Rulan Tangen is a globally recognized, multidisciplinary artist and choreographer who has made a profound impact on the world of dance. As the Founding Artistic Director and Choreographer of Dancing Earth, she has been recognized as one of the top 25 to watch in Dance Magazine and has received numerous awards for her productions and touring grants.
Throughout her illustrious career, Rulan has been honored with several prestigious fellowships and awards, including the Kennedy Center Citizen Artist Fellowship for Service, Justice, Freedom, Courage, and Gratitude, as well as the A Blade of Grass Fellowship for Socially Engaged Art, the Santa Fe Art Institute's Water-themed artists residency, and the Catalyst Initiative from the Center for Performance and Social Practice.
Rulan's work is deeply rooted in her values of movement as an expression of multiple worldviews, including the honoring of matriarchal leadership, dance as functional ritual for transformation and healing, the process of decolonizing the body, and the animistic energetic connection with all forms of life on earth.
As a choreographer, Rulan has recruited and nurtured successive generations of global Indigenous, BIPOC, and mixed-identity contemporary dancers, and believes that "to dance is to live, to live is to dance." Her vision for Dancing Earth is to continue the link of culture from ancient to futuristic.
Rulan has taught extensively in diverse communities throughout the hemisphere, including youth and community projects, and has been appointed as a Visiting Distinguished Scholar at Washington University. She has also led projects at Stanford University's Institute of Diversity in the Arts and has been commissioned by various venues, including the Heard Museum, Society for Dance Historians, Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics, and Native Roots and Rhythms Festival.
With over three decades of performance credits, Rulan's work has taken her to ballet and modern dance companies in New York, Vancouver, Santa Fe, and California, as well as appearances with the One Railroad Circus and extensive yoga training. She is also a Northern Plains Traditional Women's dancer and has performed at numerous festivals and events, including the Native Cinema Showcase at the Center for Contemporary Arts and the Planet IndigenUs Festival.
