At Liberate Artists we like to say that when you arrive at one of our experiences or performances, you will see yourself reflected in our community of teaching artists, staff, and students. Though there are many organizations we support, we are not a dance competition or convention. We are a non-competitive dance and performing arts collective, so please leave the competitiveness at the door if that’s what you’re after. At Liberate Artists we value being kind, compassionate, and caring while building brave dance experiences that support folks of all races, genders, abilities, disabilities, shapes, and economic backgrounds. At Liberate Artists you don’t have to be a professional dancer but you do have to be a good human in society.
Every Liberate Artists experience includes an Access Check-In which, "allows people to share any access needs they might have if they feel comfortable." (Disability Intersectionality Summit)
We check in with our registrants to meet their needs and provide reasonable accommodations because all bodies are dancing bodies if they want and choose to be.
At every Liberate Artists experience, we create name tags with dancers’ pronouns and preferred names because every dancer should know that their identities are worth respect and acknowledgment.
Recovery is an important component of building strong and healthy dancers. We include rest during our longer experiences to allow dancers to recover from movement and partner with organizations such as Doctors For Dancers to further reduce the risk of injury.
We also partner with our sibling organization, Dance Education Equity Association, to ensure that our experiences are always growing to be safer, more equitable, and more inclusive. Our teaching artists go through training to reduce the risk of harm and we utilize the DEEA Safety Tipline as a resource for safety. It’s an anonymous (if you’d like) tipline where folks can submit any instances of harm they may have endured at a Liberate Artists experience. This tipline was created to reduce the risk of harm from bullying, racism, discrimination, othering, and abuse of any kind. We’ve implemented policies, inspired by transformative justice practices, to work with students who have been harmed and/or causing harm.
Every Liberate Artists experience includes an Access Check-In which, "allows people to share any access needs they might have if they feel comfortable." (Disability Intersectionality Summit)
We check in with our registrants to meet their needs and provide reasonable accommodations because all bodies are dancing bodies if they want and choose to be.
At every Liberate Artists experience, we create name tags with dancers’ pronouns and preferred names because every dancer should know that their identities are worth respect and acknowledgment.
Recovery is an important component of building strong and healthy dancers. We include rest during our longer experiences to allow dancers to recover from movement and partner with organizations such as Doctors For Dancers to further reduce the risk of injury.
We also partner with our sibling organization, Dance Education Equity Association, to ensure that our experiences are always growing to be safer, more equitable, and more inclusive. Our teaching artists go through training to reduce the risk of harm and we utilize the DEEA Safety Tipline as a resource for safety. It’s an anonymous (if you’d like) tipline where folks can submit any instances of harm they may have endured at a Liberate Artists experience. This tipline was created to reduce the risk of harm from bullying, racism, discrimination, othering, and abuse of any kind. We’ve implemented policies, inspired by transformative justice practices, to work with students who have been harmed and/or causing harm.
Our core belief is that every dancer deserves equitable treatment in dance spaces regardless of the various aspects of their identities. We teach self-compassion through dance so that students can practice compassion with each other.
Liberate Artists started with bringing our in-studio experience around the world from Hawai’i to Australia and everywhere in between. Teaching artists and choreographers we have worked with in-studio include: Phil Wright, Kayla Igo, Eva Igo, Alex Wong, Comfort Fedoke, Ivan Koumaev, Amelia Burkhardt, Lauren Froderman, Jon Rua, Julie Carter, Eric Lehn, Maureen Gonzales, Ramita Ravi, Kenny Hernandez, Deion Muse, Nicole “Fox'' Davis, and other members were all part of our original Liberate Artists faculty! We phased out our in-studio experiences to focus more on our summer events in 2019, but we still host a few at select studios throughout the country. We are currently only open to studios that align with our values of safety, equity, and inclusivity. If this is your organization, apply to bring the Liberate Artists team for an accessible dance experience!
