Velocity Dance Center

Heap is so excited to hit the ground cycling towards our next performance: HeapRide! This May 2, 9, and 17, embark on a series of bike rides through Seattle. From behind your handlebars, discover a story that unfurls chapter by chapter at frequent performance pit-stops. Experience dance storytelling in a unique way, while exploring bike shops and enjoying the outdoors with your community.

These group bike rides will target new cyclists (more experienced cyclists are also welcome) , using art as an avenue of accessibility to help introduce riders to their local bike shops, and show them safe and fun routes around town.

Can't bike? No problem. At least two of the rides will begin with a durational performance that you can witness with or without a bike!

Where does your funding go?

Heap is committed to compensating artists for their rehearsal time and for performances. Donors like you demonstrate that art creation is valuable, and that the performers who devote countless hours to honing their craft should have a viable way to sustain their lives through paid wages, and should not be expected to work for free.

Heap is a collaborative effort among many artists. Your tax-deductible support is distributed directly to:

Our cast of 9 performers

Sound Designer

Costume Creator

Choreographer

Admin Team

The goal is to raise $6,000, which will not only get our artists paid, but demonstrate meaningful community support for performance art as a sustainable craft and career.

Hi everyone! My name is Amy O'Neal, and I’m raising money for my ninth evening length dance performance titled Again, There is No Other (The Remix) premiering at On the Boards March 26-28, 2026. This project is co-commissioned by On the Boards and CAP UCLA.

I am working with an incredible cast and crew to bring this work to life.

Dancers and movement collaborators: Nia-Amina Minor (Seattle/LA), Tracey Wong (Seattle), B Girl Rascal Randi (LA), Annie Franklin (Chigaco/Pittsburgh), and I'm dancing!

Lighting and scenic design by Amiya Brown (Seattle)

Projection Design by Meena Murugesan (LA)

Costume Styling by Wazhma Samizay (Seattle)

Sound Design by WD4D (Seattle)

Production Management by Maria Manness (Seattle).

About the work:

Again, There is No Other (The Remix) is a dark and joyful ritual merging street dance forms and contemporary dance. The work interrogates fears of the feminine in our culture by de-centering the male gaze while asking the following: If our perceptions of race and gender are intrinsically linked, can we be a post gender society, when we are far from a post race society?

Through hybridizing the nightclub, the cypher (the circle), and the theater, five physically multi-lingual femme identified dancers explore touch, support, the imperative of connection, the tensions of identity, and the embrace of difference.

History, development, and significance:

This new project is the abstracted flip side to my last evening length work Opposing Forces, that premiered at On the Boards in 2014. Opposing Forces explored fears of the feminine in our culture through the masculine form of Breaking with five Seattle based B-boys.

The culmination of 12 years of performance research and the last in a series of works with a similar title since 2015, Again, There is No Other (The Remix) marks my return to Seattle as my home-base after nearly a decade in LA.

This project has been supported with research and residency support by:

BASE Experimental Arts + Space (Seattle)

Body. Space. Time Residency at The University of Washington (Seattle)

Cornish College of the Arts (Seattle)

Hybrid Dance Lab (Seattle/LA)

Center of Art and Performance at UCLA (LA)

What we have:

A dance performance of this scale takes anywhere from $60k to $150k to create. Our budget is close to $80K. On top of the fee that On the Boards gives us to create and premiere the work, we are very grateful to have support from the National Performance Network and some early donation support from Case Van Rij, Glenn Kawasaki, and Molly Scott.

However, all of this combined does not cover the entire budget. Some of the other grants applied for were not received, other funding asks and a free housing situation for 2 out of town artists did not come through.

What is needed:

We are asking for our combined communities to come together to help us fill a $15k gap. This gap covers the following:

Housing for 2 out of town artists for two weeks in Seattle.

Per diem for 3 out of town artists for two weeks in Seattle.

Airfare for 3 out of town artists.

Artist fees for 2 artists on our team.

Artist values:

As an artist who has made dance in theaters professionally since 1999, I value paying artists equitably for their time over spending lot's of money on expensive set or costume design. 90 percent of our budget is going to artist fees and care for their time, talent, and commitment to this project.

This project is fiscally sponsored by Velocity Dance Center and all donations will be tax deductible!

About Velocity Dance Center:

VELOCITY ADVANCES CONTEMPORARY DANCE AND MOVEMENT-BASED ART BY FOSTERING THE CREATIVE EXPLORATIONS OF ARTISTS AND AUDIENCES.

THANK YOU!!! WE CAN'T DO THIS WITHOUT YOU.

Every contribution, big or small, makes a real impact. Even just a few dollars can help move this mission forward and reach those who need it most.

If you can’t donate right now, sharing this fundraiser is also incredibly helpful. Thank you so much for your kindness and generosity. It means the world to me.

Hi, I’m Miguel.

I’m raising funds to support a personal project that I care deeply about. In January, I’ll be creating my first long-form dance work through Velocity Dance Center in Seattle as part of The Bridge Project.

I want to share a little bit of why I’m making this work—and why I’m asking for support.

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The Question Behind the Work

When I applied to The Bridge Project, one of the questions asked was:

“What conversation does your work need to have?”

I sat with that for a while.

I’ve been dancing for nearly two decades now, moving in and out of different communities and contexts—battles, commercial stages, community centers, classrooms, and behind the camera. Over the years, I’ve had a lot of conversations with dancers about how often they feel they have to code-switch or alter their work just to make a living from their art.

For some people, dance has slowly shifted from something social and communal into something packaged and commodified for commercial scale.

This piece is my response to that shift.

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What I’m Making (and How)

I’m creating this work as a celebration of the social and communal origins of street dance—not just as subtext, but as the story itself.

And if I’m going to make work rooted in community, then the process needs to reflect the values I care about:

* Equitable pay and respect for labor

* Support for non-traditional / non-“fine art” forms

* Sustainability for the artists involved

Dancers deserve more than shares, likes, and reposts.

We can’t pay our bills with exposure.

We deserve wages, time, resources, and systems that support long-term careers.

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Where Your Support Goes

The funds raised here go directly toward making this work possible in a way that feels ethical and aligned.

Your support helps cover:

* Fair pay for the cast and collaborators (over 50 hours of work including rehearsals, meetings, and multiple show days)

* Production and planning costs

* Wardrobe

* Music licensing

* Documentation of the work

The goal is to raise **$6,000**, which allows this project to exist without asking artists to give more than they already do.

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Thank You

If you believe dance deserves funding,

if you believe artists deserve fair pay,

or if you simply want to help bring thoughtful, community-rooted work into the world—

I’d be grateful for your support.

You can also learn more about the show and The Bridge Project here:

here

No artist is an island.

This work isn’t something I build alone.

With respect and gratitude,

Miguel

Join me in supporting artists and workers who help bring us joy in the moments they are most vulnerable.

Queer Sick Pay Fund (qSPF) provides sick pay to Queer performers in nightlife spaces who live and work in Seattle, WA. This protects queer artists and community from financial and physical harm by incentivising artists to stay home when not feeling well. We believe that the financial and physical health of Queer People guarantees that Seattle will thrive. Queer nightlife performers often live paycheck to paycheck, and the loss of even a single gig can be devastating. Other industries have systems of protection and guaranteed sick pay, but Queers just have each other, so Betty Wetter and Drama Tops came together to create this safety net for their community.

In addition to providing gap pay for performers and nightlife workers, this fund has been used to offer grants to support gender affirming care for those who may otherwise not be able to afford it. And allow them the time to recover with peace of mind. Open your wallet for those who fill our hearts.