Reflecting on our first 10 years
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As we enter our anniversary year, we look back with gratitude and awe at 10 exciting years of artistry, cultural sharing, and community building.These first steps as a company have sown the seeds of our upcoming wave of work, which will explore the theme of SEED as a metaphor for mentorship, the legacy of indigenous heritage, and the many values of native plants and foods.Expanding on the community-engaged process we used for Walking at the Edge of Water, we want to collaborate with sustainable food organizations especially in the Santa Fe, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Ft. Lewis,and other communities with whom we have or will build sustainable relationships. The critical contemporary issues of Food security, sovereignty, justice, and sustainability are relevant to indigenous communities as much as to society in general. Our indigenous cultures stress the importance of proper relationship to land and agriculture, offering crucial perspectives on these food themes.If you or your food sustainability organization wants to get involved in our SEED project, please contactdancingearth2012@gmail.com REFLECTIONS FROM DIRECTOR RULAN TANGEN“In the deep of winter, the longer nights give us time to look back with wonder and awe. With the land under a layer of snow, I am reminded that the theme of renewal was the impetus that birthed Dancing Earth. For it began in my darkest days, during my battle with cancer, as a silent but resonant cry out to the universe, to implore for my life... Pushing myself to identify what I had inside my soul that could only exist through me... Knowing that I had dreams that I had not manifested…Summoning the courage to believe I could bring these intangibles to form. In truth, I simply wanted the ability to breathe, to swallow, to walk, and to dare to move. But, as I say to my dance students now, if you can breathe then you can move, if you can move then you can dance. I was without hair, with mostly burned skin, without muscle or saliva, but I could see my ribs rise and fall ever so slightly as a curving wave, and could slowly spiral my hands in and out. These are now the foundations of my dance work : breath, wave and spiral. In my state of transparency, there were many days when I could feel the prayers and energy coming from my circle of family and friends across the planet and beyond, keeping me here on earth. It is to this infinite connection of energy that I continually dedicate my life and work of Dancing Earth Creations. With humble gratitude, forever…Rulan HIGHLIGHTS OF OUR AMAZING FIRST 10 YEARSFor more info on each year, just click on it.2004Rulan returned to dance the January after her fight with cancer. She was commissioned by Arizona’s Heard Museum to move through the staircase and main gallery and embody themes of the paintings and sculptures. Her spirit was carried by the music of young violinist Quetzal Guerrero.Rulan later began choreographing in San Francisco with Quetzal and his b’boy crew Alejandro Meraz and Anthony Thosh Collins. They presented their work at Dance Mission and at the invitation of Professor Jacqueline Shea Murphy at UC Riverside’s Red Rhythms conference and performance at the Sherman Indian School. Dancing Earth made its official debut with a performance of “La Renaissance Indigene".That summer they joined actor/director Raoul Trujillo on the set of the film THE NEW WORLD. Director Terence Malick and producer Sarah Greene invited Raoul and Rulan to handpick and train the core warriors, exploring a de-colonization methodology and choreography that built a tribe. Within this creative process, the Powhatan language was revived by linguist Blair Rudes, and returned to its Native people.2005The interest in the physicality of THE NEW WORLD brought a film invitation for APOCALYPTO with Director Mel Gibson. With Raoul Trujillo in a lead role, Rulan’s choreography included cultural engagement with local Mayan people.NATIVE PEOPLES MAGAZINE featured their first article on Native contemporary dance, with Rulan on the cover, as photographed by Richard Blue Cloud Castaneda, wearing a scarf by Maori designer Tracey Marama Lloyd ! (INSERT NATIVE PEOPLE’S PIC)We traveled to Brazil’s Hemispheric Encuentro of Performance and Politics to perform at Teatro Nunes in Belo Horizonte! We met with representatives of Amazonian tribes, a special moment for Quetzal lineage includes Cambiva of the Brazilian Amazons!
