Facilitator: Litsie MOnier
DJ: CRT
Book: A HandMaid’s Tale

Weʻve teamed up with La Mama Experimental Theater Club for another year of monthly MoveMEANT sessions!

Join us to explore enriching storytelling through freestyle movement and open discussion. Each month, a different spotlight artist/facilitator will share their creative processes that combine freestyle techniques to shift perspectives. This year we are taking it a step further, incorporating discussion and exploration surrounding banned books. Each session we will choice a book to dive into and explore, create moveMEANT narratives about. These books are part of our history, part of our culture, tools for our future so it’s important to us that they continue to be read and uplifted.

This is a space curated for healing, exploration, and learning - for movers from all different disciplines who are looking to find or refine their artistic voices. We will jam, discover, and share with one another, cultivating unbreakable connections in our practices and community.

Each session includes:
75 minutes of guided freestyle / improvisation exploration +
75 minutes of open style session with a live DJ- a space for each participant to explore storytelling through freestyle movement.

Fee: $10 pre-registration; $20 at the door 

Celebrate PRIDE with us and cultivate a space for dreams, nourishment, and healing.

Featured artists from Pacific Islands: Dan Taulapapa McMullin (Samoa) and Reuben Paterson (Auckland, New Zealand).

More artists in gallery: Claire Unabia & Matthew James (O`ahu / Brooklyn), Sonja John, Tommy Hite (O`ahu), and Paula Walters Parker (Kingston, Jamaica / Brooklyn).

Donation-based workshops include “Braiding Intimacies”- a forever-lei making and genealogical movement workshop with Dancers Unlimited’s director Linda Kuo, traditional Filipinx tattoo drawing with visiting artists from Plush Tattoo (O`ahu / Portland), and Pilates Mat with Dancers Unlimitedʻs company manager, Lian Kizner.

The special donation-based workshops help contribute to our fundraiser to bridge the funding gap for our Governors Island programs due to the recent federal funding cut.

Featured Monthly Partners: Pacific Island Film Festival & Talk Story Collective

Schedule of the day

11am House Opens
12:30pm-2:00pm / Braiding Intimacies / Facilitator: Linda Kuo
4:00pm-6:00pm / Private hours for members & funders / Facilitator: Linda Kuo

Location: Colonels Row 405B, Governors Island NYC

Plan Your Trip

Governors Island is accessible by ferry daily year-round.

• From Manhattan: Ferries operated by the Trust for Governors Island run daily from the Battery Maritime Building, located at 10 South Street in Lower Manhattan. Scroll down for schedules and click the green "Purchase tickets" button to purchase tickets.

• From Brooklyn: Seasonal ferries operated by the Trust for Governors Island run Saturdays, Sundays, and Holiday Mondays from May 24 to September 14, 2025, from two Brooklyn locations: Pier 6 in Brooklyn Bridge Park and Red Hook/Atlantic Basin. Scroll down for schedules and click the green "Purchase tickets" button to purchase tickets.

Celebrate PRIDE with us and cultivate a space for dreams, nourishment, and healing.

Featured artists from Pacific Islands: Dan Taulapapa McMullin (Samoa) and Reuben Paterson (Auckland, New Zealand).

More artists in gallery: Claire Unabia & Matthew James (O`ahu / Brooklyn), Sonja John, Tommy Hite (O`ahu), and Paula Walters Parker (Kingston, Jamaica / Brooklyn).

Donation-based workshops include “Braiding Intimacies”- a forever-lei making and genealogical movement workshop with Dancers Unlimited’s director Linda Kuo, traditional Filipinx tattoo drawing with visiting artists from Plush Tattoo (O`ahu / Portland), and Pilates Mat with Dancers Unlimitedʻs company manager, Lian Kizner.

The special donation-based workshops help contribute to our fundraiser to bridge the funding gap for our Governors Island programs due to the recent federal funding cut.

