:: 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.

Tracy Broyles (Winter Session II)
is a teacher, dance-maker and performer who has been based in the Northwest for over a decade. She creates rich, psychological and physical dances strongly connected to music and visual setting. As a teacher she combines technical body knowledge with training in subtle energetic systems to encourage clear, attentive, bold dancing. Her most recent work"I want to stop Wanting, " a collaboration with Meshi Chavez premiered at Disjecta in 2009. Tracy will be traveling to Scotland this summer to participate in Deborah Hay's Solo Commissioning Project. She is a certified Pilates instructor, holds a BA in Dance, and is an avid student of the Alexander Technique, Butoh, Yoga and Hip-Hop. Tracy will be showing new work in the spring of 2010, for which this class is research. She has always wanted to be a singer.

Jessica Hightower (Winter Session II)
Originally from Colorado, Jessica attended North Carolina School of the Arts where she received her high school diploma and BFA in dance. Upon graduating, she spent two seasons touring with the Open Dream Ensemble, a multidisciplinary arts group focused on performance and arts integration. She has performed, choreographed and taught in France, Japan, and all across the United States. Since relocating to Portland in 2006, she has had the pleasure of working with Tere Mathern, Faith Levine and Katrina O'Brien. Jessica is a current member of Mary Oslund's company OsCo, and Suniti Dernovsek and visual artist David Stein's company Hot Little Hands. She is also the jazz and modern dance teacher for the Portland Youth Ballet.

Tere Mathern
co-director of Conduit Dance, Inc., has been a contemporary dance performer, choreographer, and educator for over 17 years. Described as "lucid, limpid, and smart" showcasing "intuitive, elegant partnering," her work has been performed

in venues throughout the US including, Seattle, San Diego, Anchorage, Portsmouth NH, Madison WI, NYC, and Ohio. She received her MA in Interdisciplinary Studies from NYU in 1994. She became a certified movement analyst (CMA) in Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies in 1996 while living in NYC. Returning to Portland in 1997, she became a Conduit core artist and then its director in 1998, and in 2002/03 began working with current company members of Tere Mathern Dance. Tere has received support for her work from the Oregon Arts Commission, National Endowment for the Arts, and PSU's (former) Contemporary Dance Season, the Metropolitan Arts Commission, the Regional Arts & Culture Council, and received a Professional Development Grant from the City of Portlands Artistic Economy Initiative. In 2006 she participated in The Pacific NW Dance Lab, part of the Regional Dance Development Initiative (RDDI) of the National Dance Project. Tere's most recent project, The Grammar of Regret premiered at Conduit in December 2005, excerpts of which were presented at Dance USA National Roundtable convening in June 2006.

Mary Oslund
is Artistic Director of Oslund + Company/Dance. With a BFA/MA in Dance from Ohio State University, she has been on the faculty of The University of Oregon, Lewis and Clark College, and Reed College, founded Dance Works in Eugene, and co-founded Conduit Studio, acting as director from 1995-8. Mary Oslund has been actively producing work seasonally since 1977, and she and the Company are generously funded for creative and operating support through public and private sources both regionally and nationally and have conducted many residencies and tours.

Oslund's work is frequently created in collaboration with artists in music, visual art, film, literature, photography, performance, and lighting, set and costume design. She has been commissioned and presented by Oregon Ballet Theater, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA) with support from Leslie Durst Fund for New Work, Portland Art Museum, On The Boards,Portland Center for the Visual Arts (PCVA), Bumbershoot Festival, and Jefferson Dancers. Individual awards for her choreography include a National Endowment for the Arts Choreography Fellowship; an Oregon Arts Commission Individual Artist Fellowship in Dance; a New York Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts award given annually to ten artists internationally; a Regional Arts and Culture Council Individual Artist Fellowship, one of two in the program's inaugural year; and funding for new work and administrative support from the National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts, with funding from The National Endowment for the Arts and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, additional funding provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and Philip Morris Companies Inc.

