The Osage people have a long history with the Catholic Church dating back to 1673 and the Wahzhazhe (Osage) Ballet has been invited to perform this week when Pope Francis visits the United States on a three city tour for The World Meeting of Families.

The ballet, under the direction of director Randy Tinker Smith, will be performing a section of an original piece choreographed by Jenna Smith titled Wahzhazhe. Randy Tinker Smith discussed what additional preparations were made to get the troop to Philadelphia.

The ballet will take 11 dancers, including special performer Roman Jasinski Junior, and 9 Osage Singers. The ballet is scheduled to perform on September 26 at 6pm, and will be the final performance before the main stage opens at 6:30pm. It is currently estimated that more than 1 million people will be in attendance the day of the performance.