Arts Project Support

By focusing on dance artists from within our local immigrant and refugee communities, specifically Somali, Hmong, and Karen dance makers, Minnesota Dance and the Ecstasies of Influences discussion series will present, and later archive, first-person narratives about contemporary dance practices, dispelling notions around self-expression and innovation being in opposition to cultural preservation and ethnic heritage. This effort will increase awareness of POC dance artists and augment the series' diversity to center only POC voices, while engaging participants to expand their understanding of original dances being created in the region by 50-100%. The series has a history of engaging participants with mapping dance influences as part of the discussion. A successful engagement would include 75-95% of the audience contributing to the map and sharing their personal experiences about dance within the open discussion portion of the events. Artists participating in the events will have a follow-up survey and in person meetings with host organizations to collect feedback after the each event, informing the program team of needs arising throughout the series, and future next steps for partnerships.