More recently, through an acting role, Lakota language involvement in a film as coached and approved by the film’s Lakota cultural advisors Ben Black Bear and Yvonne Russo. People will hear us, see us and no longer are we limited in our ability to have our voices heard. And that’s something that I think Indigenous dancers have always known. 8. I found that the daily practice and dedication transformed a chaotic world through discipline and sheer hard work into beauty, strength, harmony, grace, and power. The company artists, tech crew, collaborators, volunteers, interns, and staff include people who are Indigenous to the Americas, enrolled Native Americans, non-enrolled Native Americans, Native and Global Indigenous heritage peoples. It’s more of a mosaic than a melting pot, so that each bit has its own integrity. Dancing Earth serves Indigenous communities by co-creating dance productions of environmental, social or cultural themes, and under the guidance of Native and Indigenous elders. Why do you think it’s so important to promote the preservation and exploration of Indigenous dance, both on a national and international level? that appropriation of Native identity has enacted” - Rulan Tangen. What inspired you to form Dancing Earth Creations? Artist Statement As a modern Indigenous artist my intentions are to perpetuate the continuous existence of my People's diverse ways of life. What I think is quite distinctive and powerful about Dancing Earth is the fact that we are a safe circle for cultural exchange, dialogue and experimentation. And then there’s still a lot of work in finding the people out there who have a gift but don’t know this is a possibility and giving them the training and the confidence to become creators. But I did have my life. Expressive Arts Award of the National Museum of the American Indian, which allowed the company to share performance and engagement with local Native communities in rural Montana, Arizona, and South Dakota. After seeing how much the children in it looked up to Rulan, Geraldine requested tribal elder Garfield and wife Bertha Grassrope as well as Floyd Hand, to give the Lakota ceremony through which two persons adopt the Hunka Though Rulan had previously referenced herself using the term ‘Métis’, which in that era was applicable to ‘mixed heritage’ also inclusive of French-Scots-Irish,she now understands that in Canada, the term is now reserved for Red River historical Métis descendants only. I had so many questions for her of what I wanted to learn more about, but her response was often to ask me to help her make stew or clean the kitchen. Tangen was recently named “One of the Top 25 To Watch” by Dance Magazine. Other grants for travel support have allowed Dancing Earth to accept some of their many invitations for International Indigenous cultural exchange. "As a Diné artist, my family, my community and my people were heavily impacted by the pandemic. It can activate people who are divided, and on the way to being conquered. Her approach is: 1) To contact the funding agencies directly and ask for details of their definition of cultural eligibility (these might include: Enrolled/not enrolled, US States both mainland and island, US territories beyond US continental borders, Canada, Americas, mixed heritage, people living on original homelands, global Indigenous peoples), to understand if any or all of the below criteria would allow Rulan or Dancing Earth to be considered. I had been trying to choreograph before that, and it was definitely a sort of a fusion because when you are highly trained, I think your choreography will always be related to what you’ve done before. Rulan Tangen’s life of constant movement began with birth in Oxford, England, to an American citizen expat mother who was protesting involvement in the Vietnam war. I moved to New York City when I was almost 16 and I was working professionally at age 17. My sense of cultural inclusion (as a diasporic mixed woman of color in America) is through personal and extended familial connections. With an unsteady childhood, Rulan often found herself staying with maternal grandparents who originally came from Luzon Island of Philippines and made their home in San Francisco after World War II. After my fifth time making one, I was allowed to keep my gown and was introduced into the Powwow circle. Confronting ecological collapse, choreographer Rulan Tangen creates seeds : ReGeneration. More info about Rulan Tangen: Rulan Tangen is the recipient of the first dance fellowship for Artistic Innovation from Native Arts and Cultures Foundation; the Costo Medal for Education, Research and Community Service; National Museum of American Indian’s Expressive Arts Award; Washington University’s Visiting Distinguished Scholar, and Dance Magazine’s top “25 To Watch.” She is also, through ceremonial adoption as a "Hunka Lakota," in relation with Lakota peoples, and has been claimed as a relative by Kainai and Anishnaabeg/Métis families. 1. But things were starting to shift. There are ways to try and make change, such as treaties, going to the UN and speaking through environmental platforms. It feels necessary at this time to bring to light details that I had previously preferred to discuss in person. It impacts you and everything you’re wearing is part of the dance. It is used intentionally, as the term Native American or American Indian signifies original peoples of the United States and can involve specific treaty rights and Sovereign Nation status. Rulan's international dance career Every creative aspect of this eco-production reflects cultural and environmental worldview, with Indigenous collaborators in movement, musical composition, language, video imagery, costume and … These may also include people who are separated from their respective cultures, languages, and communities through many forces beyond their control or by generational choices, and global Indigenous diasporic peoples such as of the Pacific, sub-arctic circle, and Afro-Native peoples. The care, leadership, embodiment, and connectivity is what makes up the identity of Dancing Earth and these are deeply rooted in relationship-building. My childhood was quite chaotic, and I think I fell in love with the concept of dance as this way to discipline. SUMMARY. Life is about striving for balance with each step we take which makes us kinetic by nature, where everything changes with each breath we take.”. There is something amazing that happens when Indigenous from diverse backgrounds come together – that’s the most powerful synergy there is. Rulan offers the session as an opening to ancient ideas of movement, sound and … With Rulan’s support in project conceptualization for proposals, the company continues to offer dignified arts work with ongoing applications for foundation, grant, and fundraising support to supplement earned income. 