In this interview, conducted by Tina Majkowski at the Hemispheric Institute's 5th Encuentro (Belo Horizonte, Brazil, 2005), choreographer Rulan Tangen is joined by musician/dancer/painter Quetzal Guerrero (Cambiva, Yacqui, Ahumeche), dancer/photographer Anthony Ch-Wl-Tas Collins (Salt River Pima, Seneca, Osage), and dancer/actor/painter Alejandro Meraz (Tarasco). They discuss, among other things, the origins of their collaboration, the role of dance as a channel of empowerment for indigenous people, and the ways in which Dancing Earth works with memory, place, tradition, and ritual through movement.

Mélange of music and dance by contemporary Native American and African American performers, presented at the Francisco Nunes theater in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, as a part of the 5th Encuentro of the Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics, titled Performing Heritage: Contemporary Indigenous and Community-Based Practices (http://hemisphericinstitute.org/eng/seminar/brazil2005/index.html). This performance brings together four contemporary American performances drawing from the artists' cultural roots: Quetzal Guerrero (Native American violinist and dancer), Larry Yazzie (Meskwaki/ Dine World Champion Fancy Dancer), David Pleasant (African-American Gullah/Geeche percussion and song, performing with dancer Joyah Pugh), and Dancing Earth (Indigenous Modern Dance collective directed by Rulan Tangen, with the participation of Quetzal Guerrero, Anthony Thosh Collins and Alejandro Meraz). Quetzal Guerrero and Thosh Collins open the evening with a traditional chant from the Salt River Pima-Maricopa indian community, followed by Quetzal's original solo violin piece. Larry Yazzie then performs his dazzling powwow Fancy Dance from Tama, Iowa, followed by the energetic and powerful percussion of African American David Pleasant, who draws on rhythms dating back to slavery in the United States. Dancing Earth performs a dance piece about the creation of the earth, and the evening ends with all performers bringing together their traditions--and the audience--on stage.

Interview with Rulan Tangen (Dancing Earth) and Leland Chapin (Los Colores Studio), conducted by Jennifer Cayer as a part of the 6th Encuentro of the Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics, celebrated in June of 2007 in Buenos Aires, Argentina under the title CORPOLÍTICAS en las Américas: Formaciones de Raza, Clase y Género / Body Politics in the Americas: Formations of Race, Class and Gender (http://hemi.nyu.edu/eng/seminar/2007/index.html). Rulan Tangen is a lifelong dance artist living in Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States. She is the director and choreographer of the internationally acclaimed Dancing Earth Indigenous Contemporary Dance Creations (www.dancingearth.org). Leland Chapin (http://www.myspace.com/coloresstudio) is a bilingual visual artist and art instructor living in Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States. He holds a bachelors degree in Fine Art and a masters degree in Teaching Visual Art. He is also an alumnus of Teach for America, 2001-2003.

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