Velocity Dance Center Grants

Velocity Dance Center

We propose a weekend of free community performances that are created by and for Black communities hosted in May 2025 at Kubota Garden in South Seattle. ?Elysium - Leviticus or Love and to walk amongst HUMANS: Book II?, is a site-responsive performance that leads audiences through a journey of death and revival to find themselves in a world where Black bodies are the blessed and dying to oneself is a rite of passage. Conceived and shaped by dani tirrell, choreographers Nia-Amina Minor, Quynn Johnson, Cyrah Ward, keyes wiley, and Majinn and performed by a cast of 20 local artists, this project is a celebration of the cultural practices of many overlapping identities held by the creators: the rituals of Black religious communities, Black LGBTQ+ nightlife practices like House and Club dance, and the power of gathering outdoors and sharing art together. The work will serve as a chance for Black communities to create and witness an arts event in an outdoor garden in their own neighborhood.

Velocity Dance Center

A vibrant week of outdoor dance performances, large-scale art installations, and LGBTQ+-led conversations in Capitol Hill over Labor Day weekend to promote an inclusive understanding of gender, parenting, and queer lineage. Additionally, organizers will host free BIPOC-led queer parent convenings to build community support networks for queer Seattle parents. Queer and trans family resources will be available in person and online to all participants and project attendees.

Velocity Dance Center

Velocity Dance Center along with key community partners will host The Fall Kick Off Symposium Monday September 16th through Friday, September 21st at 1621 12th Avenue, Suite 100. This week-long community celebration with social justice themes, will bring together dancers and choreographers for a series of free classes, panels and symposia, workshops, and a cross-disciplinary mixer. It also serves to launch the 'dance season' in Seattle.

Velocity Dance Center

Brute Beauty is a public event held in Freeway Park, 700 Seneca Street, on July 14 at 11:00 a.m. Brute Beauty brings Seattle Artist Jody Kuehner's company dance members in an immersive #MeToo performance. The performance centers around the recent national #metoo movement and the parks history in the conversation. Brute Beauty is a performance of empowerment for women, feminism, and the importance of safe public spaces.