Featured Monthly Partners: Pacific Island Film Festival & Talk Story Collective

Schedule of the day

11am House Opens
12:30pm-2:00pm / Braiding Intimacies / Facilitator: Linda Kuo
2:30pm-3:15pm / Traditional Filipinx Tattoo Drawing Workshop / Facilitator: Plush Tattoo
3:15pm-4:00pm / Mat Pilates / Facilitator: Lian Kizner
4:00pm-5:00pm / Poetry Workshop / Facilitator: Dan Taulapapa McMullin
5:00pm-7:30pm / Outdoor picnic, Kanikapila Performances
7:30pm / Film Screening / Host: Pacific Island Film Festival NY

Location: Colonels Row 405B, Governors Island NYC

Plan Your Trip

Governors Island is accessible by ferry daily year-round.

• From Manhattan: Ferries operated by the Trust for Governors Island run daily from the Battery Maritime Building, located at 10 South Street in Lower Manhattan. Scroll down for schedules and click the green "Purchase tickets" button to purchase tickets.

• From Brooklyn: Seasonal ferries operated by the Trust for Governors Island run Saturdays, Sundays, and Holiday Mondays from May 24 to September 14, 2025, from two Brooklyn locations: Pier 6 in Brooklyn Bridge Park and Red Hook/Atlantic Basin. Scroll down for schedules and click the green "Purchase tickets" button to purchase tickets.

Facilitator: Angela miller
DJ: TBA
Book: TBA

Weʻve teamed up with La Mama Experimental Theater Club for another year of monthly MoveMEANT sessions!

Join us to explore enriching storytelling through freestyle movement and open discussion. Each month, a different spotlight artist/facilitator will share their creative processes that combine freestyle techniques to shift perspectives. This year we are taking it a step further, incorporating discussion and exploration surrounding banned books. Each session we will choice a book to dive into and explore, create moveMEANT narratives about. These books are part of our history, part of our culture, tools for our future so it’s important to us that they continue to be read and uplifted.

This is a space curated for healing, exploration, and learning - for movers from all different disciplines who are looking to find or refine their artistic voices. We will jam, discover, and share with one another, cultivating unbreakable connections in our practices and community.

Each session includes:
75 minutes of guided freestyle / improvisation exploration +
75 minutes of open style session with a live DJ- a space for each participant to explore storytelling through freestyle movement.

Fee: $10 pre-registration; $20 at the door 

Join Kumu Hula ʻAuliʻi Aweau-Teves and Ka Pā Hula O Laʻakea and take a journey to Hawaiʻi through Hula. The performance will reflect personal/collective healing, Hawaiian history, storytelling, genealogy, traditional/contemporary hula, and oli (chanting).

A kanaka Hawaiian born and raised in Hawai’i, Kumu ‘Auli’i Aweau-Teves grew up studying the Hula as a tool for cultural resilience and personal awakening. She combines her background in substance abuse counseling with Hawaiian cultural practices to address generational and personal trauma. ‘Auli’i is the Founder and Kumu of Ka Pā Hula O Laʻakea, a Hula school that promotes collective healing through Hula. Established in January of 2013, her initial vision was to create a culturally-based women and childrenʻs support group on Oʻahu that focused on healing through hula. Over the years, that vision would grow and expand to reach neighbor islands, the Continental US and include numerous collaboration efforts with other kumu hula and cultural practitioners.

Performance included in the Queens Botanic Garden Entry fee: $3.05 - $7.29 (including fees).

GET TICKETS

Facilitator: Candice Taylor
DJ: Kingsley Ibeneche
Book: Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye

Weʻve teamed up with La Mama Experimental Theater Club for another year of monthly MoveMEANT sessions!

