Robert Mirabal ... Dancing Earth

Grammy Award winning Taos Pueblo flutist, musician and composer with Indigenous dance troupe, Dancing Earth.

Robert Mirabal - Two-time Grammy Award-winner and New Mexico's international ambassador of the Native American flute, Robert Mirabal weaves ancient and contemporary music in a thoroughly original way. Described as a Native American "Renaissance man," master flute maker (his flutes are world renowned and have been displayed at the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of the American Indian), composer, painter, craftsman, poet, actor, screenwriter, horseman and farmer, Robert travels extensively and plays his music all over the world.

Living at 7,000 feet, at the foot of sacred Taos Mountain in Northern New Mexico, Robert still participates in the ceremonial life of the Taos Pueblo people. Speaking both English and Tiwa, his first language, he shares the importance of staying connected to the earth and preserving indigenous ways.

Robert's first mainstream success came in the John Tesh production, One World. His 2001 Public Television Special, Music from a Painted Cave, remains a benchmark for Native American theatrical expression.

"My music is informed by the ceremonial music that I've heard all my life. What I create comes out of my body and soul in a desire to take care of the spirits of the earth."

In the years since, Robert has continued the evolution of his flute making and has also become a concert performer and recording artist. His dozen albums of traditional music, rock and roll, and spoken word present a contemporary view of American Indian life that is unequaled.

Mirabal was twice named the Native American Music Awards' Artist of the Year, and received the Songwriter of the Year award three times. He was featured in Grammy Award winning album, Sacred Ground-a Tribute to Mother Earth in 2006 for Best Native American Music Album and won the 2008 Grammy Award for Best Native American Album of the Year Johnny Whitehorse Totemic Flute Chants.

A leading proponent of world music, Robert has merged his indigenous American sound with those of Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, tapping into a planetary pulse with a style that defies categorization.

"My travels have provided me with experiences that I could have never imagined, and exposed me to a global sound and a global voice."

As an actor, Robert recently played Tony Luhan to Joan Allen's Georgia O'Keeffe in Lifetime TV's bio pic O'Keeffe to air in September 2009. His first novel, Running Alone in Photographs, was published in 2008. He is currently developing a musical stage spectacular, The Legend of Lizard Boy, the tribal rock opera of Chaco Canyon.

DANCING EARTH is an inspirational array of Indigenous contemporary dance artists who work as a collaborative ensemble under the leadership of Rulan Tangen.

DANCING EARTH strives to embody the unique essence of Indigenous identity and perspective by creation and renewal of artistic and cultural movement rituals. Ancient and futuristic, the dances are an elemental language of bone and blood memory in motion. Springing from the heart and spirit of originator Rulan Tangen, Dancing Earth creates bridges for art and humanity, tradition and experimentation. Unified by vision, they cultivate the artistry of each individual on behalf of empowerment of all Indigenous peoples. Through arts, they promote awareness and communication as cultural exchange with both Indigenous communities and global audiences. With passionate and committed artistic exploration, Dancing Earth revitalizes issues of environmental, social, cultural, spiritual, historical, educational, and philosophical relevance. They gather and create with respect, inspiration, and innovation.

Rulan Tangen was recently noted in DANCE MAGAZINE as one of the "Top 25 to Watch" for 2007. Her lifetime passion for dance includes international experience in the US, Canada, Europe, Mexico, and South America as a choreographer, performer, and teacher. Her credits include ballet and modern dance companies in New York (Michael Mao Dance and Peridance), Vancouver (Karen Jamieson Dance), Santa Fe (Moving People, Dancing One Soul) and California (Marin Ballet), and appearances with the One Railroad Circus, as well as extensive yoga training, and powwow trail experiences as a Northern Plains traditional women's dancer.

With devotion towards the development of the innovative field of Indigenous contemporary dance, she has taught extensively in Native communities throughout the Hemisphere including projects under the auspices of the Native Wellness Institute, and the National Dance Institute. As a performer, she has been featured in lead roles with most of the major Native productions including Raoul Trujillo's TRIBE, Daystar Dance/Dance, Minigoowezewin at the Banff Centre for the Arts Aboriginal Dance Program, CAMA Awards, Aboriginal Achievement Awards, Robert Mirabal's "Music from a Painted Cave" PBS television special and subsequent 80 city tour, and assistant to the Directors of BONES: Aboriginal Dance Opera.

She believes in this form of dance as continuing the link of culture from ancient to futuristic, and this culminates in her vision for DANCING EARTH Indigenous Contemporary Dance Creations, for which she is choreographer and director. Her choreography has been commissioned by venues including the Heard Museum, Santa Fe Art Institute, Society for Dance Historians, Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics, Teatro Nunes in Brasil, Centro Cultural de Recoleto Argentino, Native Roots and Rhythms Festival, Santa Fe Dance Festival, Native Cinema Showcase at the Center for Contemporary Arts, Idyllwild Arts Program, Living Rituals World Indigenous Dance Festival, Toronto Harbourfront's Roots Remix Festival, Aqua Caliente Cultural Museum, and the International Aboriginal Choreographers Workshop. She is currently developing theater and film and cultural exchange projects that bring dance to serve as functional ritual for personal, social, and environmental health and harmony.