SFD+I | Youth Cohort | Dance in Summer 2023

SEATTLE FESTIVAL OF DANCE + IMPROVISATION

YOUTH COHORT

Dance Future Lab

July 16 – August 5

The Youth Cohort: Dance Future Lab is led by Los Angeles choreographer Amy O’Neal and is for young adults ages 13 – 18 from all styles and backgrounds. SFD+I Dance Future Lab is for young dancers of all bodies, identities, and abilities who are already on a dance path and have been training and engaging in creative processes of some kind. Daily schedule will consist of Hybrid Hip Hop Contemporary technique class followed by a creative process facilitated by Amy O’Neal. This collective creation will be performed at the end of the three week program on a shared evening with the other SFDI tracks.

This is a new program for SFD+I but it is grounded in the lineage of many Seattle visionary artists and programs.

SFD+I Dance Future Lab is launching in the spirit of the Young Choreographers Lab started by Liz Young and Amy O’Neal through Seattle Theater Group in 2010, which then merged with Velocity to form Seattle Youth Dance Collective in 2013 directed by Amy O’Neal and Tonya Lockyer, then Young Choreographers Club in 2022 directed by Moonyeka (former Young Choreographers Lab participant). In its inaugural year, SFD+I Dance Future Lab will be facilitated by former longtime Seattle dance scene luminary, Amy O’Neal.

YOUTH PERFORMANCE COHORT INCLUDES:

MORNING CLASS
AFTERNOON REHEARSALS
THREE FINAL PERFORMANCES

$750

MEET THE CHOREOGRAPHER

AMY O'NEAL

PROCESS:

As an artist who is deeply engaged in contemporary dance and hip hop and house dance communities, Amy brings an expansive perspective to dance education and creation through her 25 years of experience with a broad intersection of dance cultures, identities, and practices. This program is offered for dancers who are leaning towards a professional life as a dancer and or dance maker from any dance background. Amy is passionate about educating young dancers about the different dance ecologies that exist in the world to help empower their choices and paths. Young dancers of all dance forms or styles who are interested in careers in being dance activists, performing in companies, being a choreographer, being a dance educator, battling in the underground or international circuit, entering the commercial dance industry, starting your own company, making dance films, or any combination or out of the box dreams are encouraged and welcome.

ARTIST:

Amy O’Neal (she/they) is a dancer, choreographer, curator, and dance educator merging contemporary and hip-hop dance since 2000 to challenge notions of race, gender, and the sampling nature of innovation. She teaches and performs nationally and internationally and choreographs for concert dance, experimental performance, dance film, music video, and virtual reality. From 2000 to 2010, along with musician and composer Zeke Keeble, O’Neal co-directed locust, a dance/music/video hybrid performance company based in Seattle. From 2010 until now, she works project to project creating dance experiences merging practices and values of hip hop and house dance culture with experimental performance. O’Neal is a grantee of Creative Capital, National Performance Network, National Dance Project, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, Foundation for Contemporary Arts among others. She is a two-time Artist Trust Fellow, DanceWEB/Impulstanz scholar, and Herb Alpert Award nominee with a BFA from Cornish College of the Arts, where she earned the first Distinguished Alumni Award in 2014. After 20 years in Seattle (15 of those teaching and creating at Velocity Dance Center) O’Neal moved to Los Angeles in 2016. She joined the faculty of the University of Southern California Glorya Kaufman School of Dance in 2018 where she teaches hip-hop, house, contemporary, composition, improvisation techniques, Pilates mat, and lectures on Black social dance history, practices, and media literacy. She is currently working on her next evening length work A Trio and developing a research and performance platform called The Hybrid Lab: Conversations in Merging Dance Cultures.

PAYMENTS + DEPOSITS + REFUNDS

PAYMENT OPTIONS

To reserve your spot you can either pay in full* or hold your place with a non-refundable $250 deposit. Full payment to confirm your registration is required by June 19.

Registration for a la carte intensives, classes, workshops, and jams will open on June 20 and spaces will be available on a first-come-first-served basis. To register a la carte you will pay in full, though let us know if you need to discuss a payment plan.

Please contact Shirley Wong, operations@velocitydancecenter.org, for any questions or clarifications about registration or payment.

*ULTIMATE SFD+I, PERFORMANCE Cohorts, and RESEARCH Week payments include a $250 non-refundable deposit.

REFUND POLICY

Velocity’s refund policies were created to offer as much flexibility to our community as possible, while still protecting SFD+I from risk and instability.

The refund schedule for the Ultimate SFD+I, Performance Cohorts, or Research Week is:

Before June 19: All registration fees, less the $250 non-refundable deposit, are fully refundable for any reason.
After June 19: All registration fees, less the $250 non-refundable deposit, are 50% refundable for any reason.
After your first class begins: All registration fees are non-refundable for any reason, including illness or injury.

The refund schedule for all a la carte intensives, workshops or classes (available after June 20) is:

After you register: All registration fees are 50% refundable for any reason.
After your first class begins: All registration fees are non-refundable for any reason, including illness or injury.

WORK/STUDY

Velocity’s Summer Work/Study program provides the opportunity for participants to receive discounted attendance to the Seattle Festival of Dance + Improvisation in exchange for festival support. The deadline for this program is May 1st. Please email operations@velocitydancecenter.org with any questions.

APPLY

TBIPOC Tuition waiver

As a part of Velocity’s Seattle Festival of Dance + Improvisation we are providing $10,000 in fee waivers to dancers who identify as Transgender, Black, Indigenous, and/or as People of Color, in an effort to shift power to Transgender and BIPOC communities. The deadline for this program is May 1st. Please email operations@velocitydancecenter.org with any questions.