News
& Events
DECEMBER
2006
Rulan joined Mel Gibson, and stars Rudy Youngblood and Raoul Trujillo
as well as Raoul's bride Iscah, in a private jet to fly to Oklahoma
City. A local casino hosted the premiere of the film Apocalypto, as
a fundraiser for Native Health clinics in Oklahoma and Mexico. The half
million raised was matched by Mr Gibson, but the money will be donated
to the Mayan intiative in the name of the Chickasaw Nation.
The next week in Santa Fe, Rulan and Raoul were part of a discussion
panel when the film was previewed for students of the Institute of American
Indian Arts, and Rulan was subsequently interviewed on KSFR radio station.
NOVEMBER 2006
On November 4th Rulan participated in a Creative Recovery workshop at
the Cancer Institute of NM, under the inspired direction of Pasha Hogan
(www.pashahogan.com).
7 members of DANCING EARTH (Happy, Alex, Thosh, Jaco, Rulan, Edgar and
Serena) travelled to Cedar Rapids Iowa to be featured in a showcase
for the National Performance Network . Dance colleagues and presenters
from all around the country were enthusiastically receptive, some comments
included " the best showcase in years" and "F---ing OFF
THE CHAIN!". Dancers wore costumes created from tree bark dyed
cloth from the Shipibo Indians of Peru, as donated by Willem Malten
of Cloud Cliff, and sewn by Anne Dickinson Hayunga.
OCTOBER NEWS
Back home in Santa Fe, Rulan began work on several projects within the
community, including classes at Carlos Gilbert Elementary School under
the Santa Fe Opera, adult dance workshop at Wise Fool space, freshman
class workshps for the Institute of American Indian Arts, and new student
choreography for Charisma Dance Studios.
Santa Fe Design Week organised a fashion show, in which Rulan modelled
the designs of Tracey Collins ( see www.earthelegance.net)
and retailer Maya Clothing.
In New York City, Rulan taught a company class at LAVA studios in Brooklyn.
SEPTEMBER
2006
"Under the Stars We Dance'- On September 9th, as the sun was setting
over the open air theater of the Santa Fe Opera, almost 2000 audience
members came together to raise scholarship money for dancers. DANCING
EARTH was featured alongside American Ballet Theater, Ysastros Flamenco
Dance Theater, Danza Folklorico de Mexico, Andy Garcia's Pueblo Dance
group, and Moving People Dance Theater, who put the event together,
as guided by their dynamic board member Roger Montoya. Dance scholarships
were made available for all the represented dance forms, and the performance
itself was noted as 'world-class' by many audience members.
Rulan , accompanied by Quetzal on violin , created interludes that linked
all the dance segments, and Happy Frejo was featured in the role of
Chief Rocka.
Soon afterwards, Rualn traveled to Nevada to assist the Native Wellness
Institute in a womens retreat, as sponsored the the visionary chairman
of the Washoe Tribe, Brian Wallace, who stated that the health his people
was his priority as a leader.
August
2006
On August 4th, the Santo Domingo Pueblo held their traditional dances,
even the rainclouds gathered to behold their strong community of many
hundreds of dancers in full regalia, renewing the earth for hours .
Rulan returned to Banff to participate in the Aboriginal Engagement.
Please join us at the Santa Fe Opera Sept 9th!
(Click to see the poster
or press release.)
July
2006
In a whirlind 4 days in Ontario, Rulan performed solo at the Woodland
Cultural Centre of Six Nations, at the Harbourfront Roots:Remix Festival,
and at LIVING RITUALS International Indigenous Dance Festival.. At the
WCC, she was alongside performers from Mexcio and Columbia, and they
each taught a workshop to Iroquois youth of the area. At Harbourfront
she shared the stage with guest dancers from Amsterdam, as well as soloist
Hiromoto Ida whom she had danced with in the Karen jamieson Dance Company
of Vancouver. LIVING RITUALS also brought up Andy Garcia and his Tewa
dancers from the North of New Mexico, with whom she had performed 15
years ago in Dallas! She also spoke at a panel discussion of contemporary
and traditional dance, along with Marrie Mumford, Alejandro Ronceria
and Byron Chief Moon. Congratulation to Kaha:wi Dance Theatre for presenting
this first annual festival!
June
2006
June
brought a flowering of creativity for DANCING EARTH, audiences raved
over 3 new choreographies by Rulan Tangen at the Lensic Theater in Santa
Fe, and at the Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada.
One June 11, Rulan presented a new work inspired by Mayan imagery, entitled
'STELAE RISING'. This quartet was commissioned by MOVING PEOPLE DANCE
THEATER for their male dancers, and featured vibrant costumes painted
by artist Roger Montoya. It was decribed as "thought provoking,
emotional and beautiful" by Wise Fool circus founder Robbie Pino.
Also on June 11, Rulan danced in her newest womens trio, alongside Cina
Littlebird and Jessica Allen, who were returning from freshman year
at Columbia University and a 9 month tour as the lead in "BLAST",
respectively. This dance, 'Of Antlers' featured music by Robert Mirabal,
as well as Sami and Tuvan songs, and was a brilliant spectacle of sunset
colors and bonewhite antler stage pieces. Filmmaker Barbara Bentree
called it "fascinating", while writer Charleen Touchette described
it as "powerful" and "exquisite".