click to view videoOur year ended in San Diego with our first collaboration at the Native Wellness Institute’s (NWI) Native Youth Conference for Health and Wellness – the beginning of an ongoing partnership with NWI!2006This year we amped our educational and community engagement initiatives with dance workshops for the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA), Santa Fe Opera’s program in local public schools, and NWI’s gathering for Women’s Wellness in Washoe territory of Nevada.We performed in Cedar Rapids Iowa for National Performance Network Conference, and at the Santa Fe Opera for a dance scholarship fundraiser that featured outstanding companies and 6 dance forms!Rulan made several guest artist appearances in Canada at the Woodlands Cultural Center, Harborfront Roots Remix Festival, and LIVING RITUALS World Indigenous Festival.2007 Dancing Earth was included in Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch” !Performance highlights included four new works for Santa Fe Dance Festival, and a historic collaboration at Idyllwild Arts in California with Korou Productions of New Zealand, as well as guest artists from Canada, and Mexico!
For our second appearance at the HEMISPHERIC ENCUENTRO OF PERFORMANCE AND POLITICS, we journeyed to the Centro Cultural de Recoleto in Buenos Aires Argentina. There we performed in BODY LAND MAPS, a collaboration with artist Leland Chapin
We also worked with hundreds of Native youth at NWI’s health and wellness conference in Minnesota.2008One of our lead dancers, Jesus Jacoh Cortes, initiated our ASSOCIATE YOUTH TRAINING PROGRAM, CUICACALLI ESCUELA DE DANZA, at the Brava Theater in San Francisco. Our educational engagement in Santa Fe expanded further this year with residencies with the National Dance Institute, La Mariposa Montessori, and IAIA.Rulan’s relative, Andrea True Joy Fox, was crowned Miss Blackfoot Canada, and performed a piece Rulan created at Miss Indian World(INSERT photo http://www.dancingearth.org/blog/?p=16 )Rulan received an ACTION ON FILM AWARD NOMINATION for Best Actress for her role in ANCESTOR EYES. This was Dancing Earth Collaborator Kalani Queypo’s first film, and also featured Native actor Tantoo Cardinal.Dancing Earth also performed at Santa Fe Art Institute courtyard, Kiva Gallery, and a Lensic Theater fundraiser for dance students of many disciplines.2009 Educational initiatives continued with Cuicacalli in San Francisco; Montessori and IAIA in Santa Fe, and NWI’s Athletic Leadership Academy in Portland.In the spring Rulan received her first ACADEMIC INVITATION FOR ARTIST RESIDENCY from Arizona State University’s Dance Department. In the fall Washington University selected her as Visiting Distinguished Scholar.OF BODIES OF CLAY is commissioned for the National Council for the Education of Ceramic Arts, with artist Rose Simpson as our cultural advisor.Other performances include a TOUR TO ALASKA at the invitation of Yu’Pik Nation’s Calista Corp, a solo commissioned by Santa Fe Art Institute for the visiting MacDowell Colony, a fundraiser at Allan Hauser compound, Desert Botanical Gardens of AZ, and our first global Indigenous dance Festival, “KANTI-KANTI”.2010 After receiving the National Dance Project’s Production and Touring award, we were finally able to create our first full length eco-production, Of Bodies Of Elements, in January and Febuary! Thanks to a subsequent Expressive Arts award from the National Museum of American Indian, this production featured multiple, inclusive community workshops at each tour stop – St. Louis, Indiana, Gammage Hall in Arizona, San Diego, and San Francisco. Stanford University’s Institute for Diversity in the Arts invited the company for a showing of Of Bodies of Elements followed by Rulan’s semester-long artist residency leading students in a creative exploration of the themes of race and environment.
