rulan tangen tribal affiliation

Indigenous contemporary dance is our way to connect, heal, learn, discuss, grow and engage, and to create and redistribute power in the wake of a devastating history. Eva maintains relationships with many people -- family, friends, associates, & neighbors -- including Jordan Tangen, Miville Cristobal, Rulan Tangen, Stone Tangen and Sione Tangen. Some of it is just built into a person’s way of moving, such as the way the foot touches the ground. 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. As a performer and choreographer, she has worked in ballet, modern dance, circus, TV, film, theater, opera and Native contemporary productions in the United States, Canada, France, Norway, Mexico, Brazil and … DIRECTOR BIO: RULAN TANGEN (Director, Choreographer, Dancer) is an internationally accomplished dance artist and the Founding Artistic Director and Choreographer of DANCING EARTH. Dancing Earth is distinctive in its financial structure as it operates from a place of equity. 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. People can learn when their hearts are open, and I think that’s what dance can do. Right now, our world is in crisis. You had to be introduced into the Powwow circle through ceremony, which was all about relationship building! But lately, there has been a charge from different Elders, telling us to use our art. Finally, what advice would you give to young Indigenous artists considering a career in dance or the performing arts? When you think about the kind of physical labour that many lower income people of colour have to do, it’s almost like you have to disembody to do it. Language is within dance. That’s the gift that you can bring to the rest of the world. People are just these shopping heads or workhorses. (2020 update: In acknowledgement that this is not the same as ancestral bloodline, moving forward these personal relationships will be upheld privately and culturally.). People will hear us, see us and no longer are we limited in our ability to have our voices heard. Powwow dance forms are special form of cultural dance, because it’s designed to be inter-tribal and for relationship building, as opposed to many of the other ceremonial dances which are specific to one tribal group, for specific time and place. 12 We can explore multiple creation stories to renew their meaning in current times, and then how do we bring those points of view together into one narrative. These are designed to certify whether these opportunities are intended exclusively for Native American peoples, or are open more broadly. I moved myself to my grandparents’ house, because I knew that I could go to school consistently there. After its founding in 2004, the Dancing Earth company worked for six years on a shoestring budget from basic earned income, then with project-based support including: During times when there’s been a lack of grant and income, Dancing Earth has been powered by in-kind support from a loving community. Tangen was recently named “One of the Top 25 To Watch” by Dance Magazine. Each world view is unique, but it’s important to carry these different perspectives and share them so that we can have a complete understanding of the world. What inspired you to form Dancing Earth Creations? This last instruction has manifested through several projects highlighting language, including evolving teaching methodologies and mentorships for educators and families; and the production of mainstream film projects the first of which allowed for reconstruction of Powhatan language to be returned to Powhatan people. This is reflective in how staff, tech, and artists are paid at equal rates. The Indigenous Choreographers at Riverside (ICR) project is an annual event that brings indigenous dance artists and scholars to UC Riverside to connect, discuss, and share work, with many events presented at UCR ARTSblock. ECP – Rulan Tangen – Dancing Earth – YouTube October 27, 2014 500 Nations Earth Chronicles Project – New Mexico An Interview with Rulan Tangen – Dancing Earth Creations This is just one of the 14 segments that make up our ECP-NM Pr… 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. At a certain point, I took a step back so I could consider what else dance was in this world and wanted to explore my cultural links to dance. 6 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. We look forward to exploring opportunities to collaborate with Rulan and Dancing Earth in the near future. Her interest in creating welcoming spaces, fostering inclusivity, and building global Indigenous relationships stems from the multiple ways of being in relation. Through discussion of their family lines, George and Rulan came to understand themselves to have a shared name that connected them to Blackfeet heritage (relating them as Blackfeet whose ancestors inherited a French voyager name). Dancing Earth quite distinctive in the fact that we make opportunities for young artists. Through a series of practice snapshots the authors suggest a diversity of responses to decolonizing and environmental justice issues in and through theatre and performance. Rulan has maintained long ties to Canada (cited as birthplace of her paternal grandmother), and is where she continues to facilitate collaborative projects as a choreographer. Her own heritage is mixed, including Kapampangan, Norwegian and many more lineages. It feels necessary at this time to bring to light details that I had previously preferred to discuss in person. She did this to me four times. Every creative aspect of this eco-production reflects cultural and environmental worldview, with Indigenous collaborators in movement, musical