:: conduit dance faculty

Michele Ainza
is a dancer, movement educator and artist. She received her MFA in Choreography from California Institute of the Arts, where her two main concentrations were feminist studies and dance for video. Ainza received her certification in Laban Movement Analysis and Bartenieff Fundamentals from the Integrated Movement Studies based out of the University of Utah, Salt Lake City. She is an Associate Director at Conduit, the Artistic Director of MAD, Michele Ainza Dance, and on staff as a dance instructor at Lake Oswego Parks and Recreation. Michele is an avid yoga enthusiast and is in the process of completing her Pilates certification. Ainza has danced professionally both nationally and internationally for 15 years and has been on faculty at The University of Veracruz, Mexico, Fresno City College, Linfield College, and Lewis and Clark College.

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 and 11th anual dance 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, a new commissioned work for Paufve|Dance in Oakland, CA and a featured performance in Imago Theater's "Zugzwang."

Linda K. Johnson
co-founder of Conduit, has been a professional dance artist based in Portland for over 24 years. She has just returned from a two-year appointment in the Dance Department at Mills College in Oakland, CA, and has taught, performed, created and produced extensively throughout the NW 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.

class schedule :: descriptions :: workshops :: faculty ::		conduit winter 2012 faculty Michele Ainza is a dancer, movement educator and artist. She received her MFA in Choreography from California Institute of the Arts, where her two main concentrations were feminist studies and dance for video. Ainza received her certification in Laban Movement Analysis and Bartenieff Fundamentals from the Integrated Movement Studies based out of the University of Utah, Salt Lake City. She is an Associate Director at Conduit, the Artistic Director of MAD, Michele Ainza Dance, and on staff as a dance instructor at Lake Oswego Parks and Recreation. Michele is an avid yoga enthusiast and is in the process of completing her Pilates certification. Ainza has danced professionally both nationally and internationally for 15 years and has been on faculty at The University of Veracruz, Mexico, Fresno City College, Linfield College, and Lewis and Clark College. 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 and 11th anual dance 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, a new commissioned work for Paufve\|Dance in Oakland, CA and a featured performance in Imago Theater's "Zugzwang." Linda K. Johnson co-founder of Conduit, has been a professional dance artist based in Portland for over 24 years. She has just returned from a two-year appointment in the Dance Department at Mills College in Oakland, CA, and has taught, performed, created and produced extensively throughout the NW 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.