AboutYOU
AboutYOU is Moo’s second annual dance performance, choreographed from concepts submitted by the general public, translated into movement by Moo, a Kansas City-based sibling choreographic duo, and performed by local professional dancers. The project transforms personal stories, ideas, and experiences into contemporary dance that audiences can see, recognize, and connect with on stage. Rather than dance being solely “about” what a choreographer wants to say, AboutYOU shifts authorship toward community members, making contemporary dance more relatable, inclusive, and resonant.
AboutYOU’s first production drew an audience of 130 people total, and established a successful model for connecting Kansas City community members with contemporary dance while providing paid opportunities for local dancers. A second annual production, again at Just Off Broadway Theatre, lets Moo build on that experience with entirely new community members, narratives, and choreography, adding a third performance to sustain and grow turnout. An ArtsKC Inspiration Grant would allow Moo to expand audience reach, and continue developing AboutYOU as an annual, community centered project.
Development begins in late December 2026, when Moo distributes flyers citywide with QR codes linking to a Google Form where community members share memories, thoughts, and experiences. Participants choose their preferred level of anonymity, from full attribution, to complete anonymity name and narrative wise. We will use targeted Meta advertising to reach residents not already connected to contemporary dance, plus promotion through social media and word-of-mouth. A second round of Meta ads will later promote the completed performance to potential audiences.
Submissions close January 30, 2027. Moo selects narratives that offer a range of perspectives and choreographic possibilities, notifies participants, and develops movement based on their stories. Rehearsals with our 11 local professional dancers, paid based on whether they perform in one or two works, begin in February 2027 at Charlotte Street Foundation.
Moo will also run a $2,000 crowdfunding campaign through Fractured Atlas, promoted via social media beginning alongside the initial engagement campaign for the performance. Starting February 2027, Moo will distribute posters citywide, with digital promotion through social media and online event pages.
Moo will create 6–9 original works, each between 4–12 minutes, and performed three times over two evenings in late March 2027. A paid videographer will document the performance, providing community members with a keepsake, giving Moo’s dancers footage for future opportunities, and creating documentation for future promotion.
Contemporary dance can feel intimidating to audiences unfamiliar with the art form, who may feel they’ve “missed the point.” AboutYOU challenges that distance: when someone recognizes their own experience on stage, the work becomes an invitation into the art form rather than a barrier. By making community members co-creators, AboutYOU affirms that their experiences are worthy of being shared while demonstrating contemporary dance’s capacity to translate the complexity of human experience beginning with something everyone possesses: a life, an experience, a story, an idea.
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