Exit12 in Missoula, Montana

Final Report: Exit12 Dance Company, Missoula, Montana Tour

Overview
Exit12 Dance Company completed a deeply impactful and community-centered artistic residency and performance tour in Missoula, Montana, presented in partnership with Westside Theater, Red Willow, and Rocky Mountain Ballet Theater. Rooted in our mission to use dance to spark dialogue about war, peace, and shared humanity, this residency brought together veterans, service members, military families, Indigenous community members, students, local artists, and Missoula residents for a transformative week of movement, storytelling, and performance.

Workshops & Community Engagement
Across our time in Missoula, Exit12 engaged with over 100 members of the military community, including veterans, family members, first responders, and supporters. Through movement and storytelling workshops, we offered military-connected participants an opportunity to explore their experiences of service, transition, identity, and homecoming through a creative and embodied practice.

We also taught three classes at the University of Montana, working with students across dance and performance studies to introduce them to Exit12’s approach to narrative, embodiment, and socially engaged artmaking.  Many of the students in Creative Practice were pre-creative therapy minors and our methodology resonated deeply with their studies. We also led a class in Dance History, talking about artists that have approached conflict, reparation, and social justice historically. Additionally, a community-wide workshop at the Westside Theater invited Missoula residents, regardless of experience, to participate in our practice of using movement as a platform for connection and expression.

Throughout the residency, Indigenous community members and local veterans worked directly with Exit12’s dancers inside the creative process, shaping material that ultimately became part of the performances. Their contributions brought local authenticity, cultural resonance, and lived experience that expanded the artistic depth of the work.

Performances & Creative Collaboration
The residency culminated in four performances at the Westside Theater, featuring Exit12’s professional dancers alongside local veterans, Indigenous participants, and two local Missoula dancers. Nearly 200 audience members attended these performances.

The program explored themes of conflict, homecoming, democracy, humanity, and the complexities of community, offering audiences an intimate, emotional, and thought-provoking look at the stories carried home from war. The presence of community participants onstage created a powerful shared space where lived experience and professional artistry intersected to illuminate the universal and deeply personal dimensions of service.

One story that resonated deeply with audience members was a story Román shared about the Purple-finger Elections in Iraq in 2005. “To vote, citizens dipped their fingers into purple ink — a mark meant to prevent fraud, but also a mark of courage.

Our small unit was stationed out of Fallujah, tasked with keeping the elections safe. Insurgents were threatening violence to stop the vote.

And yet they came. One by one, Iraqis lined up. They risked everything just to dip a finger in ink. When they held up those purple fingers, it wasn’t just proof of a vote — it was a declaration: We choose hope over fear. We choose our future.”

The story was amplified by a dance created in just three days in Missoula with the local community titled Becoming Wind. “Because democracy, anywhere, is fragile. “And Democracy too is like the wind, felt by all, shaped by none of us alone, its power sustained only by the constant motion of every one of our voices. And it takes all of us, every day, to protect it.”

One audience member had attended the No Kings protest in Missoula the day before and shared in the talkback that from now on when she attends similar events, she will paint her fingers purple.

More audience feedback reflected the emotional weight and resonance of the performances, with many expressing gratitude for the vulnerability, collaboration, and truth shared onstage.

Impact

• Over 100 military-connected individuals reached through workshops, classes, and engagement

• Nearly 200 audience members attended the four performances

• Creative inclusion of local veterans, Indigenous community members, and local dancers in the performance work

• Three classes taught at the University of Montana, expanding awareness of veteran-centered creative practice among students and faculty

• Increased local visibility for arts-based approaches to healing, storytelling, and community connection.

This residency demonstrated once again that when veterans, artists, and community members create together, a powerful collective story emerges, one that bridges differences and uplifts shared humanity.

Conclusion
Exit12’s Missoula tour fulfilled the vision set forth in our pre-residency goals: to invite veterans, service members, military families, and Indigenous participants into a collaborative artistic process that honors resilience, identity, and the stories of war and homecoming. The partnership with Missoula organizations created a strong foundation for connection, and the community responded with openness, courage, and creative spirit.

We leave Missoula grateful, inspired, and ready to build on the relationships formed under the Big Sky.