ABOUT DANCING EARTH
DANCING EARTH is a long-envisioned dream of creator Rulan Tangen, springing to life in 2004 as an inspirational array of Indigenous intertribal contemporary dance artists under her leadership. Recently named by Dance Magazine as “One of the Top 25 to Watch” she balances a commitment to share dances with her inspiring home community of Santa Fe, with regional, national and international presentations.
“We strive to embody the unique essence of Indigenous identity and perspective by creation and renewal of artistic and cultural movement rituals. Ancient and futuristic, our dances are an elemental language of bone and blood memory in motion."
We gather to create experimental yet elemental dances that reflect our
rich cultural heritage and to explore identity as contemporary Native peoples.
We are passionately committed to indigenous contemporary dance as primal,
yet articulate, movement that speaks to all beings. We believe in dance
as a primal force that can illuminate issues of cultural, historical, philosophical,
environmental, mythic, and spiritual relevance.”
We create professional productions for stage, film, outdoor settings and
unconventional venues such as courtyards, art galleries, and street. We
also offer dance workshops to communities, and seek projects that develop
international indigenous cultural exchange and collaboration, such as our
residency in Idyllwild Arts of California in which we initiated the artistic
gathering and presentation of Maori performers from Korou Productions
of Aotearoa along with representative cultural artists from Canada, Hawaii,
Mexico, El Salvador, Brasil, as well as tribes of California and the USA.
PRESENTED BY venues in 4 countries of Northern and Southern Hemisphere, and USA states of New Mexico, Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington, Iowa, New York, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Alaska :
UC Riverside Red Rhythms Festival (2004)
Heard Museum of Arizona (2004)
Hemispheric Encuentro of Performance and Politics, Brasil (2005)
Dance Now NYC Festival, at St John’s cathedral, NYC (2005)
Society for Dance Historians conference at Banff Centre for Arts, Canada
(2006)
National Performance Network Showcase (2006)
Santa Fe Dance Festival (2006,2007)
Centro Cultural de Recoleto, Buenos Aires, Argentina (2007)
Toronto Harbourfront’s Roots Remix Festival (2007)
Living Rituals World Indigenous Festival (2007)
Idyllwild Summer Arts (2007)
Institute for American Indian Arts ( 2007, 2009)
Santa Fe Opera, Dance Scholarship Benefit presented by Moving People Dance
(2007)
Center for Contemporary Arts, Native Cinema Showcase (2007)
Standing Rock Sioux Reservation School System (2007)
Washington State Tribal School Systems ( 2007)
Aqua Caliente Cultural Museum, Dinner in the Canyons (2007)
Woodlands Cultural Center , Six Nations Reserve, Canada (2007)
Santa Fe Art Institute (2007,2008)
Kiva Indian Art Gallery ( 2008)
National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development, Las Vegas Conference
(2008)
Blue Rain Art Gallery (2008)
National Council for Education on Ceramic Arts, with support from ASU Dance
Dept (2009)
Children’s Museum of Phoenix, with support from ASU Dept of Community Engagement
(2009)
Alliance for Latino Arts and Culture at ASU Museum, with support from ASU
Dept of Community Engagement (2009)
Rotary Club of Santa Fe Event Honoring artist Nora Naranjo Morse ( 2009)
Desert Botanical Gardens (2009)
Native Wellness Institute regional Conferences throughout USA ( 2005-2009)
Calista Corp of Yupik Nation of Alaska (2009)
WORKSHOPS (multi arts including dance, music, art, martial arts) including
:
Native Wellness Institute, regional youth conferences
Institute for American Indian Arts, theater class
Colville Tribes of Washington : Elementary, Middle and Senior Students
La Mariposa Montessori, Santa Fe
Woodlands Cultural Center, Canada
Idylwild Arts
Moving People Summer Dance Intensive
Standing Rock Sioux, Youth Health and Wellness Program
