Emory Dance Company Residency: Kendra Portier

(photo courtesy of kendraportier.com)

For the past two weeks, members of the Emory Dance Company (EDC) have been working in an intensive-style setting with NYC-based artist Kendra Portier. Kendra is originally from Ohio, and holds a BFA with honors in dance from The Ohio State University. She also recently received her MFA in dance from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Kendra has worked with many acclaimed dance organizations including David Dorfman Dance, Vanessa Justice Dance, and Nicole Wolcott Dance, amongst others.

Read on to find out more about Kendra Portier and her residency with EDC!

As is stated on her website, Kendra is "attracted to concepts often considered metaphysical and/or transdisciplinary." A self-proclaimed lover of mathematics, science, somatic curiosities, and music, her previous work has drawn her to a variety of topics, such as color theory, smog, and the physics/psychics of magenta. Here at Emory, Kendra has been working with EDC members for the past two weeks, for nearly 30 hours per week in a fast-paced learning environment. One dancer in the work, dance major Laura Briggs, states, "Kendra's process has been incredibly fulfilling. She moves at a quick pace, always designing and re-designing the space and the movement. It really keeps you on your toes mentally and physically. She uses a lot of rich imagery involving the core and the pelvis which adds texture and weight to our movement. The final product is a densely-packed dance built around a unique community."

Kendra is not only a dance-maker, but also a teacher and performer. She has taught and worked in residence at Gibney Dance Center, Mark Morris Dance Center, Bates Dance Festival, and Peridance. She also has her own dance collective, entitled BAND (BAND|portier, BAND|kp). Amidst her very busy schedule, Kendra currently goes between teaching at Gibney Dance Center in NYC and working as an Artist in Residence at the University of Maryland in the process of creating her new work, Burnish (Magenta #2). Kendra has also been teaching our Modern 4 and Modern 3 classes while at Emory these past two weeks, and the students have loved learning from her. They enjoy her fast-paced warm-ups, floor-work exercises, unique phrase work, and challenging team-based initiatives. We are so thankful to have had the opportunity to host Kendra here at Emory!


To find out more about our upcoming fall events, click here!

Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram!

Emory Dance Summer Studies - American Dance Festival

Dance major Aryanna Allen spent this past summer training at the American Dance Festival Summer Intensive at Duke University. Ary, along with two other Friends of Dance Scholarship recipients, trained for nearly six weeks in classes such as Gaga, Limon, and Shen Wei Repertory. Pictured above is Aryanna with one of her instructors, Gerri Houlihan, an esteemed modern dance professor at Florida State University.

Read on to find out more about her experiences!

*Responses have been edited for length and clarity

This summer, I was given the opportunity to to attend the American Dance Festival (ADF) at Duke University for five and a half weeks. My initial goal for the summer was to increase my technical skill as a dancer. I did not yet know the true impact that this nurturing environment would have on my mentality and outlook on the professional dance world. Four days a week, I took Gaga with Saar Harari, Limon with Gerri Houlihan, and Shen Wei Dance Arts Repertory with Sara Procopio. The other three days per week were filled with guest auditions, master classes, discussions, and rehearsals. In the process, I was also cast in four student choreographed pieces. While reflecting on the summer, I realized that in addition to technical development, I felt myself grow a lot as a person and as an artist. My weekly classes fostered a lot of this growth but the performances, guest artists, and discussions I attended also played a huge role in my experience. Each of these opportunities were so unique and powerful that it is difficult to summarize. In total, I was able to take 83 dance classes, see 16 performances, attend 21 rehearsals, participate in 4 student choreographed works, and learn/perform with an amazing repertory cast. The ability to cross train many disciplines, work with respected dancers, and encounter such diverse opinions made me look at dance through a different lens. I now have a better sense of who I am as a dancer and where I’d like to be going within the artform. Before this summer, I wanted dance in my life, now it is a necessity. 

Thanks Ary!

Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram!

To find out more about our fall events, click here!