Season 11 - Outside Voices

Monkeyhouse, an award winning nonprofit that connects communities to choreography, needs YOU to take us all the way to eleven.

Against all kinds of odds, we have survived since September of 2000 on brash ingenuity and a shoestring thanks to the amazing support of donors, volunteers, and dancers. But, if YOU want us to continue to counteract society’s sedentary tendencies and get communities moving with meaning, YOU need to invest in our double long season of 2011-2013 celebrating Outside Voices. Please donate now to help us raise $25,000 this fall to launch this ambitious season. (We have already raised $2100!)

Your support is critical to our success. Monkeyhouse’s programs defy easy categorization and therefore we must rely on visionary donors to bring them to fruition. For example, consider these highlights from the last year:

• Æ, our collaboratively created site-specific piece for Dance in the Fells, lured hundreds of people up the steep path to Wright’s Tower in Medford, MA. We were so honored when Dance in the Fells was awarded a Gold Star from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
• Moving for Meaning, an afterschool program for kids at the Healey School in Somerville, sprang out of a conversation after the first Somerville-Tiznit Sister City trip. Our Somerville students, most of whom do not speak English as a first language, are gaining public speaking skills, acquiring a better grasp of English grammar, connecting to students in Morocco and exercising.
• Against the Odds: Stories of Adaptation, Interpretation and Survival, Monkeyhouse's first mini-festival, gathered together over 40 artists over the course of 4 weeks to examine the intersection between sculpture, stage combat, body percussion, puppetry, architecture, and choreography. Months later, people still contact us to bounce around ideas for new pieces or to share stories about how Against the Odds nudged them to explore their world differently.

By donating to Monkeyhouse today, YOU will be an early investor in our next two seasons.  After evaluating the first decade, we have realized that we can accomplish more by taking the long term view of our organization and activities.  As we delve into the theme of Outside Voices, Monkeyhouse will be inviting other Boston based artists to set work on the company, introducing blog readers to choreographers/dance styles from around the globe, and expanding Moving for Meaning to incorporate deaf students in Morocco and possibly a Passamaquoddy school in Maine.

YOU can usher dance activities to the streets of suburbs and cities, provide mentoring for artists, and encourage economically challenged children to excel.

YOU will be at the center of the conversation about how choreography can be used to solve problems in communities, fill the gap between languages, and overcome challenging medical conditions. 

This extraordinary season is all about YOU and we are grateful for that – thank you for being a part of our journey.

With endless gratitude,
Karen Krolak
Monkeyhouse Founder/Artistic Director