class schedule :: descriptions :: workshops :: faculty ::		conduit 2010 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. Tracy Broyles (Winter Session II) is a teacher, dance-maker and performer who has been based in the Northwest for over a decade. She creates rich, psychological and physical dances strongly connected to music and visual setting. As a teacher she combines technical body knowledge with training in subtle energetic systems to encourage clear, attentive, bold dancing. Her most recent work"I want to stop Wanting, " a collaboration with Meshi Chavez premiered at Disjecta in 2009. Tracy will be traveling to Scotland this summer to participate in Deborah Hay's Solo Commissioning Project. She is a certified Pilates instructor, holds a BA in Dance, and is an avid student of the Alexander Technique, Butoh, Yoga and Hip-Hop. Tracy will be showing new work in the spring of 2010, for which this class is research. She has always wanted to be a singer. Jessica Hightower (Winter Session II) Originally from Colorado, Jessica attended North Carolina School of the Arts where she received her high school diploma and BFA in dance. Upon graduating, she spent two seasons touring with the Open Dream Ensemble, a multidisciplinary arts group focused on performance and arts integration. She has performed, choreographed and taught in France, Japan, and all across the United States. Since relocating to Portland in 2006, she has had the pleasure of working with Tere Mathern, Faith Levine and Katrina O'Brien. Jessica is a current member of Mary Oslund's company OsCo, and Suniti Dernovsek and visual artist David Stein's company Hot Little Hands. She is also the jazz and modern dance teacher for the Portland Youth Ballet. Tere Mathern co-director of Conduit Dance, Inc., has been a contemporary dance performer, choreographer, and educator for over 17 years. Described as "lucid, limpid, and smart" showcasing "intuitive, elegant partnering," her work has been performed in venues throughout the US including, Seattle, San Diego, Anchorage, Portsmouth NH, Madison WI, NYC, and Ohio. She received her MA in Interdisciplinary Studies from NYU in 1994. She became a certified movement analyst (CMA) in Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies in 1996 while living in NYC. Returning to Portland in 1997, she became a Conduit core artist and then its director in 1998, and in 2002/03 began working with current company members of Tere Mathern Dance. Tere has received support for her work from the Oregon Arts Commission, National Endowment for the Arts, and PSU's (former) Contemporary Dance Season, the Metropolitan Arts Commission, the Regional Arts & Culture Council, and received a Professional Development Grant from the City of Portlands Artistic Economy Initiative. In 2006 she participated in The Pacific NW Dance Lab, part of the Regional Dance Development Initiative (RDDI) of the National Dance Project. Tere's most recent project, The Grammar of Regret premiered at Conduit in December 2005, excerpts of which were presented at Dance USA National Roundtable convening in June 2006. Mary Oslund is Artistic Director of Oslund + Company/Dance. With a BFA/MA in Dance from Ohio State University, she has been on the faculty of The University of Oregon, Lewis and Clark College, and Reed College, founded Dance Works in Eugene, and co-founded Conduit Studio, acting as director from 1995-8. Mary Oslund has been actively producing work seasonally since 1977, and she and the Company are generously funded for creative and operating support through public and private sources both regionally and nationally and have conducted many residencies and tours. Oslund's work is frequently created in collaboration with artists in music, visual art, film, literature, photography, performance, and lighting, set and costume design. She has been commissioned and presented by Oregon Ballet Theater, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA) with support from Leslie Durst Fund for New Work, Portland Art Museum, On The Boards,Portland Center for the Visual Arts (PCVA), Bumbershoot Festival, and Jefferson Dancers. Individual awards for her choreography include a National Endowment for the Arts Choreography Fellowship; an Oregon Arts Commission Individual Artist Fellowship in Dance; a New York Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts award given annually to ten artists internationally; a Regional Arts and Culture Council Individual Artist Fellowship, one of two in the program's inaugural year; and funding for new work and administrative support from the National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts, with funding from The National Endowment for the Arts and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, additional funding provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and Philip Morris Companies Inc.