Join us to explore enriching storytelling through freestyle movement and open discussion. Each month, a different spotlight artist/facilitator will share their creative processes that combine freestyle techniques to shift perspectives. This year we are taking it a step further, incorporating discussion and exploration surrounding banned books. Each session we will choice a book to dive into and explore, create moveMEANT narratives about. These books are part of our history, part of our culture, tools for our future so it’s important to us that they continue to be read and uplifted.

This is a space curated for healing, exploration, and learning - for movers from all different disciplines who are looking to find or refine their artistic voices. We will jam, discover, and share with one another, cultivating unbreakable connections in our practices and community.

Each session includes:
75 minutes of guided freestyle / improvisation exploration +
75 minutes of open style session with a live DJ- a space for each participant to explore storytelling through freestyle movement.

Fee: $10 pre-registration; $20 at the door 

Join us for our fundraiser at the HeART festival by Downtown Art Center on April 12th! Dance with us for as long as you want, from joining a dance class, boogie-down in line dances, or showing us what you got at the freestyle cypher. Bring your fabulous self and your ‘Ohana to the art festival! Want extra cool points? Get a team together and dress up to rep your style!

Entry: $10 per hour / $40 for all 5 hours *per person. Each participant must register separately.

Donations are 100% tax deductible. All participants receive a free pass to attend a summer open rehearsal, and a free month of DU Mobile app membership.

Learn more about HeART Festival!

Weʻve teamed up with La Mama Experimental Theater Club for another year of monthly MoveMEANT sessions!

Join us to explore enriching storytelling through freestyle movement and open discussion. Each month, a different spotlight artist/facilitator will share their creative processes that combine freestyle techniques to shift perspectives. This year we are taking it a step further, incorporating discussion and exploration surrounding banned books. Each session we will choice a book to dive into and explore, create moveMEANT narratives about. These books are part of our history, part of our culture, tools for our future so it’s important to us that they continue to be read and uplifted.

This is a space curated for healing, exploration, and learning - for movers from all different disciplines who are looking to find or refine their artistic voices. We will jam, discover, and share with one another, cultivating unbreakable connections in our practices and community.

Each session includes:
75 minutes of guided freestyle / improvisation exploration +
75 minutes of open style session with a live DJ- a space for each participant to explore storytelling through freestyle movement.

Fee: $10 pre-registration; $20 at the door 

WEʻVE TEAMED UP WITH LA MAMA EXPERIMENTAL THEATER CLUB FOR MONTHLY FREESTYLE STORYTELLING SESSIONS!

Join us to explore enriching storytelling through freestyle movement. Each month this fall, a different spotlight artist/facilitator will share their creative processes that combine freestyle techniques to shift perspectives.

This is a space curated for healing, exploration, and learning - for movers from all different disciplines who are looking to find or refine their artistic voices. We will jam, discover, and share with one another, cultivating unbreakable connections in our practices and community.

November 14
47 Great Jones 
7 - 10p

Youʻre Invited To Rest & Celebrate With Us!

For the past 15 years, Dancers Unlimited has centered community engagement as a key part of our mission-driven creative process. We are returning dance to its rightful place in healing, collaboration and community building. Authentic moveMEANT storytelling connects us to our roots and identities - we collaboratively move in our healing journeys toward reconnecting with ancestral knowledge and collective growth.

DU IS COMMUNITY.
DU IS IDENTITY.
DU IS RESILIENCE.
DU IS WHERE YOUR STORY MATTERS.

La Nacional, 239 W 14th St, New York, NY 10011

October 27, 2024

6p - 8p
Doors open at 5:30p

The evening features:

immersive activities and performances

hors d'oeuvres

Unlimited sangria & Spanish beer

Community Honoree: Akemi Kochiyama

Anniversary cake candle-lighting celebration

WEʻVE TEAMED UP WITH LA MAMA EXPERIMENTAL THEATER CLUB FOR MONTHLY FREESTYLE STORYTELLING SESSIONS!

Join us to explore enriching storytelling through freestyle movement. Each month this fall, a different spotlight artist/facilitator will share their creative processes that combine freestyle techniques to shift perspectives.

