Dancing Earth
Contemporary Indigenous Dance Ensemble
Dancer–choreographer Rulan Tangen’s vision for her work expanded after she became a cancer survivor. She realized she could no longer serve the vision of others. So, she started Dancing Earth, an indigenous contemporary dance troupe with compelling messages about honoring indigenous cultures, protecting the environment, and creating diverse communities of humans, nature, and beyond.
Under award-winning Rulan’s direction, the collaborative troupe presents the messages in innovative ways. They perform in dusty canyons, riverbeds, windswept red rocks, a skate park, and railway yards. They do full-length performances in traditional theaters with a seated audience. The lighting is ingenious; the shadows created by dancer formations can be even more powerful than the living flesh. Projected videos of destruction and re-growth are more than a back drop. But they can also perform variations as ambulatory theater where the audience walks through different scenes as dancers chant and move in groups or as soloists.
In their commitment to the environment Dancing Earth incorporates sustainable details as well as epic dimensions. Dancers use costumes only made of natural fibers; often props are disarmingly simple such as twigs or rocks. Always the group draws on the “seeds of the ancestors” and “cultural roots, ” plants, and foods. Dancing Earth’s depiction of the destructive impact of toxic pollution is stark and disturbing.
Dedicated to bringing all into the circle, Dancing Earth includes Indigenous collaborators from first nations throughout the Americas. They are constantly on the move locally, nationally, and internationally not just giving performances but with community outreach. They visit elementary schools in rural reservations and universities and museums in tight urban centers. They teach energetic dance workshops, share environmental sustainable practices, and do site specific rituals. Most recently Dancing Earth is focusing on online education, workshops, and performance events.
Between Underground and SkyWorld Dancers: Rulan Tangen, Natalia Aceves, Kayla Banks,Ciera Budge, Raven Bright, Olivia Cambield, Justin Giehm, Trey Picket, Fabiola Torralba
Seeds: Re-Generation Dancers: Rulan Tangen, Anna Pesata, Natalie Benally, Lupita Salazar, Deollo Johnson, Esme Olivia, Justin Giehm, Olivia Camfield, Ciera Budge
Guest Artists: Ugualla, Havasupai medicine man and international cultural ambassador; Tony Duncan, flutist and hoop dance.
