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choreographer, dancer, founder of Dancing Earth

RULAN TANGEN has 20 years of experience as a dedicated dance artist, performing professionally with ballet, modern and powwow dance companies in New York, Canada, California and Europe. She began serious ballet training in Russian style technique with Mme. Elena Piernik in San Francisco, which led to a scholarship at the prestigious Marin Ballet School. With its associated company, she began performing the classical repertory as well as new roles with choreographers including Norbert Vesak and Val Caniparoli. After graduating early from high school at age 14, she chose to move to New York City where she studied on scholarship with David Howard and performed with several ballet companies in the Northeast.

After touring Europe and becoming exposed to Tanztheater aesthetics, Tangen focused on working with emerging choreographers to develop new work. By adding Graham and other modem dance movement forms to her vocabulary, she became a contemporary dancer who performed with several opera companies: Peridance Ensemble and Michael Mao Dance in New York and European tours. In 1989 she was honored as a finalist in the Hennessy Cognac Performing Arts Awards. As a principal dancer and rehearsal director for Michael Mao Dance she was involved in projects including developing movement for non-sighted adults, and for inner city high school students who spoke English as a second language.

www.dancingearth.org