One of the most exciting aspects of living at Dancing Rabbit is that we participate in the ongoing collaborative process of building a village. Even though we have existed for 28 years, there is still so much room for growth. With each person that arrives, new ideas and visions emerge as to what our village could become. Many of the roles of the nonprofit and the land trust revolve around working with villagers to turn these visions into reality. In fact, the nonprofit is one of the most powerful tools we have to enact the mission of Dancing Rabbit. We’ve recently begun to explore some exciting avenues, and money we raise now contributes to our institutional robustness and our ability to confidently undertake large, impactful projects in the future, some of which may not be too far off!
Right now, we’ve got an amazing opportunity to raise some serious money, and set ourselves up for an impactful 2026: The Hothem Family has challenged us with a $20,000 matching target! Every dollar up to this point will be fully matched.
There’s only one day left to double your impact!
Before we look at an exciting project we’ve been considering, I want to explore how the design of one’s physical surroundings impacts wellbeing, and how this relates to the village of Dancing Rabbit.
Village Design for a Collaborative Culture
From the very beginning, our village design has centered around densely clustered buildings surrounded by expansive natural areas for wildlife protection and human enjoyment. Building density serves two main functions: it maintains a human-centric, walkable village in which collaboration and social interaction are encouraged by the physical environment, and it leaves as much space for wildlife as possible. When siting new buildings, we consider what kind of interactions we can encourage with design, for example, doors opening onto small courtyards, shared woodsheds, paths, gardens, and tool sheds, or benches placed strategically to encourage spontaneous interaction.
I’ve personally been inspired by my experience travelling in Japan. The old villages I encountered were a seamless patchwork of homes, gardens, rice paddies, shops, temples, and shrines. Lawns are basically nonexistent, which is quite a shocking difference. It appears that almost no space is wasted. This was born out of necessity, as roughly 70 percent of the land is mountainous; too steep to build on or farm.
While we don’t face the same limitations in Northeast Missouri, the native tallgrass prairie ecosystem in our area is considered critically endangered. The denser we build our village, and the more food production is integrated into the townscape, the more room we leave for wildlife. The majority of homes do not have lawns. Instead, we have a few designated communal lawns where folks can throw a frisbee, run wild, or kick back with a cold drink.
To further minimize our impact on the land we encourage stacking functions in our physical spaces. Some examples of this include:
- Landscaping with native and edible plants, which creates visual beauty, wildlife habitat, and food for humans.
- Roofs used for rainwater harvesting.
- Living roofs as gardening spaces, habitat, and social spaces.
- Attached greenhouses on homes as an incredible heat source in winter, an expansion of living space, as mudroom and toolshed, and a place to start plants in the spring.
- Grazing cows and goats in open spaces that are designated for future village development.
Another thing which struck me in Japan is how the built environment often enhanced the beauty of its surroundings. The traditional buildings, be they rustic farmhouses, elegant townhomes, temples, shrines, teahouses or pavilions in a garden, almost always enhanced the atmosphere. A big part of this is of course the craftsmanship, attention to detail, and design influenced by thousands of years of culture, philosophy and the infusion of the sacred into daily life. Townhomes often contain tiny courtyard gardens, sometimes just six by six feet, yet expertly designed to invoke a sense of serenity, while letting in light and fresh air to the home.
Though we lack this deep history of craftsmanship and cultural identity at DR, I believe there’s much we can learn from this tradition, which is that our built environment should interweave with, and enhance, the natural environment, and small natural spaces around homes can invoke a sense of wonder and calm. In some ways this is already the case. Many of my favorite scenes around the village are beautiful because of the interplay of buildings and nature.
Cultivating a True Town Center
The space we call Town Center is a town center in name only; you’ll find goats grazing an overgrown field next to some solar panels and a couple of semi trailers full of building materials. It is an aspirational center, one which we hope to grow into, as a large green plaza surrounded by two-story (or more) buildings in the long and varied traditions of town squares. A space to gather, play, be merry, make music, and soak in the vibes of the village, whether you’ve got something to do or not. From this dense center, the village radiates organically in all directions: multi-unit apartment dwellings, cozy alleyways and hidden parks giving way to rustic farmhouses, rooftop gardens, and front yard food forests. At the edge of the village you’ll find ruminants grazing, rows of nut trees, bean fields and large vegetable plots. Beyond this, prairie, savannah and woodland.
To help give life to vision, we’ve begun exploring the prospect of building a pavilion in the heart of our future town center. This is quite a common feature in the plazas of Spanish colonial cities, the village greens of New England, and the gardens of Japan. While there is still much to deliberate, the general concept is a round wooden structure, large enough for 100 people.
In recent years it’s become abundantly clear that we need an outdoor gathering space protected from rain, wind, and sun. Not only would this serve the existing membership of the community, but it would be an incredible asset for hosting our programs as an outdoor classroom, dance hall, singing room and gathering space, right in the heart of a regenerative village which is continuing to grow. This would create a space for new dreams and approaches to sustainability.
While we are still in the early stages of winding this through our community process, there is a ton of enthusiasm, and we hope to begin work on this in the next year or two. While spearheaded by individuals in the community, the nonprofit has already expressed an interest in supporting this project.
Whether it is this project, or another, the nonprofit is committed to supporting the village in its growth, whether through increasing and retaining membership or supporting the development of physical infrastructure, and realization of our longstanding mission: to build a sustainable society of the size and scope to influence the global community. All the money we raise will be put towards these goals. If we hit (or honestly just get close) to our matching $20,000 target we will be set up for a seriously ambitious and impactful 2026 and beyond. If our vision resonates with you, please consider making a donation today, and double your impact.
With gratitude,
Eric Mease
Villager // Land Steward // Development Lead