HUGS – A Project for Safer Movement Practices

WHAT IS HUGS?

HUGS is a tender exploration of connection, consent, and care through dance. This collaborative project extends beyond performance, integrating trauma-sensitive research, community engagement, and educational outreach to create safer and more compassionate movement practices. A research-based dance performance project that goes beyond the stage.

Through a dance performance centered on the complexity of continuous embrace, HUGS invites audiences to reflect on intimacy and boundaries. Accompanying the performance, a workshop series offers trauma-informed movement spaces for dancers and educators in order to foster shared learning and dialogue.

HUGS is not just a stage production. It's a multifaceted process involving:

+ a dance performance exploring connection, consent, and care

+ a workshop series offering trauma-informed movement and tools for dancers and educators

+ research practices rooted in exchange and sharing

+ long-term knowledge sharing and documentation

WHY THIS MATTERS

Our society faces ongoing challenges around consent, physical safety, and emotional well-being. HUGS aims to respond to this by fostering respectful, trauma-informed practices that support the creation of safer spaces for expression and creative exploration.

WHY WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT

We are grateful that the performance production is already funded by the City of Frankfurt and the Frankfurt Women's Department; however, some vital elements for a lasting impact of the project remain underfunded:

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & EDUCATION

This is why we need your support.

We are raising 10000€ for these two essential pillars:

A) COMMUNITY WORKSHOPS – 5,000 €

We want to open up our process by hosting three free trauma-informed workshops, including one specifically for the FLINTA* community. Those workshops will create sharing spaces for the movement community, make embodied research accessible, and support dialogue and care within the dance scene.

The sessions are meant to:

+ make our embodied research accessible

+ provide safer* spaces to move, reflect, and connect

+ invite others to be part of the process, not just its outcome

+ foster dialogue, share our tools and methods in order to support changes within the dance community.

B) DOCUMENTATION & KNOWLEDGE PREPARATION – 5,000 €

We aim to document our process and prepare educational materials, which allow the depth of this work to extend beyond the premiere. This includes:

+ video/audio recordings

+ written reflections, interviews, and notes

+ educational material for future workshops or collective processes

+ accessible formats for long-term use (e.g., translations, open access publication)

We want to invest in depth and long-term impacts. HUGS should have a life beyond the performance itself, rippling into other communities, practices, and conversations.

OUR VISION: SUSTAINABLE, EMBODIED KNOWLEDGE

Too often, artistic projects are pressured to deliver a product and then fade away. We believe in creating art that contributes to sustainable cultural change, collective learning, and more compassionate care practices.

Your support helps us to create high-quality, accessible educational resources and provide space for others to grow with us. Every contribution matters.

Together, we can ensure that HUGS is not just a quick touch, but a lasting embrace supporting a more empathetic future for the arts and beyond.

With warmth and gratitude,

The HUGS team,

Marion Plantey, Bibi Bauer, Victoria McConnell, Camilla Fiumara, Hannah Dewor

REWARDS

You give, you receive.

To express our gratitude for helping bring this important project to life, we've prepared a few small gifts to show our appreciation.

Helping Hand – Up to 50€

Printable PDF of the official project poster

Hero – 50€ to 99.99€

Printable PDF of the official project poster

HUGS Card design (post)

Super Hero – 100€ or more

Printable PDF of the official project poster

HUGS Card design (post)

Exclusive sneak peek into rehearsal (behind-the-scenes access)

When Will I Get My Rewards? We're a small team doing big things, so we kindly ask for your patience! To avoid waste, each HUGS Card will be produced on demand after the GoFundMe campaign closes on August 23rd. Once received by our team, each card will be sent personally to every Hero. All rewards should be delivered by the end of September, during the course of the project, not before.

Thank you for believing in us!

With Gratitude, Marion Plantey, Bibi Bauer, Victoria McConnell, Camilla Fiumara, Hannah Dewor.

more about hugs

(this beautiful artwork created by Stella Wiemann could be yours)