:: conduit dance faculty

Gregg Bielemeier
is an Oregon-born dance artist who has worked on the West Coast and in Europe as a featured choreographer, performer and teacher for over 35 years. He is a frequent improvisor/collaborator with musicians, actors and visual artists, creating suave, witty dance works that have been described as "wonderfully inventive," by the Los Angeles Times, and as "marvelously goofy," by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. A founding Conduit core artist, Bielemeier's work has been presented in Los Angeles by Dance Kaleidoscope, in Seattle at On the Boards Northwest New Works Festival, at Holland's International Dance Festival, and in Portland by PSU's Contemporary Dance Season, Portland Art Museum, Imago Theater and for White Bird's inaugural subscription series. Bielemeier has been awarded grants from the Metropolitan Arts Commission, the Regional Arts and Culture Council, and on two occasions received Individual Artist Fellowships from the City of Pasadena, CA. Recent and upcoming projects include the creation of "As Requested (short solo)," for Skinner | Kirk Dance Ensemble, and a newly commissioned project for White Bird's 11th annual dance series in Portland, Oregon for 2009.

Linda K. Johnson
co-founder of Conduit, has been a professional dance artist based in Portland for over 24 years. Currently a Visiting Artist in the Dance Department at Mills College, she has taught, performed, created and produced extensively throughout the region. Her concerns as an artist are social and environmental, and her projects have addressed these interests in unconventional compositional forms, formats and venues. Her teaching and making is informed by her deep and ongoing interest in improvisation, somatic forms, architecture, sustainability and beauty. An Oregon Artist’s Fellow in 1999, her work has been generously funded by public, private and individual sources, and has received serious critical review in many venues including Metropolis Magazine, NPR, Dance Magazine, and Landscape Architecture. Her projects have been presented by PICA/TBA:08, On the Boards, ORLO, Dance/SF, SFADI, Reed College, University of Oregon and Ohio State University. She is honored to be a custodian in perpetuity of Yvonne Rainer’s seminal post-modern work, Trio A and a performer of Bebe Miller’s Rain. She is a sought-after teacher in this region by both professional dancers and serious hobbyists, and has taught for extended periods as a guest and/or as faculty at Reed College, Lewis and Clark College, University of Oregon, Conduit, Jefferson High School, Oregon Ballet Theatre and the Vancouver School of Arts and Academics. She is currently in training to be a teacher of The Alexander Technique.

Eliza Larson
began her training at the Columbus Youth Ballet in Columbus, OH, before going on to major in Dance and English at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN. She attended the University of Maryland as an MFA candidate before moving to the West Coast. Since 2006, Eliza has been dancing and choreographing in Seattle, and now Portland. She has performed in works by Mark Haim, Deb Wolf, KT Niehoff, Jan Erkert, Adele Myers, Kelly Sullivan, and Kristin Hapke among others, and was an original company member of the Weaving Dance Company (2006-2008). In 2010, Eliza was selected to attend the American Dance Festival on full scholarship, and while there worked with Ming Yang and Elena Slobodchiknova. As a choreographer, Eliza’s work has been presented around the country, including the H Street Theater in Washington, DC, Velocity Dance Center and the OK Hotel Gallery in Seattle, and Conduit Dance in Portland. Eliza has been teaching dance in Portland since 2009.

Tere Mathern
co-director of Conduit Dance, Inc., is a choreographer, performer, and educator of over 20 years. She formed Tere Mathern Dance in 2002 to create an ongoing setting for her work. Recent works include, Show Me The Body (June 2007) funded by the Regional Arts and Culture Council, and a site-specific work for Keller Fountain, one of the four-part series of dance works for The City Dance of Lawrence and Anna Halprin (September 2008), celebrating Halprin’s sequence of Portland open spaces and part of PICA TBA:09. Mathern has as an M.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies focusing on contemporary dance history and performance studies from NYU and is a Certified Movement Analyst (C.M.A.) in Laban/Bartenieff Movement Studies from the Laban Institute of Movement Studies in NYC. Currently adjunct faculty in dance at PSU, she has taught and/ or performed in various venues throughout the U.S. including the Knitting Factory, and Gowanus Arts Exchange in New York, On the Boards/Seattle, Denison University (OH), The Contemporary Dance Season/PSU, in venues in New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Alaska, and as an assistant to the faculty for Laban/ Bartenieff certification programs at the Laban Institute in NYC and at Mills College, CA. Her work has received support from the Oregon Arts Commission, National Endowment for the Arts, and PSU’s former Contemporary Dance Season, and the Regional Arts & Culture Council. Past guest artist for Reed Arts Week 2002, a 2003 recipient of a Professional Development Grant from the City of Portland Arts & Economy Initiative, she is a 2009 Oregon Arts Commission Fellowship recipient, and is the focus of an OBP Art Beat special broadcast January, 2010.