composition, language, video imagery, costume and visual art. Tribal Affiliation: Matao (CHamoru) Artistic Discipline: Multidiscipline dxʷdəwʔabš Territory (Seattle), WA. There’s not a huge amount of resources, but Indigenous people are so incredibly resilient at making things happen in their own communities. Rulan Tangen is an internationally accomplished dance artist and choreographer. formed a close relationship with a grandmother, who took me under her wing. Dancing Earth Creations is an indigenous inter-tribal contemporary dance ensemble led by Rulan Tangen. Maybe it’s who I am as a ‘mixed’ person. How did you become involved with cultural dance? This appropriation has enacted violence against Native peoples, including in the monetary gains that non-Native imposters sometimes make; the resources, jobs, leadership roles, and authority impostors can take up; and the inaccurate, stereotypical, and static images of Native people they often perpetuate, which perpetuate discursive violence by legitimating colonization’s ongoing attempts to erase vibrant, diverse and contemporary Native peoples. An example: A fellowship was awarded to Rulan after the above questions/responses about eligibility were put forward before submitting an application, based on yes for one of the criteria mentioned above. Rulan’s role in many of these endeavors has been as a creative conduit for Native and Indigenous diasporic community members, and as a bridge across divides by supporting their desires to tell their stories. Rulan Tangen is the Founding Artistic Director/Choreographer of Dancing Earth, a grassroots Indigenous contemporary dance initiative. 10. Rulan Tangen: I have devoted my life to dance since an early age -- first in highly specialized forms such as ballet, powwow, and modern dance. We are reclaiming spaces beyond what we could have imagined." While there, Rulan became involved with Northern Traditional powwow dancing and helped start the Maka Chante children’s powwow dance group. She has lineage from Luzon Island in the Pacific, and from different parts of Europe. 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. With these community kinship ties, I and others have inaccurately associated my identity as North American Native. She is the Founding Artistic Director and Choreographer of Dancing Earth and winner of the National Museum of American Indian's Expressive Arts award. Walking at the Edge of Water - is an inter-tribal contemporary dance expression of Indigenous water perspectives. Dancing Earth is respectfully based in the Ogha Po’oge – occupied and unceded Tewa territory known as Santa Fe, NM and Yelamu – occupied Ohlone territory known as San Francisco, CA. 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. You can apply yourself to something. National Theater Project (for Between Underground and Skyworld). Rulan’s work supports inter-tribal and inter-cultural collaboration and grows community-led dance works as platforms for Indigenous worldviews and First Nations experiences. Please contact NAISDA if you have any questions in relation to photographs. When presented with this evidence, both Mr. Burdeau and Ms. Mumford decided to proactively assert kinship versus bloodline, with Mumford asking for her words to be shared with the funder. The word “Indigenous” in the company name “Dancing Earth: Indigenous. Tangen is internationally acknowledged as a leader in Indigenous contemporary dance with over three decades of experience in movement arts. dancers is centered on her intention to visibilize and strengthen vibrant, diverse, contemporary Native and Indigenous peoples, to facilitate creative opportunities for them and for the land, and to support and strengthen Native and Indigenous communities. Tangen asked the dancers, who come from diverse tribal backgrounds, to embody the shapes of their Nations; sensual and strong, they incorporate diverse dance moves to music with a heartbeat pulse. 11. I was encouraged to just use the deer skin and bones and elements from nature, rather than cloth and beads from western sources (which are integrated into stunning Powwow regalia). There are some Indigenous choreographers out there that are doing well in the mainstream. 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. I graduated high school when I was about 14 and a half. I willed myself into it, because I was not that gifted physically. 12. She also participated in the Northern Plains Women’s Traditional, on the powwow circuit, with the Maka Chante group, and later assisting with the Aboriginal Dance Program at the Banff Centre for the Arts. Rulan Tangen’s work explores movement as an evolving language of intertribalism rooted in diverse indigenous cosmologies, in functional ritual for transformation and healing, animating decolonization process, integrating concurrent universes of ancient futurities in the moment of now, expressing energetic connection with all relations – human and beyond. The Hunka relationship may be difficult to understand outside of Lakota culture, yet it binds each to Hunka ties of fidelity stronger than friendship, sisterhood, or family, and a relationship with spirit that cannot be undone. Walking at the Edge of Water is an inter-tribal contemporary dance expression of Indigenous water perspectives. This, however, excludes Rulan’s compensation as she often donates her time with extended work hours, exceeding 40-70 hours over the years. Dancing Earth Founder and Artistic Director Rulan Tangen’s mixed ancestral heritage is Kampampangan and Pangasinan from Luzon Island, known colonially as part of Pacific archipelago of the Philippines, and Norweigian/Irish lineage, while she lives in the partition of Turtle Island which is often referred to as the U.S. For over four decades, Tangen has been invited into, and extended invitations for, collaborative work with global Indigenous artists and intergenerational community members locally and globally. She has also been formally (ceremonially), and informally, adopted or claimed by specific Native families within North America. That style is about being connected to the heartbeat of Mother Earth. But in terms of opportunities for the arts, the USA has one of the lowest arts budgets in the world. 