfully. It moves seamlessly back and forth in time and between real life and the world of myths, legends, and dreams”

-Broadway World

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Process Series November dedicated to the development of new and significant works in the performing arts, Chapel Hill, NC, November 13-14, 2015
Autry National Center, Selected as part of the Native Voices at the Autry Retreat and Festival of New Plays, LA, CA, 2016,
Artist Residency, The Native American Theatre Project, a three-week long creative co-laboratory-presented in Cherokee with support from the Cherokee Preservation Foundation, July 18-August 16, 2016
Triad Stage at Hanesbrands Theatre, Winston-Salem, NC, April 22-30 2017
Brown Trinity Rep, The Native American Cultural Center, Providence, RI, November 29-Dec. 10, 2017
Portland Center Stage at the Armory, Portland, OR, March 31-May 13 2018
Yale Indigenous Performing Arts Program, New Haven, CT, January 9, 2019
The Lensic Performing Arts Center, Santa Fe, New Mexico, May 23, 2019
Indiana Repertory Theatre, Indianapolis, IN, October 15-November 10, 2019
Weidner Center for The Performing Arts, Green Bay, WI, November 14-16, 2019
Carthage International Theatre Days Festival, Tunis, Tunisia, December 7-15, 2019
Hopkins Center for The Arts at Dartmouth, Hop Presents Series, Hanover, NH, Jan 10, 2020
Arizona State University Kerr Cultural Center, Scottsdale, AZ, Jan 17, 2020
Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, May 11, 2021
Minetta Lane Theatre, Off-Broadway Debut, NY, NY, October 2021
James Madison University, Harrison, VI, Jan 20-21, 2022
Geva Theatre, 75 Woodbury Blvd, Rochester, NY 14607, April 4-23, 2023
Arts Emerson, Emerson Paramount Center, Boston, MA, April 26-30, 2023

DeLanna Studi

DeLanna Studi is a proud citizen of the Cherokee Nation and is honored to be the new Artistic Director of Native Voices at the Autry. She has over 25 years of experience as a performer, storyteller, educator, facilitator, advocate, and activist. Her theater credits include the First National Broadway Tour of Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning play August: Osage County, Off-Broadway’s Gloria: A Life at the Daryl Roth Theatre, Informed Consent at the Duke Theater on 42nd Street, and Regional Theaters (Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Portland Center Stage, Cornerstone, and Indiana Repertory Theater). DeLanna originated roles in over eighteen World Premieres including fourteen Native productions. A pivotal moment in her career was writing and performing And So We Walked: An Artist’s Journey Along the Trail of Tears based on retracing her family’s footsteps along the Trail of Tears with her father. And So We Walked has been produced throughout the country and was the first American play chosen for the Journees Theatricales de Carthage in Tunisia, Africa. In film and television, DeLanna can be seen in the Peabody Award winning Edge of America, Hallmark’s Dreamkeeper, Goliath, Shameless, and General Hospital. She is a recipient of the Butcher Scholar Award, MAP Fund Grant, and Cherokee Preservation Grant. Studi has been a part of residencies and workshops at various universities and organizations including: Yale Indigenous Performing Arts Program, Brown University /Trinity Repertory Theater, Dartmouth College/ Hopkins Center, University of Wisconsin: Green Bay, University of Wisconsin: Madison, Arizona State University, Gonzaga University, University of North Carolina: Chapel Hill, and Museum of the Cherokee Indian. Since 2007, she has served as the chair of the SAG-AFTRA National Native Americans Committee.

bottom of page