Wingbeat Movement Arts Startup Costs

Thank you for donating to the startup costs for Wingbeat Movement Arts!

Wingbeat Movement Arts is a multidisciplinary dance company expanding the horizons of the San Diego dance community. With exquisite artists from a variety of backgrounds, and values firmly rooted in collective liberation, Wingbeat will provide performances and community education in aerial dance, modern dance, improvisation, and the creative process.

Wingbeat intends to inspire wonder and curiosity in our community so that imaginations take flight and expand our collective understanding of what we are capable of in our bodies, communities, and environments. The mission is to provide venues for our community to explore the creative process and experience the magic of modern dance, aerial dance, improvisational dance, and embodied movement studies, through performances and community education.

My name is Kiona Daelyn and I am the founder and Artistic Director of Wingbeat. It has been my life's dream to start an aerial dance company. Now with years of experience as a performer, choreographer, and arts administrator, it is time to make that dream a reality and fill a void in the San Diego arts scene. Every time I travel to work with aerial dancers in other cities they are surprised to learn that while San Diego has many dance companies and a handful of circus companies, there is no home here for aerial dance. For a few years, Astraeus Aerial Dance Theatre filled that niche and I treasure my time with that company. Times changed and the pandemic along with changing career paths of the artistic director and other founding members resulted in Astraeus disbanding in 2020. It is time to bring aerial dance back to San Diego. This time with a distinctly modern dance flavor inspired by some of my greatest teachers and mentors including Anne Bunker and the late Manfred Fischbeck.

Getting a dance company up and running requires a lot of work, dedication, and some funding! The initial fundraising goal was $5000. This paid for basic startup costs including website, branding, software, filing fees as we work toward gaining nonprofit status, and the aerial equipment needed to be able to start company classes. We are now into the next phase. We have dancers, we're setup in the rehearsal space, and all of the initial filings have been made. Wingbeat is now in a critical moment where we must start producing work, and yet we are not eligible for most grants until the IRS application is approved, which can take many months. Now, more than ever, we need the financial support of community to help us take off and soar!

We are lucky to be supported by a local dance studio, Center Stage School of Dance, which is graciously donating space for our rehearsals on an ongoing basis. This is an especially amazing gift as their studio not only has beautiful sprung floors for dancing but is also rigged for aerial apparatus; this is a unique combination in San Diego County. This donation has eliminated a huge financial burden most dance companies cannot avoid when renting space, allowing Wingbeat to focus financially on our startup costs and the securing of ongoing donations and grants to pay production fees, operating costs, and most importantly to pay all of the Wingbeat movement artists a fair wage.

Among the foundational values of this organization is the tenet that artwork is real and valuable work that deserves a living wage. Like so many dancers, I have been underpaid for nearly every dance job I've had. It is my goal to make sure that Wingbeat sets an example for what is possible when we prioritize not just the artistry of dancers, but their value as whole human beings who have whole human lives. To learn more about the values of Wingbeat as an organization please visit our website (which is still very much under construction) at https://www.wingbeat.org

Thank you again for your generous support of this project. Stay tuned for updates and please share far and wide. We look forward to flying with you!