This is a space curated for healing, exploration, and learning - for movers from all different disciplines who are looking to find or refine their artistic voices. We will jam, discover, and share with one another, cultivating unbreakable connections in our practices and community.

October 10
Facilitator: Tatiana Desardouin
47 Great Jones 
7 - 10p

Upcoming Dates
November 14

Join us for another Open Sunday at Brooklyn Grange Rooftop Farm where Dancers Unlimited will be having a thrift shop donation drive. Make a donation to our campaign and pick your items. This is part of our monthly Edible Tales: MoveMEANT explorations where sustainability and healing are focused. Donʻt forget to check out the open farm and many monthly vendors from the Brooklyn Community!

September 29

Time: Workshop at 12p - 1:30p, Space open 10am - 3pm
Location: Brooklyn Grange Rooftop (Sunset Park), 850 Third Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11232
Facilitators: Linda Kuo & Candice Taylor

Donate to our campaign $20 for 5 items, $40 for 10 items

Edible Tales: The Return is supported by Brooklyn Arts Councilʻs Local Arts Support and Brooklyn Art Fund grants. 

WEʻVE TEAMED UP WITH LA MAMA EXPERIMENTAL THEATER CLUB FOR MONTHLY FREESTYLE STORYTELLING SESSIONS!

Join us to explore enriching storytelling through freestyle movement. Each month this fall, a different spotlight artist/facilitator will share their creative processes that combine freestyle techniques to shift perspectives.

This is a space curated for healing, exploration, and learning - for movers from all different disciplines who are looking to find or refine their artistic voices. We will jam, discover, and share with one another, cultivating unbreakable connections in our practices and community.

September 12
Facilitator: Jungle
47 Great Jones 
7 - 10p
$10 Pre-registration

Upcoming Dates
October 10
November 14

Inspired by Tricia Hersey’s Nap Ministry, we will explore rest as an act of liberation. Join us at Brooklyn Grange to create restorative movement practices that serve in our collective liberation.

This is part of our monthly Edible Tales: MoveMEANT explorations where sustainability and healing are focused. Donʻt forget to check out the open farm and many monthly vendors from the Brooklyn Community!

August 25th

Time: Workshop at 12p - 1:30p, Space open 10am - 3pm
Location: Brooklyn Grange Rooftop (Sunset Park), 850 Third Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11232
Facilitators: Linda Kuo & Candice Taylor
Price: FREE w/ RSVP

Upcoming Dates

September 25
October 20

Edible Tales: The Return is supported by Brooklyn Arts Councilʻs Local Arts Support and Brooklyn Art Fund grants. 

Weʻre back for another amazing summer collaboration with Brooklyn Grange! Join us on the rooftop overlooking Manhattan skylines for monthly moveMEANT explorations, conversations and community-building. We will dive deeper into Edible Tales: The Return, where sustainability and healing are focused. Donʻt forget to check out the open farm and many monthly vendors from the Brooklyn Community. 

June 30th: PRIDE
July 28th: ASL signing & movement creation
August 25th: Black August
Sept 29th: Climate Regeneration
October 20th: Fall Fest

All events are 10-3pm, DU is featured 12-3pm at Brooklyn Grange @ Sunset Park
850 Third Avenue,
Brooklyn, NY, 11232

July 28th
We will explore using a combination of ASL and movement to uplift our stories centering our favorite foods and the ingredients that connect us to our culture. 

Edible Tales: The Return is supported by Brooklyn Arts Councilʻs Local Arts Support and Brooklyn Art Fund grants. 

Weʻre back for another amazing summer collaboration with Brooklyn Grange! Join us on the rooftop overlooking Manhattan skylines for monthly moveMEANT explorations, conversations and community-building. We will dive deeper into Edible Tales: The Return, where sustainability and healing are focused. Donʻt forget to check out the open farm and many monthly vendors from the Brooklyn Community. 