5. Now I understand that she was trying to teach me about relationship building and showing commitment. If you have the creative fire in you, you don’t have to wait for someone to choose you. That process made me realise that what you’re wearing is alive and you bring it alive with your movements. -- or any Native association -- being listed alongside her name, Rulan contacted all funders, presenters, and educational invitations, including the funder, to address the concerns and invite dialogue about appropriate mutual action How did you get into dance and performing arts? These include: the Lakota name I was given, my sanctioned participation in powwows as a Northern Plains traditional dancer, the regalia gifted to me during Hunka ceremony, the language and songs I carry- all of which are part of my explicit responsibilities within those relations; as well as the designations of Métis and Blackfeet/Kainai I used in ways I believed at the time to be appropriate. Often the through-line is an energetic through-line in our narratives. , -- was the same name mentioned as a family name in the few letters that Rulan's patrilineal grandmother had sent her. Dancing Earth has been committed to working with Native American, global, and mixed Indigenous artists to support, nurture, and highlight diverse Indigenous embodied values and ways of being through creative artistic practice. 8 That to remove kinship citations would be to devalue the cultural honor that was the ceremonial purpose of being named, or the kinship connection of being welcomed as family by community members. This has often led to community members reciprocating with attestations of cultural connections and relations. I couldn’t afford to pay for the classes so I would make deals with the teachers, like agreeing to clean up the studio. Ritual is how we mark time and evoke change, be it life or death. Later continuing to New York working professionally in ballet and eventually in modern dance through Peridance (with choreographer/mentor Miguel Valdez Mor) and then her extended career as a soloist with Michael Mao Dance, with whom she toured Norway and France (origin lands of surnames on her father’s side). - Natalie Benally, Diné. When Rulan contacted Mr. Burdeau about this, he responded by affirming he sees Rulan as a relative – not based on bloodline or documentation – but out of respect for her, writing to her: “You’re still my relative where it counts the most! I was dancing for life the way many Indigenous people connect their ancient dances to the perpetuation of life. She did this to me four times. "Working with Dancing Earth recently has helped me EVOLVE and stay on the cusp of what is being done, and more so, what is possible by learning from collaborators about the latest tech innovations. After years of teaching dance workshops to reservation youth starting in the 1980s, and having survived stage 4 cancer in the early 2000s, Rulan emerged back into life with newly clarified purpose: She strove to create hope and opportunity for aspiring Indigenous performers, theater artists and technicians, who also serve as culture carriers, art educators, and leaders. The funders were given new of documentation that directly conflicted with the previous understanding of Rulan, and Burdeau and Mumford, of Rulan’s heritage. Woman Walks Ahead is a 2017 American biographical drama Western film directed by Susanna White and written by Steven Knight.The film is the story of Caroline Weldon (Jessica Chastain), a portrait painter who travels from New York to Dakota to paint a portrait of Sitting Bull (Michael Greyeyes) in 1890. https://bit.ly/2SFT23V When you have it, you can feel that connection to not only human beings but to the beyond-human world. We consider things like, ‘what was it that inspired our ancestors and how does that inspire us now?’. I don’t see myself as doing something that is imposing a vision onto people – to me that is like colonisation of the body. My hope is to address any misperceptions around my identity to ensure that I am not contributing to the violence She has historically contributed much of her freelance fees to support Dancing Earth with the exception of prioritizing higher rates of hourly honoraria for cultural elders participating in the opening of performances. National Theater Project (for Between Underground and Skyworld). We’ve received generous support from farmers offering locally grown produce, kind neighbors offering spare beds, studio space discounts, and other services. Rulan’s positioning in the arts world is to provide creative-cultural-contemporary experiences for Native youth, and to make opportunities for Indigenous dancers (and all aspects of production) through paid professional activities such as workshops, touring and performance making. But we are all working together and bringing in our own perspectives, which might be shared through gesture or coded movement. As we mark the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, NAISDA was honoured to have the opportunity to speak with a highly influential figure of North American dance, Rulan Tangen. - Lumhe Micco Sampson, Mvskoke/Seneca. As Rulan has consistently reached out to those who had adopted or claimed her, as well as to Native American/First Nations/global Indiegnous cultural mentors, elders, and associates for advice regarding matters, their advice consistently has covered these three main points: The work Rulan produces and co-creates with Dancing Earth Dancing Earth is distinctive in its financial structure as it operates from a place of equity. Her own heritage is mixed, including Kapampangan, Norwegian and many more lineages. But dance stays in their lives and keeps them healthy and creative. The author explores these theoretical propositions through her participation in Oxlaval Q'anil, an emerging Ixil Maya dance project in Guatemala, and Dancing Earth, an itinerant and inter-tribal U.S.-based company founded by Rulan Tangen eleven years ago. Rulan’s Indigenous connection has origins through her own genetics and bloodline -- by way of her lineage of peoples of the Pacific archipelago known as Philippines, which was occupied and colonized for hundreds of years by Spain and the U.S. She continues to grow through ongoing relationship building, accepted responsibility, and earned respect. Rulan’s ancestral bloodlines include Kapampangan (aka Pampango and Pangasinan ethnolinguistic groups living in archipelago now known as the Philippines) on her maternal side, as well as Norsk (Norwegian), Irish, and French via Canada on her paternal side. This, however, excludes Rulan’s compensation as she often donates her time with extended work hours, exceeding 40-70 hours over the years. You can create. 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