Our Organizations In Residence Season on Governors Island has been off to a great start. Welcoming Artists from different walks of life, we’ve experienced community and connections at our Artist house.

One of those Artists, , brings a unique perspective on grief, immigration and intergenerational connections to her…

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We are delighted to have kicked off our Organizations In Residence Program on Governors Island. Back for a 2nd year, we are so excited to bring another season of programming, workshops, art exhibitions and more!

We hope you enjoy this exclusive look into what we have done on the island so far. As we work with many artis…

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We bonded quickly around Island Connections from her home in Jamaica, and ours in Hawai’i. We sought to create work w…

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As mentioned, we recently moved to a new platform to host our Membership. Members get exclusive perks such as members only events, workshop & merch discounts, free substack access and more.

We are exciting to be sharing these offerings with you as our founding substack members. We hope to see you at an event soon!

Governors Islan…

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We are excited to be bringing some meaningful events to NYC this spring, and we hope you can join us!

I ULU NO KA LĀLĀ I KE KUMU:

Growing with Our Ancestors’ Legacies

A Sharing of Mele + Hula

Join our friends at Incorpus for this FREE event in NYC.

More Info

MĀLAMA HAWAI’I

We will be presenting a solo at Mālama Hawai’i, a fundraiser event to help aid in the efforts of rebuilding after the recent Kona Low storms in Hawai’i.

Donate to RSVP

GOVERNORS ISLAND OPENING CEREMONY

We are so excited to be back on Governors Island for another year of the OiR Residency! Join us from May-November to witness Art in motion as our resident artists create work, host events and connect with community.

Open House Info

SPRING COMMUNITY WEEK

We are back with our annual Spring Community Week in NYC! Join us for a week of Hula, Oli, Community and more.

• May 30th: Queens May Day event

• May 31st: Queens Botanical Garden Ka Pā Hula O La’akea workshop + performance

• June 1st: Seed planting and vision board event

• June 2nd & 3rd Hula & Oli Workshops with Kumu `Auli`i Aweau

• June 4th: Fundraiser at People’s Forum

Full event list + tickets

Membership Migration Reminder

A reminder that we are shifting to another platform to host our membership. If you would like to become a member, you will continue to receive free substack content as a perk. A To learn more about our new membership click here:

Membership

Thank you for being a part of our community, we hope to see you at an event soon!

-Dancers Unlimited

We are happy to continue to share about our experience in Hawai’i this past February. Our annual travel program, MoveMEANT Destination, took place in Kaua’i this year. We were able to learn about the land and work with leaders in the land stewardship space. These experiences are something we do not take lightly, as…

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We are delighted to share a video snippet from our time in Hilo, Hawai’i this past February. We partnered with Bulareyaung Dance Company for many work days, community events and educational opportunities. Giving back to the land is an integral part of our creative process and we are grateful to have had many opportunities to do so and connect with local communities along the way. Enjoy these reflections from our Director, Linda Kuo.

This past February, I was able to join Bulareyaung Dance Company from Taiwan on their cultural research and exchange huaka`i to Hilo in February. I was able to share the Lonoa Honua experience with my hula sister from our sister Hālau Ka Pā Hula O La’akea. The huaka’i was guided by Kumu Kekuhi Keali’ikanakaolehaililani, Kauila Keali’ikanakaolehaililani, Lehua De Franco and Ulumauahi Keali’ikanakaolehaililani from Hālau ‘Ōhia.

The mission of Lonoa Hunua is “to connect people, places, and energies in the universe to one another through Hawaiʻi Life ways.” The ‘āina-based activities explore the concepts of “rock,” “foundation,” “slopes,” and “spirit pillars” (ahu/kiʻi), and their connections to the Indigenous Paiwan practices of rock foundations and spirit pillars in Taiwan. By employing a Mauka-to-Makai approach, we engaged with multiple ahu and recognize kiʻi both physically and spiritually. Throughout the residency, we learned mele and hula noa, including e ho mai, oli moʻokū, and o Wakea to prepare for each engagement during exchanges.

As I continue to process the energies and experiences shared in a longer form of writing (to be released later on our Substack), I’m honored to share a video made by Ulumauahi for the Hawai’i Land Trust (HILT). The video talked about the first day of our huaka’i when we went to Kūkūau Community Forest to remove invasive species such as the strawberry guava trees. We learned about how our efforts support HILT’s vision to create a native forestry sanctuary, and how the health of the mountains and upstream lands protec the health of the entire ahupua’a or land division below.