June 30th: PRIDE
July 28th: ASL signing & movement creation
August 25th: Black August
Sept 29th: Climate Regeneration
October 20th: Fall Fest

All events are 10-3pm, DU is featured 12-3pm at Brooklyn Grange @ Sunset Park
850 Third Avenue,
Brooklyn, NY, 11232

June 30th

In celebration of Pride Month we will be showing Hawaiian two spirit short films, one being “Kapaemahu”. It is a Hawaiian story celebrating the two spirits who made a great impact on the island and the people.

Long ago, four extraordinary individuals of dual male and female spirit brought the healing arts from Tahiti to Hawaii. The name of their leader was Kapaemahu. Beloved by the people for their gentle ways and miraculous cures, they imbued four giant boulders with their powers. The stones still stand on what is now Waikiki Beach, but the true story behind them has been hidden - until now. 

Edible Tales: The Return is supported by Brooklyn Arts Councilʻs Local Arts Support and Brooklyn Art Fund grants. 

WEʻVE TEAMED UP WITH LA MAMA EXPERIMENTAL THEATER CLUB FOR MONTHLY FREESTYLE STORYTELLING SESSIONS!

Join us to explore enriching storytelling through freestyle movement. Each month this spring and fall, a different spotlight artist/facilitator will share their creative processes that combine freestyle techniques to shift perspectives.

This is a space curated for healing, exploration, and learning - for movers from all different disciplines who are looking to find or refine their artistic voices. We will jam, discover, and share with one another, cultivating unbreakable connections in our practices and community.

An artist from the sessions will be selected to create work with Dancers Unlimited for our 15th Anniversary Season this Fall, including a weeklong paid residency at La Mama.

DATES/TIMES:

Every 2nd Thursday of the month

MARCH 14 - 7-10p

Facilitator: Cocomotion

DJ/Music: Kingsley Ibeneche

APRIL 11 - 7-10p

Facilitator: Quilan (Cue)

DJ/Music: Kingsley Ibeneche

MAY 9 - 7-10p

Facilitator: Candice Taylor

DJ/Music: DJ PhoolishRoc

JUNE 13 - 7-10p

Facilitator: Klassic

DJ/Music: DJ PhoolishRoc

FEE: $10 each pre-registration; $20 at the door

September, October, November dates TBA

As a part of our Festival of Pacific Arts & Culture (FestPAC) Offering, weʻre excited to present a collaborative open rehearsal with Bulareyaung Dance Company (BDC) for an inter-cultural experience, sharing our creative processes that are rooted in our island homes.

BDC was founded in 2015 in Taitung by Bulareyaung Pagarlava, an indigenous choreographer from the Paiwan tribe in Taiwan. Creation of dance pieces and dancer training are accomplished by working in the mountains and singing old chants by the waterside. Dancers develop unique body movements and vocabulary by delving into their indigenous heritage and culture through regular field trips. 

Since its founding, the company has presented several productions, including La Song (2015), Qaciljay (2016), Colors (2016), Stay That Way (2017), Luna (2018), #Yes or No (2019), Not Afraid of the Sun and Rain (2021), Rustling, Whirring (2022), and tiaen tiamen Episode 1(2023). Stay That Way won the Taishin Performing Arts Award in 2017, and Luna further won the coveted Taishin Arts Award Annual Grand Prize in 2018. It is the first performing troupe to be awarded in two consecutive years. The Company has been invited to various performances, and has also toured to Canada, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, Australia, Beijing, and Hong Kong.

NO DANCE EXPERIENCE REQUIRED. ALL AGES WELCOME. Traditional arts & cultural practitioners, and ʻĀina workers are warmly welcomed.

$: Please donate directly to Lāhainā Strong or Nā ʻĀinkane O Maui to support continued relief and rebuilding effort for Maui fire victims - present your donation receipt to check-into the open rehearsal.