On June 11 she debuted a duet in Banff, titled 'Tree of Life:Time of
Drought', which choreographer Tanya Lukin reviewed as "ectsatic
in moments and filled with moments of caress and tranformation".
Then, she returned to Santa Fe to present the ever popular male trio
of 'Thunderstomp' on the closing day of the Santa Fe Dance Festival.
The works were filmed by Eduardo Griego and Alejandro Meraz, keep an
eye out for the DVDs!
Also in June, we celebrated the marriage of Raoul Trujillo to his bride
Jessica Carey in a celebration in New Mexico, complete with stilt walkers
and fire dancing!
May
2006
In early May, DANCING EARTH performers Rulan,
Alejandro, Quetzal and Happy were special guests at the Standing Rock
Sioux Reservation in North Dakota, presenting a dance performance for
an audience of 800 Native Youth. Elder Philomena Lakota said , "You
captured their hearts!".
Enthusiastic students joined in the workshops in capoeira and Indigenous
contemporary dance, as well as a hip-hop class taught by Happy Frejo
as part of Culture Shock Camp's program.
The same weekend, Thosh Collins and street dancers from Arizona performed
and taught workshops for Native youth in North Carolina at a conference
for the prevention of tobacco use. Spreading good energy across the
continet with the healing power of dance!
This month, rehearsals start for Santa Fe Dance Festival, which will
be at the Lensic Theater held in santa Fe June 9-11, and the Dance Barn
on June 17-18. The opening weekend, the choreography of Rulan Tangen
will be alongside nationally recognised companies LINES ballet of San
Francisco, and Gus Giordano's Jass Company of Chicago, as she was commissioned
to make a new work for modern dance company MOVING PEOPLE.
With 4 outstanding male dancers of MPDT, she is creating a quartet inspired
by imagery of Mayan stone art as experienced during her winter adventures
in Mexico.
Also on June 11, as part of the SFDF, DANCING EARTH will be presenting
a new women's trio, with the luminous Jessica Allen, Cina Littlebird
, and Rulan, embodying the dancing deer women spirit that is so prominent
in native oral histories, as well as in writings and painting of contemporary
native artists and writers. In research for THE NEW WORLD, Rulan came
across an account of a women's deer dance written in the early1600s.
On June 18, THUNDERSTOMP will be performed for a program especially
for youth.
Rulan will also be creating a duet this month to be shown as a work
in progress at a conference for dance historians at the Banff Centre
in Canada in June.
Spring brings renewal and inspiration, as the trees begin to bloom,
new dances are falling from the skies!
April
2006
April News
March
2006
DANCING EARTH performs and participates in Reno
Nevada at Native Wellness Institute's North American Native Wellness
Gathering 2006 . Special guests will include Nishke Mars from the Naragansett
Nation, presenting eastern woodlands smoke dance as well as fancu shawl,
and bay area musician Ras k'dee with guests from his band One Struggle.
Rulan also was invited by Janeen Antoine to lecture on a panel at UC
Berkeley at the fourth annual conference for "Native Voices in
Indigenous Research", followed by a banquet featuring John Carlos
Perea and his band in jazz compositions inspired by Jim Pepper.
February
2006
On Feb 17, Rulan was chosen through popular online
vote for AiAwards 2006 Best Supporting Actress Award
for the role as Two Moons in "The New World". The award ceremony
was held in Los Angeles, and her thank you speech is posted at www.freewebs.com/nativeroscoe,
and thanks to Roscoe Pond for all his work in creation of this website
and event, and to all the voters (thanks Toure Harris and congratulations
for Best Sound design!)
In this months edition of the new periodical INDIAN EDUCATION TODAY,
editors Tim and Denise Giago selected 6 artists from 6 mediums to respresent
the theme of New Storytellers, "who innovate and explore and rediefine
the place of Native peoples in our communities, in our country and in
a globally conscious world. Check out Rulan's page, in which she chose
to be represented by a group photo of DANCING EARTH , showing our intertribal
solidarity and commitment to diversity beyond borders.
January
2006
Alejandro
Meraz heads back to Toronto this month to participate as a dancer in
the International Aboriginal Choreographer´s Workshop, hosted
by Earth In Motion. This annual workshop is an important exposition
for emerging and established choreographers from across the globe, in
keeping with the vision of directors Penny Couchie and Alejandro Ronceria.
Mr Ronceria will be mentoring the choreographers, and we also congratulate
the radiant Penny Couchie and her partner Sid Bobb who are expecting
their second child!
Rulan Tangen and Kalani Queypo are honored to receive nominations as
Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting
Actor for The New World, by the AiAwards 2005. For more info
please see http://www.freewebs.com/nativeroscoe/
The short film DANCING EARTH: LA RENAISSANCE INDIGENE , filmed by Larry
BLackhorse Lowe, has been invited to be shown at the Film Festival of
the Alaska Native Heritage Center.
Affiliate
artist Joaquin Newman attended the Sundance Film Festival (www.forrealism.com)
for the release of his collaborators' film, Los ABCs. Check it here
at Director John Jota Leano's Website.
