Every Grain of Us: A Little More Rice, A Lot More Us

Growing the Next Chapter Through Food, Dance & Community

What can a grain of rice hold? A family memory. A cultural tradition. Hours of skilled labor. A taste of home. And the possibility of bringing people together.

Every Grain of Us began with a memory of leaving Taiwan: my family packed rice in my luggage, and my Ah-ma encouraged me to mix it into my meals so I could carry a taste of home with me. That small gesture opened a much larger inquiry into rice as nourishment, cultural memory, migration, and belonging.

Now, I'm dreaming about what comes next.

For Part Two, I want to grow this project beyond the dance studio and performance stage by inviting more local food makers, dancers, musicians, and community members into the creative process. Imagine collaborating with rice paper makers, sake makers, and other food artisans whose knowledge, labor, and creativity transform rice into something entirely new. What might happen when their processes meet choreography, live music, storytelling, and improvisation? What rhythms, gestures, flavors, and unexpected connections might emerge?

I also want to continue improvRICE, my community gathering series, as a way to listen more deeply, share stories, and build relationships with people across San Francisco. These gatherings aren't simply research for a performance; they are opportunities to learn from one another and create something together.

Your contribution will help support the next phase of research, artist collaboration, community gatherings, food partnerships, rehearsal, and the development of a new performance planned for 2027-2028.

Where Your Support Goes

Creating an independent dance performance takes time, space, collaboration, and resources. Your contribution will help cover the essential costs of developing and presenting the next chapter of Every Grain of Us.

• Website and digital presence — $1,500
  Covers two years of website fees, keeping the project accessible online and allowing audiences, collaborators, and supporters to follow its development.

• Artist compensation — $25,000
  Supports payment for the dancers, musicians, choreographic collaborators, and other participating artists who contribute their time, skills, and creative labor to the project.

• Rehearsal studio rental — $3,750
  Provides dedicated space for movement research, rehearsals, improvisation, and collaboration among artists.

• Performance venue rental — $5,000+
  Helps cover the cost of presenting the work in a space where audiences can gather and experience the performance together. The final cost will depend on venue and production needs.

Current estimated budget: $35,250+

These are the core expenses identified so far. Additional fundraising may be needed for food-making collaborations, ingredients and materials, production and technical costs, accessibility, and continued improvRICE gatherings.

Help Grow the Next Chapter

This is an invitation to help plant the next seed. Whether you connect through food, movement, music, memory, or simply your love of gathering around a table, there is room for you here.

Let's see what we can make when we bring our grains, stories, skills, and imaginations together.

Every grain carries a story. Every gathering adds something.
A Little More Rice, A Lot More Us

thank you for considering ~

warmly,
Chinchin