44 lUStlOUt
NOVEMBER 21, 2008
(/ dance
Building a Community
Portland's vibrant contemporary dance scene
developed over decades
When wearing the watch I
experienced
drastic changes in both my
performance level
and energy level.
by Rebecca Ragain
320 NW 10th Avenue ~ Between Everett & Flanders
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ph: 503.227.3437
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Creating Change In The Community Since 1979
oung contempo-
v
rary dance artists
#
are moving to Port
land from all over the
country, drawn in part
by our city’s enthusiasm for
(•
the art form.
Noel Plemmons, who is co
director of POV Dance along with Ma ndy
Christiansen, finds Portland’s dance scene to he
fresh and open to new ideas.
“Portland is so affirming, in regard to any art,
I think,” says Plemmons, who moved here from
San Francisco in early 2007. “People come out
and see dance, whether they’re in the dance com
munity or not.”
Portland’s diverse pool of choreographers and
dancers did not appear overnight, nor did its ap
preciative audience of dancegoers.
Although it is impossible to cover within the
confines of a newspaper article all the influential
movement artists who have worked in Portland
during the past 25 years, we’d like to provide a
glimpse of the foundation upon which today’s lo
cal dance scene is built.
Portland’s first major modern dance company,
Portland Dance Theater, was founded in 1970.
A number of its members are still involved with
Portland’s dance scene today, including Cath
erine Evleshin, Patricia Wong, Gregg Bielemeier,
Bonnie Merrill and Judy Patton.
Portland Dance Theater helped educate Port
land about modem dance. “It was difficult at first,”
Bielemeier recalls. “Then, once more people got
educated to the fact that PDT was here, it caught
on and tixik off on a nice roll."
Although Portland Dance Theater was suc
cessful—if received city, state and national sup
port for its activities, which included touring and
bringing in guest choreographers—it dissolved
around 1979 as its members moved on to other
projects and locations.
“It was just evolution,” says Bielemeier, who
relocated to San Francisco around the same time.
Other landmarks of today’s Portland performance
scene also had their start in the ’70s: Imago Theatre,
Jefferson High Schixil’s dance department and Robin
Line’s Do Jump physical theater company.
tension, building the city’s reputation as a prime
place to perform.
“The PSU presenting program was one of the
leading dance presenters in the country,” says
George Thorn, a professional arts consultant and
co-director of Arts Action Research. “If you had
a company on tour, there were 12 to 15 [venues
to hit]...you always wanted to make sure you had
Portland on your tour.”
In addition, the department’s resident dance
company, The Company We Keep, fostered the
growth of several of today’s mainstay dancer/chore-
ographers, such as Minh Tran and Tere Mathem.
Independent movement artists such as Mer
rill, Susan Banyas and Sue Brantley continued
to make new work through the 1980s. Oslund +
Company moved up from Eugene in 1984; Jann
Dryer formed a company called Cirque.
Another major player was James Canfield, who
came to Portland in 1986 to act as artistic director
of Pacific Ballet Theatre; after Pacific Ballet The
atre merged with Ballet Oregon to form Oregon
Ballet Theatre, he became its artistic director.
“There was a great foundation set for ballet, and
also contemporary dance, by a lot of people prior
to myself...we got to pick up on the ground that
they laid,” he says.
When Canfield arrived, he aimed to embrace
the existing dance scene, rather than stand apart
from it. For instance, he invited contemporary
dance choreographers such as Mary Oslund and
Josie Moseley to create work for OBT.
By bringing the work of a diverse and eclectic
range of choreographers to town, as well as mak-
JOHN BIELEMEIER
M
During the 1980s, much artistic activity cen
tered on Portland State University’s dance depart
ment. In addition to hiring dance professionals as
teachers for its training program, it presented work
through its Contemporary Dance Series, bringing
choreographers like Trisha Brown and Stephen
Petronio to town. The series played a significant
role in building local audiences’ appreciation for
modern and contemporary dance—and, by ex
Gregg Bielemeier co-owns a home organization
service in addition to his work as a
choreographer.