Our first Phoenix Fire, now hosted in Times Square, was held in Brooklyn at Gelsey Kirkland Arts Center. Phoenix Fire is split into three programs based on intensity level — Spark (4 days), Ignite (6 days), and Blaze (8 days). At the conclusion of Phoenix Fire, “PF Prodigies” (the attendees of Phoenix Fire) collaborate to produce an original, movement-based, “Broadway-style” performance with professional actors in NYC. Teaching artists and choreographers have included Lauren Froderman, Randi and Hefa, Fresh Redding, Mia Michaels, Mollee Gray, Travis Cooper, Nico Greetham, Jeka Jain, and Sara Perez, as well as members of our Liberate Artists faculty. Learn more about Phoenix Fire and how to join us for our experience this year at www.nycphoenixfire.com.
The Winter Scholarship Intensive was a one or two-day intensive dance experience where we awarded over $20,000 in full and partial tuition scholarships. Teaching artists for the Winter Scholarship Intensive included Kenny Wormald, Megz Alfonso, Theresa Stone, and of course, our Liberate Faculty. The Winter Scholarship Intensive took its final bow in 2019 but we revel in the memories shared with the Liberation Nation.
Focus gives dancers ages 12-18 a taste of the commercial dance industry, culminating in a professional music video filmed with a recording artist directed and choreographed by So You Think You Can Dance winner Lauren Froderman. Past teaching artists have included: Ysabelle Capitulé, Cyrus Spencer, Kaycee Rice, Lauren Froderman, Kent Boyd, Kai Lin, Fresh Redding, Nat Bat, Maureen Gonzales, Comfort Fedoke, Auti Kamal, Audry Ginsburg, and Samo Soto. Learn all about Focus and how you can register to join us at www.thefocusla.com.
In 2019, we decided to push our experiences even further by holding a live concert in NYC with recording artist Luxtides and featured dancers from around the country. Teaching artists included Kenny Hernandez and Lexi Garcia from Hamilton on Broadway. Liberate L!VE was a one-off experience but we look forward to its return!
In 2020, we wanted to spread our message to dancers everywhere — You Are Enough! Choreographed by Maureen Gonzales, this movement-based campaign featured over 200 participants from all over the world. Dancers included Kaycee Rice, Eva Igo, Mia Michaels, Tricia Miranda, Lauren Froderman, Comfort Fedoke, Kai Lin, Rumer Noel, Gabe De Guzman, The Williams Family, Julie Carter, Eric Lehn, Sara Perez, Amelia Burkhardt, Amanda LaCount, and fantastic featured studios! Watch our video to be reminded that YOU ARE ENOUGH!
During the civil unrest our country experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, we wanted to create a free online experience that gave back to our dance community. With over 900 registrants from all over the world, Forward Movement featured all styles of dance and a certificate program for dance educators on inclusive programming. We also recorded a music video starring cast members from Hamilton on Broadway, Six on Broadway, The Lion King on Broadway, and Emmy Award Nominated Liz Calloway.
Forward Movement furthered our efforts to make dance education accessible for all and led our team to establish two other organizations to support this work: Dance Education Equity Association (DEEA) and Always, Enough Foundation. DEEA is an organization dedicated to supporting dance education through its BE COURAGEOUS courses, community collaboration, and systemic-based consulting work. They utilize education to implement transformative guidelines of safety, equity, and inclusivity into dance competitions, conventions, and studios. The Always, Enough Foundation breaks economic barriers to access and provides socio-emotional support for families in the performing arts.
This year, Liberate Artists is continuing its mission of giving back to communities with More Than Enough L!VE. We will travel across the country building confidence and promoting social growth while reminding students that “You Are Enough.” This mini dance experience celebrates the individual successes of each participant with our award ceremony to Phoenix Fire and Focus and our partner organizations Velocity Dance Convention and Activate Your Artistry.
Camp Liberate is our magical and momentous experience at the Great Wolf Lodge in Fitchburg, Massachusetts! This is our dance experience filled with FAMILY Fun and memories that will last a lifetime! Train with the fantastic Liberate Artists teaching artists, have fun in the indoor waterpark, and perform with new friends in a light filled outdoor performance that will be one to remember. Open to all dancers ages 7-18. Styles of dance include: jazz, hip hop, lyrical, contemporary, street jazz, jazz funk, conditioning, and more!