Year: 2025-2026
DanceForce Member: Glenna Yu
Artists: Clyde Fusei Forth; Christy Funsch; Lily Gold; Jeremy Hale; Rashaun Mitchell; Kay Ottinger; Silas Riener; Zay Thurgood; Raven White
Audience: 111
County: Delaware

Open Air | Open Movement is a series of intimate dance and movement workshops, performances, and creative residencies taking place on the open-air dance deck at Pillow Fort Arts Center. Held over eight weeks, from July 19th through September 6th, the series supported 28 artists, provided 80+ creative hours and drew over 110 total attendees. Principal artists included local artists such as Rashaun Mitchell + Silas Riener, lily gold, Christy Funsch, zay thurgood and dani derks, and clyde fusei forth; returning artists-in-residence Raven White and Kay Ottinger; and Jeremy Hale in his first engagement in Delaware County. The project created an evolving space for movement practice, experimentation, and performance, offering sustained engagement with local community members and invited artists.

Open Air | Open Movement was designed to support artists on their individual creative paths, providing them with the necessary time, space, and resources for deep and ongoing creative exploration. Artists were given artistic leeway to determine their presentation focus. This structure allowed Christy Funsch to revamp an older work, while Rashaun Mitchell + Silas Riener and lily gold presented works-in-progress that were further developed for premieres or additional residencies in New York City (at Skirball and The Chocolate Factory, respectively), and zay thurgood and musician dani derks collaborated together for the first time.

Activities consisted of both performances and open-level workshops that were explicitly open to all bodies. All events were on a donation basis to make movement more accessible to a broader audience. The series’ extended duration allowed for recurring participation and deeper community engagement and every performance was followed by an informal cook-out during which audience members and artists were able to gather. Open Air | Open Movement tangibly helped build a deeper dance community in Delaware County, generating real, meaningful connections that have led to further collaborations and support amongst artists and other attendees.

Ultimately, Open Air | Open Movement achieved its goal of fostering a vibrant local dance ecosystem, both supporting invited artists and building the broader dance community. Held in a peaceful, natural setting on the Pillow Fort outdoor dance platform, the donation-based series removed traditional barriers associated with formal dance spaces to make movement accessible. The program’s extended duration allowed for sustained, recurring participation, which, combined with informal post-performance gatherings, helped generate vital connections and build a deeper and more integrated dance community in Delaware County.