9. 9 Taking into account various assets, Eva's net worth is greater than $250,000 - $499,999; and makes between $150 - 174,999 a year. That’s the regalia I still have to this day. 8 I learned the physical dynamics and committed myself with every cell: body, mind, heart, and soul. So, I checked out books from the library and tried to teach myself. rulan tangen DANCING EARTH’s performance – WALKING AT THE EDGE OF WATER – is an inter-tribal contemporary dance expression of Indigenous water perspectives. The Bridge, Nai-Ni Chen’s Virtual Dance Institute of boundary-breaking dance experiences and Free One-Hour Company Class is open to all dancers at an Intermediate to Advanced Level with Guest Master Artists and Company Dancers September 14-18, 2020 at 12pm EDT on Zoom – Open to All Dancers at an Intermediate to Advanced Level Featuring Guest Artists: Rulan Tangen and Peiju Chien-Pott. ECP – Rulan Tangen – Dancing Earth – YouTube October 27, 2014 500 Nations Earth Chronicles Project – New Mexico An Interview with Rulan Tangen – Dancing Earth Creations This is just one of the 14 segments that make up our ECP-NM Pr… The right of each cultural community to self-determine kinship terms, self-determinations that are diverse and can change over time, and that this is not appropriate for external monitoring. 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. For the week of 9/14/2020, The Bridge welcomes new guest artist Rulan Tangen. It impacts you and everything you’re wearing is part of the dance. 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. One of my former dancers is a lawyer focussing on environmental law, another one is analysing treaties for her tribe. Dancing Earth Founder and Artistic Director Rulan Tangen’s mixed ancestral heritage is Kampampangan and Pangasinan from Luzon Island, known colonially as part of Pacific archipelago of the Philippines, and Norweigian/Irish lineage, while she lives in the partition of Turtle Island which is often referred to as the U.S. 3. That’s what will make the true change. 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. Rulan continues to fulfill Hunka ( meaning ‘adopted’) Grandma Geraldine’s cultural directives including to: Use her gifts to inspire subsequent generations with culture and creativity; Remember cultural histories, stories, lifeways and teachings as passed down by elders; Maintain principles embedded within a symbolic object she was gifted; and, Uphold Lakota My people's southwest Indigenous epistemology is still very relevant within the 21st century. She told me I needed a more grounded cultural dance form, which was basically standing in one spot and bending and straightening your knees to the beat of the drum. 7. It took me being unable to walk to reteach myself how to move and how to translate my dreams through words and gestures with other people. I see it as quite an ancient way to reinvigorate the humans of the planet around very modern causes. Talavai Denipah Cook (Hopi, Dine, and Okay Owingeh Pueblo) who holds a degree in Environmental and Organismic Biology, and who is currently obtaining a Master's Degree in Tropical Conservation Biology and Environmental Science at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. My hope is to address any misperceptions around my identity to ensure that I am not contributing to the violence Lupita Salazar, Northern New Mexico Chicana dancer and permaculture farmer and Agricultural Programs Director with the Northern Youth Project, as well as past Theater Instructor with Moving Arts Española. With a community relation letter from Marrie Mumford (Métis), which highlighted Rulan’s service, time, and community connection. Tell me about the style of dance and the creative processes at Dancing Earth. They of course, were not the only ones to come to the US, and some of the people and cultures that have come over promote much more of a celebration of arts. I couldn’t understand why she wanted me to be so domestic, I wanted to be an artist! It was classical music, so I was imagining myself in ballet – a form I didn’t even know yet. It is my intention, and that of my mentors and chosen kin/adopted families, to generate good relations rather than provoke assumptions, triggers, or commit fraud. After my fifth time making one, I was allowed to keep my gown and was introduced into the Powwow circle. "As a Diné artist, my family, my community and my people were heavily impacted by the pandemic. It was my passion. Contemporary Dance Creations” refers to first peoples globally. Often the through-line is an energetic through-line in our narratives. 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). 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! 4. © 2021 NAISDA Dance College. Maybe it’s an undercover power that can’t quite reveal itself! What that means is that we aren’t always telling a particular story from beginning to end, from one viewpoint. But dance stays in their lives and keeps them healthy and creative. - Natalie Benally, Diné. We’ve received generous support from farmers offering locally grown produce, kind neighbors offering spare beds, studio space discounts, and other services. Even though I was finding a very full-bodied contemporary form, it connected more to life force. relationship toward each other. 