Designer Randolph Duke created costumes for OBOE as a tribute to our creativity, featured in a pilot TV project at spring equinox.In total we worked with over 1000 youth this year, including at the UNITY conference in San Diego, the NWI youth events in Portland and San Diego, the ‘Rocking the Rez’ summer program in Idaho, at UNM, and the Cuicacalli Escuela.In response to the Gulf Oil Spill, we created CRUDE FRACTURE, an improvised, site-specific work within Chrissie Orr’s land art at Buffalo Thunder in Pojoaque Pueblo. (INSERT photos http://www.dancingearth.org/blog/?p=472 )2011 Of Bodies Of Elements toured to Montana, South Dakota, Colorado, UC Riverside, Pueblo Indian Cultural Center, and the Santa Fe Indian School. We still hear stories of thunderstorms and double rainbows during our performance at the James A Little Theater in Santa Fe. At the San Francisco International Arts Festival, the SF Bay Guardian reviewed the show as “a thoroughly Contemporary work with performers—men and women alike—whose athleticism and multifarious talents and training acknowledge the air as much as the ground under their feet.” Thanks to the NDP Touring award, we completed over 25 performances in 16 locations, 8 states, with more than 50 related workshops, reaching well over 20,000 audience members and workshop participants! Inspired by grandmothers at a NWI conference in 2006, we created our first portions of our water piece during an artist residency at Trent University’s Indigenous Performance Initiative, with subsequent showings at VSA North 4th Art Center, Bioneers in San Rafael.Additional activities included the Indigenous Women’s Symposium, NM School for the Arts fundraiser, Cuicacalli concert and summer program in San Francisco, classes in South Dakota, choreographer for Moving Arts Espanola, classes at Humboldt State University, LOOK TO HORIZON scholarship benefit 2012Dancing Earth held its first summer Dance Intensive. Bringing together its company members with students from New Mexico, Canada, and Colorado, the intensive engaged all participants in a holistic, transformative experience of movement, meditation, and learning rooted in indigenous world views. Two weeks of cultural sharing through a diverse set of dance styles, intensive training, and choreographing, all of which culminated in a final showcase.Walking at the Edge of Water premiered in Santa Fe’s Lensic Theater, as part of IAIA’s 50th anniversary celebrations, and with the major support of Santa Fe Art Institute, the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation first Dance Fellowship for Artistic Innovation, and the McCune Foundation of New Mexico.2013We started the year with Director Tangen being awarded the First Dance Fellowship for Artistic Innovation by the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation. This award allowed the dreams for the creation of the water work, and expansion of our educational and community engagement programs to be realized.We performed in an amazing International Indigenous Arts festival, held at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, featuring solos including guest artist Professor Ananya Chattarjea of Ananya Dance Theater and the University of Minnesota.Rulan Tangen spoke on several indigenous artist panels including at the Bioneers Conference, Grantmakers in the Arts Conference, and Stanford University.We completed a second summer intensive with international guest artists, and thanks to generous support of various Santa Fe friends and farmers, who provided dancers housing, and local farmers market food.Bringing together its company members with students from many US states, Canada, and Mexico, the intensive engaged all participants in a holistic experience of movement, meditation, and learning rooted in indigenous world views. Each year several weeks of cultural sharing through a diverse set of dance styles, intensive training, and choreographing, culminated in a final public showcase. These transformative experiences have only been possible because of the financial and in-kind support from community members like you.Walking at the Edge of Water, our second full-length eco-production, premiered in Santa Fe’s Lensic Theater, as part of IAIA’s 50th anniversary celebrations, and with the major support of USArtists International, Santa Fe Art Institute, the Native Arts
and Cultures Foundation first Dance Fellowship for Artistic Innovation, and the McCune Foundation of New Mexico. This production included 17 performers from Native American communities, First Nations of New Zealand, Canada, and Samoa. See Janet Eigner's review of the show on page 44 of THE MAGAZINE.
click to view videoclick here to read a review from santafe.comThe show toured to Stanford University, New York’s Downtown Dance Festival, and New Zealand’s Kowhiti Festival. The tour stops included community workshops, built ongoing relationships with Native communities, and spread our work to new parts of the world.Dancing Earth developed earlier versions of Walking at the Edge of Water at the Culver Center in UC Riverside, the Talking Stick Festival of Vancouver, the Wild Dancing West at N4th in Albq, and for Trent University's Indigenous Performance Initiatives. This last evolved into a full production with guest artists from Canada, Mexico and Guatemala titled: "ZHISHODEWE (At the Waters Edge)" with outdoor and indoor components, Little Nest community youth involvement, with support from Marrie Mumford, Shirley Williams, Leanne Simpson, the Nozhem Performance Space, the Ayaandagon and Gitigaan gardens, Peterborough Art Gallery, and the Odemin Geezis Festival.