Dear Community,
How are you? That’s not a rhetorical question. Please write back! As Dance Wire pivots to focus on actions we can take that have immediate impact as well as our long-term plans, it’s helpful to hear stories from our donors, members and supporters.
Here’s Dance Wire’s story.
Just before this COVID-19 crisis we were making wonderful progress on our Strategic Plan. We were able to hire a Funds Development Consultant, we moved into an office building shared with multiple arts organizations at Zidell Yards, and we were just starting to seek funding for our Membership Restructure and Expansion plan.
Then it all shut down. We pride ourselves on being nimble and I believe we have been through this. Our first area of focus was helping to support our many members who’s entire income was wiped out for the next few months.
- We joined a consortium led by Portland’s Creative Laureate and Oregon’s Poet Laureate working on a relief fund for Portland artists and have continued to connect artists and organizations to resources for funding on our new Resource Page.
- Then we noticed many of our members starting to teach online classes and have been building up a YouTube channel of Living Room Dance to share both the classes and links to the artist/company’s donation page.
- We have also launched a “Power of Dance” campaign on social media to remind people how powerful dance is in expressing, communicating and processing, especially in a time like this.
That last part brings me to how I am doing personally. My emotions are running high for sure, but as a dancer I am trained to listen to my body for clues and answers about how to support myself. Some days I need to lay still in complete silence for 15 minutes to settle my nerves, other days I need to MOVE fast and frantic to shed built up energy. The two things I am reminded of on a daily basis are how resilient and resourceful artists are, and how critical it is to connect to our bodies in times where our brains struggle to make sense of what’s happening.
I whole-heartedly support everyone in the Dance Wire network – staff, members, donors – focusing first and foremost on the mental, physical, and emotional health of themselves and their loved ones.
Please let us know how you are handling all of this so we can stay connected while we wait to learn more about what is ahead.
Be well, stay safe, happy dancing!
Emily Running – Founder + Executive Director