2. 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. Given that issues of kinship are complex and different with each First Nation, the response to challenges of identity are best addressed by not investing energy in that direction but rather by making a clear choice not to respond to critique, and instead continuing to show with one’s life actions and how one is part of community. 13. 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. It made me realise that I wanted to give back. 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. Before that point in my life, I was living to dance. Dancing Earth directly redistributes I came out of it without my muscles, skin and hair. There is a long history in the U.S. of cultural fraud in relation to Native identity. Stories are within dance. Though Geraldine Ziegler has since passed, Rulan has continued to honor and acknowledge her Hunka Lakota family relations, and the Lakota lifeway teaching of “Mitakuye Oyasin” (we are all related). As project leader, and as requested, Rulan provided a letter affirming community relationship instead of blood/tribal affiliation (which she does not have). I was dancing for life the way many Indigenous people connect their ancient dances to the perpetuation of life. I remember listening to music one day and I could just feel inside myself what it would be like to dance to that kind of music. 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. When you look at our history, the first people who came over on boats were from religions that were very austere and demonised dance and singing. Confronting ecological collapse, choreographer Rulan Tangen creates seeds : ReGeneration. Natalie Benally (Diné), first Native Programs Coordinator, at Girls Inc. of Santa Fe. Rulan’s cultural lifeways expanded after being invited to South Dakota in the late 1980’s to be mentored by elder Geraldine Ziegler, originally from Crow Creek (Kȟaŋğí Wakpá Oyáŋke) (whose lineage includes Laura Spotted Hawk and Lucy One-In-Center) but who spent her adult married life as part of the Kul Wicasa Oyate (Sicangu)Lakota. The care, leadership, embodiment, and connectivity is what makes up the identity of Dancing Earth and these are deeply rooted in relationship-building. And that’s something that I think Indigenous dancers have always known. Traditional dance forms may be the least referenced in our dances, because they are the ones that need to be the most protected. contemporary dance Choreographer/Director who founded Dancing Earth Indigenous Contemporary Dance Creations Rulan offers the session as an opening to ancient ideas of movement, sound and … Indigenous people hold the knowledge, and have always held the knowledge, to help. Tell me about the Indigenous performing arts landscape in the USA. 6. Inter-tribal and International Indigenous collaborating community and artists, as well as recent emerging female leaders include: Anne Pesata (Abaachi), BA in Environmental Policy with a minor in Peace and Conflict Studies, who subsequently worked as a Community Health Representative with the Jicarilla Community Health & Fitness Center, and spearheading a variety of different programs to serve her community. Dancing Earth’s ongoing creative, cultural, and communal response to these times is one of kinship between all voices, as we recognize the need for solidarity and reciprocity. I enrolled myself in ballet classes. It can activate people who are divided, and on the way to being conquered. I was so proud to make this beautiful gown, but when I finished, I was told to give it away. In this interview, Rulan shares the inspirational story of how she overcame many barriers and challenges to pursue her passion for dance, as well as the events that led her to form her own company, Dancing Earth. These intentions are driven by her life experiences- not centered on her stories/personal narratives but commitments to the communities in which s she is deeply embedded. Committed to fusing indigenous and contemporary styles, this celebrated troupe is at once primal and articulate, relating vivid stories of cultural heritage while exploring the identity of present-day Native peoples. - Lumhe Micco Sampson, Mvskoke/Seneca. The state of Minnesota for example, has much higher budget for the arts and two of the best-known Indigenous choreographers in the country have relocated there to create better opportunities. Native people are about one percent of the population here. Since childhood, she had minimal contact with her father (who struggled with mental health) or with the patrilineal side of her family except for some letters. Through third party media or in descriptive writing, the term Indigenous or Native have been used interchangeably, this clarifies the preferred term and intention. We’ve certainly seen some pockets of culture form in the US. 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. I don’t see myself as doing something that is imposing a vision onto people – to me that is like colonisation of the body. To me, it’s about creating an atmosphere where they can contribute to a collective dream or vision. The CONNECTION to other amazing beings and having space to be heard and hear each other was HUMANIZING... We were all able to assure each other that we still have each other and that we are stronger together... not only as collaborators, but as community, as FAMILY." Mind, heart, and on the Edge of Water ) claimed by specific Native families within North.! 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