I am a performer, theater maker and teaching artist, based in Portland, Oregon and sometimes in Boulder, Co and New York City.
My work lives in the intersection of contemplative dance, improvisational performance art, and contemporary theater. It is often seen in non-traditional performance venues such as late night parties, warehouses and church basements, it is sometimes epic and may involve zombies or superheroes or sock puppets. As a director and producer I am concerned with inspiring and supporting others to engage in conversation to articulate a vision of the world they want to live in, and to take community action in making it manifest.
In creative process I am informed both by the practices and forms I was immersed in during my formal training, including Viewpoints Practice, Psychophysical Acting, Composition/Moment Work, Developmental Technique and Contemplative Dance Improvisation, as well as the methods I have adopted and adapted in the streets of New York, such as Burlesque, Street Theater and Large Scale Spectacle.
I am a co-founder and director of The Vanport Mosaic: a community driven, artist-led non-profit, dedicated to presenting, celebrating and preserving the silenced histories of the pacific Northwest in order to better understand our present. In addition to this work, I have been a coach for PlayWrite Inc and The August Wilson Monologue Competition, as well as a master teaching artist with NY based Enact.
Throughout the year I offer regular workshops for the performer in the art of Deep Play, Composition and Viewpoints Practice through Portland’s Be Space. These offerings have developed through my close and continued work with Barbara Dilley and the investigations of mindfulness practices in performance making. Learn more about me.
MFA Theater Contemporary Performance, Naropa University
BFA The Experimental Theater Wing, New York University