Vanessa Vogel
began ballet at age of four above a tavern on Main Street in Cottage Grove, Oregon. She received training at the Eugene School of Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, and Boston Ballet and went on to dance with Eugene Ballet Company. Vanessa deepened her study of contemporary dance at Lewis and Clark College where she received her minor in dance in 2005. As an undergraduate, she represented the college at the American College Dance Festival, where her work was performed in the gala concert. Vanessa has worked with Toni Pimble of Eugene Ballet Company, Susan Zadoff at University of Oregon, and Portland-based choreographers including Susan Davis, Keith V. Goodman, Tahni Holt, tEEth, and Minh Tran, Tere Mathern, and Mary Oslund.

class schedule :: descriptions :: workshops :: faculty ::		conduit 2010 summer faculty Gregg Bielemeier is an Oregon-born dance artist who has worked on the West Coast and in Europe as a featured choreographer, performer and teacher for over 35 years. He is a frequent improvisor/collaborator with musicians, actors and visual artists, creating suave, witty dance works that have been described as "wonderfully inventive," by the Los Angeles Times, and as "marvelously goofy," by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. A founding Conduit core artist, Bielemeier's work has been presented in Los Angeles by Dance Kaleidoscope, in Seattle at On the Boards Northwest New Works Festival, at Holland's International Dance Festival, and in Portland by PSU's Contemporary Dance Season, Portland Art Museum, Imago Theater and for White Bird's inaugural subscription series. Bielemeier has been awarded grants from the Metropolitan Arts Commission, the Regional Arts and Culture Council, and on two occasions received Individual Artist Fellowships from the City of Pasadena, CA. Recent and upcoming projects include the creation of "As Requested (short solo)," for Skinner \| Kirk Dance Ensemble, and a newly commissioned project for White Bird's 11th annual dance series in Portland, Oregon for 2009. Linda K. Johnson co-founder of Conduit, has been a professional dance artist based in Portland for over 24 years. Currently a Visiting Artist in the Dance Department at Mills College, she has taught, performed, created and produced extensively throughout the region. Her concerns as an artist are social and environmental, and her projects have addressed these interests in unconventional compositional forms, formats and venues. Her teaching and making is informed by her deep and ongoing interest in improvisation, somatic forms, architecture, sustainability and beauty. An Oregon Artist’s Fellow in 1999, her work has been generously funded by public, private and individual sources, and has received serious critical review in many venues including Metropolis Magazine, NPR, Dance Magazine, and Landscape Architecture. Her projects have been presented by PICA/TBA:08, On the Boards, ORLO, Dance/SF, SFADI, Reed College, University of Oregon and Ohio State University. She is honored to be a custodian in perpetuity of Yvonne Rainer’s seminal post-modern work, Trio A and a performer of Bebe Miller’s Rain. She is a sought-after teacher in this region by both professional dancers and serious hobbyists, and has taught for extended periods as a guest and/or as faculty at Reed College, Lewis and Clark College, University of Oregon, Conduit, Jefferson High School, Oregon Ballet Theatre and the Vancouver School of Arts and Academics. She is currently in training to be a teacher of The Alexander Technique. Eliza Larson began her training at the Columbus Youth Ballet in Columbus, OH, before going on to major in Dance and English at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN. She attended the University of Maryland as an MFA candidate before moving to the West Coast. Since 2006, Eliza has been dancing and choreographing in Seattle, and now Portland. She has performed in works by Mark Haim, Deb Wolf, KT Niehoff, Jan Erkert, Adele Myers, Kelly Sullivan, and Kristin Hapke among others, and was an original company member of the Weaving Dance Company (2006-2008). In 2010, Eliza was selected to attend the American Dance Festival on full scholarship, and while there worked with Ming Yang and Elena Slobodchiknova. As a choreographer, Eliza’s work has been presented around the country, including the H Street Theater in Washington, DC, Velocity Dance Center and the OK Hotel Gallery in Seattle, and Conduit Dance in Portland. Eliza has been teaching dance in Portland since 2009. Tere Mathern co-director of Conduit Dance, Inc., is a choreographer, performer, and educator of over 20 years. She formed Tere Mathern Dance in 2002 to create an ongoing setting for her work. Recent works include, Show Me The Body (June 2007) funded by the Regional Arts and Culture Council, and a site-specific work for Keller Fountain, one of the four-part series of dance works for The City Dance of Lawrence and Anna Halprin (September 2008), celebrating Halprin’s sequence of Portland open spaces and part of PICA TBA:09. Mathern has as an M.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies focusing on contemporary dance history and performance studies from NYU and is a Certified Movement Analyst (C.M.A.) in Laban/Bartenieff Movement Studies from the Laban Institute of Movement Studies in NYC. Currently adjunct faculty in dance at PSU, she has taught and/ or performed in various venues throughout the U.S. including the Knitting Factory, and Gowanus Arts Exchange in New York, On the Boards/Seattle, Denison University (OH), The Contemporary Dance Season/PSU, in venues in New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Alaska, and as an assistant to the faculty for Laban/ Bartenieff certification programs at the Laban Institute in NYC and at Mills College, CA. Her work has received support from the Oregon Arts Commission, National Endowment for the Arts, and PSU’s former Contemporary Dance Season, and the Regional Arts & Culture Council. Past guest artist for Reed Arts Week 2002, a 2003 recipient of a Professional Development Grant from the City of Portland Arts & Economy Initiative, she is a 2009 Oregon Arts Commission Fellowship recipient, and is the focus of an OBP Art Beat special broadcast January, 2010. Vanessa Vogel began ballet at age of four above a tavern on Main Street in Cottage Grove, Oregon. She received training at the Eugene School of Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, and Boston Ballet and went on to dance with Eugene Ballet Company. Vanessa deepened her study of contemporary dance at Lewis and Clark College where she received her minor in dance in 2005. As an undergraduate, she represented the college at the American College Dance Festival, where her work was performed in the gala concert. Vanessa has worked with Toni Pimble of Eugene Ballet Company, Susan Zadoff at University of Oregon, and Portland-based choreographers including Susan Davis, Keith V. Goodman, Tahni Holt, tEEth, and Minh Tran, Tere Mathern, and Mary Oslund.