MOVO Space (“MOVO”) is a practice and performance incubator space supporting Twin Cities dance and movement ecologies. MOVO supports the practice, process and inquiry of dance and performance makers, particularly LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC dance and movement makers of many abilities, as well as under-represented voices in the community. MOVO fosters a relationship to dance and movement that expands and pushes against dominant definitions in our field by approaching dance and movement as practice-in-continuum, as integrative, intergenerational permaculture.

MOVO was founded and co-led by Valerie Oliveiro and Morgan Thorson, both queer artists and committed performance makers, dancers, and choreographers who have a combined 35 years of performance, creation, management, and experience, both nationally and internationally. MOVO began from a desire for an artistic home amidst the shuttering of BIPOC- and Queer-centered venues and spaces in the Twin Cities. MOVO prioritizes sustainable practice for bodies, spirits, and energies, offering each artist permission to question the systems and dynamics in the field that signal them to turn away or towards themselves. MOVO proposes that the container that defines dance is infinitely varied and self-defined—that an artist’s practice is whatever they decide to include into their creative container. MOVO affirms that the creative process is non-linear and inquiry may not be held in a single project. MOVO believes that artists of all experiences have a lot to offer each other.

Jerome Foundation supports a range of MOVO’s development programs, initiatives, and entry points for early career Minnesota-based choreographers and movement-based performing artists, including Major Maintenance, Alt/Pedagogies, and MOVO Show programs. 

• Major Maintenance is an open-ended space grant for BIPOC and/or LGBTQIA+ artists for one year to develop new work
• Alt/Pedagogies offers research time and a stipend for artists to delve into their own pedagogies and create a response for the field outside of dominant/normative structures
• MOVO Show is a biennial event for community work sharing, including 25 hours of rehearsal space for participants