The Jefferson Dancers is the performance group of advanced students from the magnet arts

Magnet school

In education in the United States, magnet schools are public schools with specialized courses or curricula. "Magnet" refers to how the schools draw students from across the normal boundaries defined by authorities as school zones that feed into certain schools.There are magnet schools at the...

 dance program at Jefferson High School in Portland

Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

, Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

, United States. The company was founded by Mary Vinton Folberg

Mary Vinton Folberg

Mary Vinton Folberg is a teacher and former dancer. She was Miss Oregon in 1958. She founded the dance program at Jefferson High School in Portland, Oregon, which has become internationally recognized within the dance community...

 in the early 1980s. Folberg served as artistic director of the dance company from its founding until the mid-1990s.

The company performs annually in Portland venues, such as the Keller Auditorium

Keller Auditorium

Keller Auditorium, formerly known as the Portland Municipal Auditorium, the Portland Public Auditorium, and the Portland Civic Auditorium, is a performing arts center located on Clay Street in Portland, Oregon, United States. It is part of the Portland Center for the Performing Arts...

, Portland Center for the Performing Arts

Portland Center for the Performing Arts

The Portland Center for the Performing Arts is an organization within Metro that runs venues for live theatre, concerts, cinema, small conferences, and similar events in Portland, Oregon, United States....

, and the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall

Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall

The Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall , opened as the Portland Publix Theater before becoming the Paramount after 1930, is a historic theater building and performing arts center in Portland, Oregon, United States...

. The company also performs annually at the Hult Center

Hult Center for the Performing Arts

The Hult Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts facility in Eugene, Oregon, that opened in 1982.It is located adjacent to the Eugene Hilton and the Eugene Community Conference Center, which were also completed in 1982, as part of the same urban renewal project.The Hult Center and the...

 in Eugene, Oregon

Eugene, Oregon

Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...

. Past international tours have included performances in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 and Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, and in 1991 the company performed in Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

 and Leningrad

Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...

. The group has also performed at Kennedy Center

John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts center located on the Potomac River, adjacent to the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C...

.

In 1993, 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

Public Broadcasting Service

The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....

 (PBS) program titled A Musical Encounter: The Dance Program. Stites left the program for the Arts & Communication Magnet Academy

Arts & Communication Magnet Academy

Arts & Communication Magnet Academy is a publicly funded arts magnet school in Beaverton, Oregon, United States. A member of the International Network of Schools for the Advancement of Arts Education, ACMA is the only stand-alone arts magnet school in the state of Oregon...

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

The Northwest Academy

The Northwest Academy is a private arts and performing arts high school located in Portland, Oregon, United States.-History:The school was founded in 1997 by Mary Vinton Folberg, former artistic director of The Jefferson Dancers and sister of Claymation creator Will Vinton...

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

Momix

MOMIX is a company of dancer-illusionists known internationally for presenting work of exceptional inventiveness and physical beauty. For 30 years, MOMIX has been celebrated for its ability to conjure up a world of surrealistic images using props, light, shadow, humor and the human body.Under the...

dancer Steve Gonzales has served as artistic director since 1999.

External links

• The Jefferson Dancers (official website)