A Conversation With eXit SPACE’s Marlo Martin

By Madison Huizinga, DWC Blog Editor

People feel comfortable within their comfort zones. Here in the Seattle dance scene, it’s natural to flock to micro-communities of people who have similar interests as you. Nonetheless, such divisions can foster a competitive atmosphere in a world where dancers increasingly need the support of each other. Marlo Martin, artistic director of eXit SPACE, is interested in disrupting this dominant script, uplifting dancers, and fostering cross-community collaboration through her work at eXit SPACE.

Marlo’s dance journey began around age five in a ballet/tap class at Diane’s School of Dance in her hometown of Fruitport, Michigan. She fell in love with dance, continuing training throughout elementary school and high school. Following high school, she attended a community college for two years before transferring to a university, which allowed her some wiggle room to figure out what career path she wanted to pursue. “I never thought about dance in college because I just didn’t think I had the talent to do it,” she admits. Coming from a smaller, recreational-focused studio, she thought that a dance major wasn’t aimed at a person like her. While it took some convincing, Marlo’s best friend Kim persuaded her to audition for some college dance programs with her.

“I auditioned for Western Michigan University,” Marlo shares, which had an incredibly robust dance and theater department. Unfortunately, after high school, Marlo got extremely sick and was hospitalized for a long period. After she recovered and became healthier, she attended Western Michigan University. “That’s really what changed everything for me,” Marlo says of her college experience influencing her career path. “It was such a strong program.”

She went through the process of applying for a BFA at Western Michigan, undergoing a rigorous series of interviews in addition to her studies. Marlo wasn’t accepted into the BFA program at first, being told that her technical skills were not advanced enough. So, she begrudgingly added more ballet classes to her repertoire to help supplement her technique. Marlo ended up getting accepted into the BFA program the following semester. “The program was amazing,” she says. “They set me up for success in a really fundamental way.” Within her department, emphasis was placed on cultivating community and raising peers up, rather than viewing them as competition, philosophies that Marlo carries into her work today. She’s honored to be receiving a Distinguished Alumni recognition at Western Michigan University this year.

“Marlo Martin, artistic director of eXit SPACE, is interested in disrupting this dominant script, uplifting dancers, and fostering cross-community collaboration through her work at eXit SPACE.”

Following college, Marlo quickly got engaged, married, and moved across the country to Seattle for her ex-husband’s job. She assumed that she would be able to find work in Seattle, as it’s a large city. However, as Marlo points out, “Seattle 18 years ago was not Seattle today.” “I got here and I freaked out a little bit,” she shares, as there were fewer dance opportunities than New York and Chicago, cities she had danced in before. She especially noticed a lack of jazz classes, a genre she had specialized in growing up. “Dance in Seattle and what defined it was limiting,” Marlo says.

She managed to take some classes here and there, mainly at Spectrum Dance Theater and Velocity Dance Center. She also taught all over the Seattle area, eventually meeting Veronica Lee, a Cornish graduate, and talented choreographer. The two grew close, spending time together in and out of the studio. Eventually, Veronica proposed that she and Marlo open up a studio together. Six weeks later, after deliberating and reading the book Six Week Start-Up by Rhonda Abrams, eXit SPACE was born.

The dance school began with one room in Green Lake 17 years ago, with a dozen kids and 40 adults across its various programs. “I remember every time we’d sell a class card, I would celebrate,” Marlo recalls. “Over the years, we collected more teachers and our community started to grow.” She shares that eXit SPACE possessed “authentic momentum.”

“In a nutshell, eXit SPACE is a place or a space to discover or rediscover the art of dance for anybody of any background, at any moment,” Marlo says of eXit SPACE’s mission. “Everybody who enters the space is committed to being supportive…it’s a non-competitive environment, in the fact that we believe there can be inspiration found in one another.” The dance school’s faculty and student base are dedicated to lifting each other up, without holding others down. Marlo envisions a culture in which dance is open to anybody to try at any stage of their life, rather than a more exclusive institution.

In terms of programming, eXit SPACE has a young dancer program, featuring classes in modern, jazz, ballet, tap, and hip hop. “I love educating young dancers and helping them become artists or just [foster] an appreciation for their own body, whatever their pathway is,” Marlo says of the program. The dance school also features an adult dance program, including classes held in-studio and through Zoom for dancers with all levels of experience. eXit SPACE’s pre-professional program, otherwise known as thePROGRAM, is a specialized program for students between 8 and 18 years old committed to seriously focusing on their dance training and future.

Marlo enjoys being involved with multiple facets of dance, including teaching, choreographing, running festivals, producing work, and more. “I would get frustrated if I only did one facet of dance, so I really enjoy being able to change roles often,” she voices. NOD Theater, a performance space in Capitol Hill, is where eXit SPACE will be holding a full season of performances, workshops, festivals, and events. Marlo plans on producing eXit SPACE’s annual TakePause festivals in January and May 2022, as an open call for dancers of all levels and ages to perform. She’s also holding the annual Boost Dance Festival and BoostMeUp Youth Dance Festival in March 2022, as well as various artist-in-residence programs and student showcases. NOD Theater is also available for rent.

“Whatever energy you give out will come back to you,” Marlo says. “If you create this intentional community, [the] people who align with [its] beliefs will come…and that’s what happened over and over.” Since its conception, eXit SPACE has expanded to three studios and created theNEST, which functions as a “home base of classes.”

Moving forward, Marlo hopes for dance creators to make more effort to collaborate across communities, to diversify their perspectives and offerings. “I would love to see more communities work together more often. I would love to see more businesses and directors work together more often,” Marlo says. “This culture hasn’t changed from my perspective in the 18 years I’ve lived here.” She longs for dancers from various micro-communities to put more effort towards integrating and sharing ideas, to diversify their offerings. “If you only involve yourself with the choreographers, teachers, and students in your own community, even if it’s a diverse pool, you’ve decided to limit that experience…I just think there’s so much to be gained by community outreach to one another,” she shares.

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Uplifting a Community Through Inclusivity and Collaboration

A Conversation With eXit SPACE’s Marlo Martin