About MOVO

MOVO is a studio space and a slow-growing ecology for dance and movement practice in the Twin Cities. We hold space for experimental artists — especially queer, trans, disabled, and BIPOC artists — whose work lives outside the dominant forms and norms of dance.

MOVO is not an organization. It’s just us — Valerie Oliveiro and Morgan Thorson — two artists working together to keep a space going. We share rent, tend to the studio, and make room for others to do the same. We offer what we can: a floor, a little time, a sense of continuity. What we build is low to the ground — held up by trust, conversation, and mutual care.

We believe dance and movement are more than performance. They’re ways of surviving, healing, connecting — radical tools for being in relationship. We hold space for the full process, and everything that comes with it. Artists have used MOVO for meetings, therapy, bodywork, hosting, activism, writing, teaching, building, and rehearsal. No one here is measuring progress or judging the work.

Our studio is in the Ivy Building for the Arts in Seward, Minneapolis. It’s a raw space with wood floors and big windows. There’s no front desk, no admin office, no overhead beyond the actual overhead. Next door is a yoga studio, and that proximity shapes MOVO’s character — it’s a place for quiet, low-impact, intentional practice. Not a good fit for loud or amplified work.

People come through and leave their imprint. They water the plants, sweep the floor, clean the fridge, do their dishes, fix the lamp, pass the key. That shared maintenance is part of the work. Our offerings grow from what artists tell us they need. Nothing here is standardized. Everything is in process.

We believe in slowness, reciprocity, and repair. We’re not trying to scale. We’re just trying to keep the lights on for the artists who need this place and who make it what it is.

We’re not a business model — we’re a practice. In a world that asks you to scale up and do more, MOVO is a place to practice.

About the Space

MOVO lives in a raw studio with wood floors, high ceilings, and soft light, inside the Ivy Building for the Arts in the Seward neighborhood of Minneapolis. The main space is 51′ x 30′, and the auxiliary space is approximately 35′ x 50′. Together, they support a range of creative needs: reading, yoga, therapy, bodywork, hosting, activism, writing, teaching, sharing, building, and rehearsal.

There’s no front desk, no institutional infrastructure. The studio stays simple so that practices can shape it. Arrivals, departures, cleaning, tending, leaving notes, lending equipment, trading stories—these quiet acts of care are part of how MOVO stays alive.

With a yoga studio next door, the atmosphere leans toward slowness, softness, and shared respect. This is not a space for loud or amplified work. It’s well suited to solo or small group practice, research, dreaming, restoring, and laying on the floor.

The space is accessible by elevator and includes gender-inclusive restrooms. Rentals are offered on a sliding scale ($18–$30 per hour), and we prioritize access for queer, trans, BIPOC, and disabled artists. Everyone who uses MOVO contributes to its care — physically, relationally, and ethically.