-Linda Kuo, Director and Co-Founder of Dancers Unlimited

If you are in NYC, we would love to see you at our upcoming performance of our multimedia presentation, Edible Tales: Ho’oulu. See it live at La MaMa Moves! Festival

📅APRIL 25 & 26

📍Ellen Stewart Theatre

💲$30 Adults, $25 Seniors/Students, $10 La MaMa Members

First ten tickets to every performance $10 each (limit 2 per person)

Purchase Tickets

Thank you for being apart of our community! We hope to see you at an event soon.

-Dancers Unlimited

We are excited to share our full length performance of Edible Tales: Ho’oulu with you. We hope you enjoy these perks as a committed member of the Dancers Unlimited Community.

As you know, our show is ever-changing and ever-evolving. We would love to extend the invite to our upcoming performance at La MaMa Moves! F…

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If this is your first time receiving this letter, welcome. You are here because you have been a supporter of Dancers Unlimited through events, donations or volunteering. We hope you enjoy a peak behind the scenes of our process and can find meaningful connections through the sharing of our work.

Today’s share is a …

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Leading up to 2025, we knew it was going to be a whirl wind of a year. In December we went to Bahia, Salvador, Brazil where we had this call to home, call to ground, call to root experience that was the perfect kick start to our anticipated, long-awaited journey of abundant opportunity. Brazil pushed us outside of our comfort zone in many ways, I am so …

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If its your first time receiving our Substack letter, welcome. You are here because you have contributed to campaign via donation, support or volunteering! As a thank you for your support, enjoy exclusive access to our Substack and witness behind the scenes moments, invitations to exclusive events and more.

This mon…

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Welcome to this month’s monthly letter. If you made a donation to our recent campaign or attended our NYC Gala, you have officially been enrolled in our exclusive membership. Your support means the world to us, and as a community centered company, you are very much a part of our creative process. Enjoy Monthly drops…

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We are excited to share this month’s #members-only drops, invitations, and opportunities—all curated for our circle of supporters. Thank you, as always, for being part of the Dancers Unlimited family.

🎥 Performance Premiere: Full Live Painting + Dance Video

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We’re excited to share some big news with you!

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When I was in high school in Hawai‘i, I participated in a workshop with National Dance Week Hawaii - We got the opportunity to work with choreographer Autumn Dones and work through a collaborative process to create a video. At the time, I had no idea who was behind it. I just remember the energy, the encouragement, and the sense of belonging that filled the room.

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In the native Hawaiian culture, the sacred term mana is known as spiritual energy of power and strength. It's possible for mana to be present in objects and people. We celebrate and honor the ʻĀina (land) and all of its beings being connected as one.

As the median housing price reach a whopping $1 million this year, and over-tourism poses threat to our natural resources, it is our kuleana (responsibility) to recommit to creating & participating in community-centered projects that amplifies the voices of the people of Hawai’i, specifically Kanaka Maoli.

Mahalo to Kaleo Ten & our Kumu ‘Auli’i Aweau-Teves (both in this video) for always showing us the way, and pushing us to be better.

Dancers: Jesha Taclas Kaleo Ten Keala Fung Kamalei Aweau Moani Hara Tiani Sojot Kumu Hula: ‘Auli’i Aweau-Teves

Choreographers: Liz Piccoli (Choreographer) Linda Kuo (Artistic Director/Choreographer)

Music: Patrick Lam Richard Lam

Partner: Loading Zone Hawai’i

MUA/Hair: Kecia Littman

Essence of Hawaii is a production that showcases contemporary arts, fashion, music, and dance of Hawaii. Based on natural elements (fire, water, and earth), EOH brings to life the old legends and new transformations of a modern Hawaii. The production is a traveling collaboration that is ever-transforming, always bringing on board new creative additions to the show.

Length: 20 minutes (reception, interactive) ~ 120 minutes (DJ, dance and body-painting)

Before diving into this month’s session, here’s a bit of background for new and returning members: MoveMEANT Sessions are a monthly series co-presented by Dancers Unlimited in partnership with La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club. Each session is guided by a guest facilitator and designed as a space for dancers and movers to explore social justice themes through intentional movement, discussion, and creative prompts. This year, our overarching theme is “Banned Books”—every month, the facilitator selects a banned or challenged book as the focal point, weaving its ideas into the session’s activities and conversations. For this session, we were led by Angie Miller, whose thoughtful facilitation brought fresh insight and energy to our exploration.

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“Water is a connector of the present, past, and future. It holds memories of our ancestors and nourishes lives as it cycles through its forms. Water activates a part of our Souls that remember our connections with the land, each other and ourselves.

From the Oceans to the Sky we are all connected by the Waters of Life”

-Linda Kuo

Choreography: Linda Kuo

Cinematography: Kenneth Sousie

Dancers: Candice Taylor, Kareem Woods, and Hara Zi

Music: AirFamily