Equity Statements

Land Acknowledgement

A-WOL Dance Collective acknowledges that we create, gather, and move on the unceded Indigenous lands of the Portland Metro area. This region rests on traditional village sites of the Multnomah, Wasco, Cowlitz, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Bands of Chinook, Tualatin Kalapuya, and Molalla peoples, along with with over 400 other tribes who have stewarded this land since time immemorial. We recognize that colonial violence, forced removal, and systemic erasure have obscured the full history of the Nations connected to this place.

We also acknowledge Portland’s history as a relocation site under the Indian Relocation Act of 1956, which brought many Native people to this region and contributed to Multnomah County becoming home to one of the largest urban Native populations in the country. We honor the resilience and cultural continuity of Indigenous communities who continue to live and lead here.

A-WOL further recognizes that the city and institutions we occupy were built through the stolen labor and lives of Black and African people. We honor the strength, creativity, and ongoing contributions of Black communities in shaping this region (see further acknowledgement for NE Portland below).

As artists committed to “aerial without limits,” we recognize that freedom of movement has not been equally accessible to all bodies. This acknowledgment is an ongoing commitment to listen, learn, build authentic relationships, and work toward greater equity in our space and our community.

“Please take a moment to offer respect and appreciation to the Indigenous peoples whose traditional homelands and hunting grounds are where residents of Multnomah County live, learn, work, play and pray. In remembering these communities, we honor their legacy, their lives and their descendants.” (Multnomah County’s Land Acknowledgement from FY 2023 Proposed Budget)

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This acknowledgment draws from publicly shared land acknowledgment language and was compiled by a white, straight, caucasian female. We are grateful to the individuals and organizations who have developed this work before us and do not claim it as original text. If you notice inaccuracies or wish to suggest revisions, please reach out to us at director@awoldance.org. We are committed to learning and making corrections as needed.

References: Multnomah County’s Land Acknowledgement from FY 2023 Proposed Budget: https://multco.us/file/fy_2023_land_acknowledgement/download and NAYA: https://nayapdx.org/land-and-history

NE Portland Community Acknowledgement

A-WOL Dance Collective acknowledges that NE Portland was once home to a thriving, deeply connected Black community — a cultural center of family, business, art, and activism. Black communities remain here today, resilient and creative, even in the face of ongoing displacement.

Oregon was founded as a white utopian state, and the legacy of settler colonialism continues to shape this region. In Portland, that history lives on through gentrification, the criminalization of Blackness, and the forced displacement of Black families — sometimes beyond the neighborhoods they built, and even beyond the state itself.

As an arts organization rooted in this neighborhood, we recognize the twinned dehumanization of Indigenous land and Black bodies — land treated as property to be claimed, and people treated as property to be owned — in the service of U.S. expansion and empire. These histories are not separate from the spaces where we rehearse, perform, and gather.

As artists who believe in movement without limits, we know that freedom of movement has not been equally available to all. We invite our community not only to acknowledge this history, but to reflect on the personal, cultural, and structural paths that brought each of us into this space today.

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This acknowledgment draws from publicly shared land acknowledgment language and was compiled by a white, straight, caucasian female. We are grateful to the individuals and organizations who have developed this work before us and do not claim it as original text. If you notice inaccuracies or wish to suggest revisions, reach out to us at director@awoldance.org. We are committed to learning and making corrections as needed.

References: https://www.swcorridorequity.org/equity-statement-2 and https://www.imagineblack.org/our-vision

Inclusion & Access Statement

A-WOL Dance Collective believes movement belongs to everyone. We do not turn people away based on background, identity, experience level, or ability to fit a traditional mold. At A-WOL, all bodies are welcome. All stories matter. And together, through movement, we build community.

We recognize that each person enters our space carrying a unique history, culture, and lived experience. Those differences are not barriers, they are strengths. We value the way diverse backgrounds come together in shared creative practice, and we believe movement has the power to connect us across those differences.

If you are in need of financial aid, please visit our financial aid page here for additional information.

This statement was compiled by a white, straight, caucasian female. If you find yourself excluded at A-WOL, reach out to us at director@awoldance.org. We are committed to learning and making corrections to our space that no body is left behind. If you do not feel comfortable writing an email - you may also leave a note on the office desk addressed to “Director of A-WOL”.

Artist Compensation Policy

A-WOL Dance Collective is committed to paying professional artists fairly and transparently for their labor, creative contributions, rehearsal time, and performances. We recognize that artistic work is skilled professional labor and deserves compensation that reflects its value.

In response, A-WOL prioritizes compensating artists at or above prevailing local market rates whenever financially possible. Compensation includes, but is not limited to, rehearsal pay, performance stipends, teaching fees, and choreography fees. In addition to direct compensation, A-WOL currently offers eligible employees a 401(k) retirement plan with a 2% employer match. Because retirement benefits are rare in the dance sector, we view this as an important step toward long-term sustainability for artists. We are committed to expanding access to financial stability and changing the expectation that dancers must sacrifice future security to sustain their careers.

We do not ask professional artists to donate labor for funded projects or revenue-generating performances. Volunteer participation, when applicable, and hours of work, is clearly identified in advance and is never assumed.

As part of our commitment to equity, we regularly review our compensation practices to ensure they align with our values of fairness, transparency, sustainability, and artist leadership. Through our model, we work to shift power by centering dancers as leaders in their own productions and empowering women artists to direct, mentor, and define their craft.

Background for this statement: dancers themselves are a marginalized workforce within the arts sector. In Portland, dancers earn a median wage of $21.04 per hour — significantly below the local living wage of $26.84 per hour (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; Massachusetts Institute of Technology). This gap represents roughly a $12,000 annual shortfall, even assuming steady year-round employment, which rarely exists in dance. Many dancers subsidize their artistic practice with multiple additional jobs, and the field itself receives disproportionately low funding.

If you have any additional questions, please feel free to reach out to us at director@awoldance.org.

Equal Opportunity Employer

A-WOL Dance Collective is an equal opportunity organization committed to the principle of equal opportunity in education and employment. A-WOL does not discriminate against individuals on the basis of race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, age, national origin or disability in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, employment policies, scholarships, programs and activities.

If you have any additional questions, please feel free to reach out to us at director@awoldance.org.