Year: 2026-2027
DanceForce Member: Glenna Yu
Artist: Christy Funsch
Community Partner: Christy Funsch; Pillow Fort Arts Center
Audience: 76
County: Delaware

Pillow Fort Arts Center presents its second season of Open Air | Open Movement, a series of six movement and choreographic workshops, alongside two public-facing, process-oriented events taking place on its outdoor dance platform in July, August, and September 2026. The project emphasizes consistency, accessibility, and exchange.

The core of Open Air | Open Movement is a workshop series ranging from movement-based improvisation to more structured choreographic inquiry led by various local artists. Offered as a repeated series over the course of the summer, the workshops provide community participants with a sense of continuity and consistency in terms of dance activity, while also creating opportunities to engage with a range of invited artists and approaches.

In addition to the workshops, the project includes two public-facing events designed to make creative process visible, to foster cross-pollination among local artists, and to invite in a broader public who may feel uncomfortable attending a more intimate workshop or a formal performance. These events include an improvisational jam for dancers and musicians and a facilitated “wrecking” session, in which an artist shares a short excerpt of an existing work-in-progress that is then radically reimagined by other artists in real time. While open to observers, these events prioritize experimentation, dialogue, and shared inquiry over formal presentation. Both events will be followed by a cookout for audiences and artists to mingle and share dialogue.

Open Air | Open Movement is intentionally focused on artists based in the region to strengthen the local dance ecosystem and create space for peer-to-peer exchange. Activities take place at Pillow Fort Arts Center, an informal and flexible venue that supports experimentation and reduces the barriers often associated with traditional performance spaces.

Across the six workshops and two public events, Open Air | Open Movement is expected to serve 20 artists and approximately 60 – 90 audience members. The series invites both movement artists and curious community members to engage with dance as an evolving practice, emphasizing access, sustainability, and local connection.