Seattle Festival Of Dance + Improvisation 2024 Comes to Velocity Dance Center

Velocity Dance Center has announced the 31st annual Seattle Festival of Dance + Improvisation (SFD+I) happening across the city this summer July 14- August 11, 2024. With a deep history in radical dance experimentation, SFD+I's 31st year continues the legacy of inspiring  dance classes and bold performances that incite artistic dialogue and creative exchange in our city each summer. 

SFD+I began in the nineties as a community initiated and curated week-long festival where Seattle-based dancers worked together to bring nationally renowned movement improvisers to Seattle. Throughout its 30 year history, the festival has expanded and grown, navigated virtual and hybrid offerings during the pandemic,  and most recently has combined with Velocity's other summer offering Strictly Seattle, to become one expansive month-long festival of dance and performance. 

Throughout all these changes, the heart of the festival has always been the sharing of research and creative exchange between Seattle-based artists and the practitioners that come from across the country. This exchange plays a pivotal role in attracting new artists to our city, and keeping Seattle-based makers creatively connected to national and international conversations in the improvisational dance field. 

“I moved here by attending and interning at SFD+I. In 2014, it really looked like the festival was all over Seattle. There were activations in parks, construction sites, as well as in theaters. SFD+I showed me that dance is imperative to Seattle culture.” -Shane Donohue, Velocity's Creative Producer

This coming year, Velocity will continue this practice while working to bring dance into public spaces across Seattle. The festival is partnering with Freeway Park Association to commission and present a new dance performance by Bessie-Award-winning movement artist Jasmine Hearn on Saturday, July 20th, interlacing SFD+I 2024 with Freeway Park's Summer Performance Season.

Meanwhile, at SFD+I's home base at 12th Ave Arts, Velocity will present a range of performances by local and national artists. These include  the Performance Cohorts Showcase on August 2 and 3 with new work by Lavinia Vago, Noelle Price-Bracey, Kaitlin McCarthy, and Akoiya Harris. The festival will conclude with “Dance Innovators”, a performance series August 8-10 featuring the work of groundbreaking national artists who travel to Seattle.

Alongside the Summer Performance Season, SFD+I boasts a full roster of classes by local + national artists open to adults and youth participants curious about dance improvisation. Some of these are one-off classes, while other offerings, like the Performance Cohorts, July 14-20, are a more immersive experience. Participants spend 2-3 weeks taking dance classes of different types while also having the opportunity to work with a choreographer to create and perform a new dance work with a cohort of their peers. These cohorts are open for registration and feature teaching artists such as Keyes Wiley, Ballet Rituals, Undercurrent, Nia Amina Minor and more. 

Lastly, Velocity will offer an expanded Research Week, August 4-11, to meet sold-out demand in both 2022 + 2023. This week concludes the festival by offering eight days of intensives, workshops, and events focused on improvisational dance practice and research. This week is geared towards the all levels dance rebels who are looking to shake up everything they know about movement art forms. This year's curation for Research Week includes national dance icons Raja Feather Kelly, Tere O'Connor, Haruko Crow Nishimura, Anya Cloud + Makisig Akin, Black Collectivity, and more. 

For Velocity Dance Center, summer is a time for experimentation and community development, bringing dance enthusiasts together to share knowledge and  experience, and watch new ideas unfold through performance and practice. SFD+I has a magic that can only be experienced in the moment, by and with the people sharing it. It is grounded in the belief that there is nothing more radical than being present in a room, with yourself and others, at the Seattle Festival of Dance + Improvisation.

“I hope people come to SFD+I to see something new, try new things, and find embodied community with one another.” -Erin O'Reilly, Velocity's Executive Director

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