A&E | Culture Club
by Ken Hoyt
Loving Dance
The couple behind White Bird say they wouldn’t want to run the company without the other; their relationship is at the core.
Walter Jaffe and Paul King
and their son, Barney Whitebird.
UPCOMING
Hubbard Street
Dance Chicago
February 13th
Black Grace
February 19th
Contemporary Ballet
of Algiers/
Abou Lagraa
March 21st – 23rd
Paul Taylor Dance
Company
April 4th – 6th
Ballet BC
May 8th
They remained in NYC for their first fourteen years together.
Paul, a graduate of Cordon Bleu Culinary School, worked as a
chef, and Walter used his degree in German Literature in his
career in publishing. They expressed their love of the arts by
attending every event they could.
In 1996 they were searching for a change of life and location.
Santa Rosa, CA, was the apparent winner out of the places
they’d visited. Then two people said, “you should really check
out Portland, OR.” They did, and the timing was fortuitous.
They arrived at the same time as the floodwaters of 1996.
The huge natural disaster didn’t turn them off. In fact, it was
“images of the mayor going down to the riverfront to help
other citizens with the sandbags” that left an indelible and
endearing image. This is a city that pulled together.
In New York, Walter had served on the board of the legendary
Paul Taylor Dancers. Just as they settled in to their new home
a friend from the Paul Taylor organization called. Would they
like to join him at a conference of dance companies (being
held in Portland)?
At the conference they were introduced to many agents and
dance companies from across the country. Walter remem-
bers, “They all said, ‘nobody is presenting us in Portland.’”
Walter continues, “We learned that Portland had a well devel-
oped dance audience through PSU’s company, an impresario
that brought in ballet, and a company that presented mod-
whitebird.org
30
It takes a lot of passion and commitment
to sustain a thirty-year romance. Walter
Jaffe and Paul King spotted one another
in an Upper West Side bar in New York
City, and one thing led to another. Now,
three decades later (and across the con-
tinent) they still have commitment and
passion to spare.
JustOut.com
ern companies that were touring.” Paul interjects, “But all of
those programs had disappeared at that time, and there was a
developed audience but no shows.”
They’d come to Portland with the idea of a catering or choco-
late business. But this vacancy within the dance world was
thrilling. Dance is something that they’d both loved. The idea
and opportunity became White Bird Dance (the name White
Bird is derived from their “twenty-four year-old, feather-cov-
ered son, Barney Whitebird”).
All of their vacations now revolve around White Bird. Their
travels take them off to Germany for a dance festival, then off
to Taiwan, Korea,South Africa, and Brazil. Often they travel
at the invitation of the government or the festival (White
Bird, Paul, and Walter are considered the pipeline to the
western states).
They consider themselves a team. A team that, charmingly,
finishes one another’s sentences. Walter: “Our temperaments
compliment each other…” Paul: “and we bring different skills
sets to whatever project we’re focusing on.” Walter: “But we
share a common vision. When we’re deciding on program-
ming, for instance, if one of us doesn’t agree — we don’t do
it.” Paul: “For budget reasons, we don’t often travel together,
and see work together. So we have complete faith in the oth-
er’s decision.”
Living here is the most important part of their mission.
“Anyone could just bring dance companies in and present
them. We want to connect the dancers to the community. To
that end the companies must agree to do an outreach while
in Portland. For thirteen years they’ve done an outreach pro-
gram with Portland Public Schools.”
Both men agree, if the other weren’t involved, they wouldn’t
want to do White Bird alone. They cite their relationship as
the core that makes White Bird workable. “Dance is some-
thing that we both love,” notes Walter. “It is our life’s work.” §
Ken Hoyt is Just Out's A&E Editor. Reach him at Ken@JustOut.com
February 2013