Featuring Rulan Tangen (SFAI Water Rights 2016/2017 alum) and Jade Whaanga (SFAI 2025 Community of Practice Artist-in-Residence), Weaving Waters brings movement, story, and community to life through a powerful performance exploring cultural and ecological connections.

During this week-long residency, Dancing Earth offers eco-somatic movement work rooted in land, water, and celestial navigation. Daily workshops will be led by Founding Artistic Director Rulan Tangen, with a special session by Māori guest artist Jade Whaanga of Aotearoa/New Zealand. All ages, levels, and backgrounds are welcome to participate.

About the “Moana in Motion” Workshop with Jade Whaanga

Saturday, September 13
1 – 2 PM
$10-50 sliding scale, pay what you can

Exploring our fluid nature and remembering our relationship to the sacred waters that surround us and are within us. Remembering our connection to the Moana—the sacred ocean that connects all lands and peoples as one—we merge into the rhythm of waves, discovering how our bodies, made mostly of water, naturally respond to the ocean’s ancient call. Through gentle waves of movement, we remember that we too are bodies of water in constant flow and change, united by the sacred waters that bind us to each other and to all life.

In this workshop, through fluid, intuitive exploration, we will dive into:

• Flow & Fluidity: Embody the water’s wisdom of effortless movement

• Rhythm & Response: Attune to the natural ebb and flow of life’s tides

• Depth & Devotion: Connect to the sacred waters within and without

• Wave & Witness: Move with the endless dance of ocean and shore

Come experience how the Moana’s eternal embrace reminds us of our interconnectedness, as we explore movement that honors both the waters within our bodies and the vast ocean that connects us all. This practice weaves together Māor cultural understanding of our relationship with water and contemporary somatic movement.

For Class, please BRING

• Open mindedness, imagination , intuition and your full being

• Layers of clothing for warmth and comfort and able to move

• Barefoot or socks

• Blanket or yoga mat

• Water bottle

• Notebook and pencil/pen