Donald mckayle with the jefferson dancers portland oregon 1992

The Jefferson Dancers is the performance group of advanced students from the magnet arts dance program at Jefferson High School in Portland,

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

, United States. The company was founded by Mary Vinton Folberg in the early 1980s. Folberg served as artistic director of the dance company from its founding until the mid-1990s. Currently, Steve Gonzales holds the title of Artistic Director of the company that is now the longest running dance program in Portland, Oregon. The company performs annually in Portland venues, such as the Newmark Theatre. The company also performs in Portland's Singing Christmas Tree. Past international tours have included performances in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, and in 1991 the company performed in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

and

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. The group has also performed at

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

, in Hood River, Oregon, and in numerous schools around the state, often teaching children's dance classes. In 1992, Folberg went on sabbatical, during which Julane Stites served as artistic director of the company. That year, the company was the subject of the 30-minute Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) program titled ''A Musical Encounter: The Dance Program'

Stites left the program for the

Arts & Communication Magnet Academy Arts & Communication Magnet Academy (ACMA) is a publicly funded arts magnet school in Beaverton, Oregon, United States. It is a member of the International Network of Schools for the Advancement of Arts Education. The school opened in 1992, in ...

in Beaverton in 1999. In 1995, Folberg left the dance department of Jefferson High School to found

The Northwest Academy Northwest Academy is an independent, arts-focused middle and high school (grades 6–12) in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. The school is accredited by the Northwest Association of Independent Schools (NWAIS). Teachers include former coll ...

, an alternative arts high school in Portland. Program alumni and

MOMIX MOMIX is a dance company based in Washington, Connecticut, founded in 1981 by choreographer Moses Pendleton. MOMIX developed out of work Pendleton did for a celebration of Erik Satie at the Paris Opera in 1978. The company is named after a sol ...

dancer Steve Gonzales has served as artistic director since 1999.

References

External links

The Jefferson Dancers
(official website) {{DEFAULTSORT:Jefferson Dancers, The Dance companies in the United States Schools of the performing arts in the United States Dance in Oregon

See also

References

External links