JEFFERSON
DANCERS
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Steve Gonzales
COSTUME SPECIALIST
Amethyst Robinson
LIGHTING DESIGN/PRODUCTION MANAGER
Michael Mazzola
STAGE MANAGER
Jamie Lynne Simons
COMPANY MANAGER
Lisa Dungan Roth
COMPANY MEMBERS
CONLAN SAVALLI, SORREL MAURICE, HENRY ROTH, PIPER BOTT, PAYTON NABORS-HILBURN, AMIRA QUARANTO-AZIZ, VIVIAN PROCTOR, HARLOW KLEFFNER, JAY’QUAN LEWIS-PRICE, LILA WENDROFF, NIMAH CREWS
COMPANY APPRENTICES
CASH FAIRMAN, DANICA BYNOE, LILY PARRISH, BRIXTON FAIRMAN, ZELIE HERMIDA LOGAN, SIERRA MILLER, JAHLIL YARBOROUGH, ELLA SANCHEZ-GEORGE
ABOUT US
The Jefferson Dancers are the premier dance company of the nationally recognized Jefferson High School dance department. For 49 years, this elite group has brought together the school’s most advanced students for rigorous, pre-professional dance training. The company comprises 19 multi-ethnic dancers, ages 14–18, who are physically and mentally prepared for careers in the performing arts. Within this professional dance company environment, students learn both the discipline their roles demand and the rewards of contributing to work of exceptional quality.
What sets the Jefferson Dancers apart is their versatility. Unlike most youth companies, their repertoire spans more than 200 original works in styles including modern, tap, ballet, jazz, hip-hop, African, aerial, ethnic, and musical theater. These works have been choreographed by an impressive list of nationally acclaimed artists, such as Lowell Smith, Donald McKayle, Moses Pendleton, Josie Moseley, Steve Zee, Joseph Webb, Brenda Buffalino, Derell “Sekou Soumah” Walker, and Artistic Director Steve Gonzales, among many others. The company also benefits from masterclasses and residencies with world-renowned guest artists and companies, including Broadway legend Honi Coles, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Alwin Nikolais, BalletBoyz, Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, and MOMIX.
Company members are selected each spring through a competitive audition process and commit to one full year of training and performance. Dancers must attend daily technique classes (minimum 1.5 hours) and three hours of rehearsal, five days a week. Their training is reinforced through frequent performance opportunities—from lecture demonstrations to full-scale concerts—locally, nationally, and internationally. Past tours have taken the Jefferson Dancers to Russia, Canada, England, France, Germany, Italy, and China, providing invaluable exposure to the global stage. After each performance, dancers receive feedback and evaluations, encouraging continual growth in technique, musicality, and performance quality.
Alumni of the Jefferson Dancers have gone on to study at prestigious institutions such as NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Juilliard, SUNY Purchase, North Carolina School of the Arts, CalArts, Alvin Ailey/Fordham, and more. They have performed with acclaimed companies, including MOMIX, Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Spectrum Dance Theatre, Luna Negra, Batsheva, and Vertigo. Many have also made their mark on Broadway in productions like Guys and Dolls, Movin’ Out, Chicago, Beauty and the Beast, and Legally Blonde.
In a full-circle moment, former Jefferson Dancer Steve Gonzales returned to lead the company as Artistic Director in 1999, continuing a legacy of excellence and innovation in dance education.
PROGRAM
VIOLET
CHOREOGRAPHY: Lauren Smith
MUSIC: Digital Versicolor by Glass Candy
PERFORMERS: Full Company
INTERLUDE 1: Sorrel Maurice
WE TRIED
CHOREOGRAPHY: Henry Roth
MUSIC: La Lloronna by DeVotchKa
PERFORMERS: Conlan Savalli / Sorrel Maurice / Piper Bott / Vivian Proctor / Harlow Kleffner / Jay’Quan Lewis-Price / Lila Wendroff / Danica Bynoe / Lily Parrish
Finalist, Outstanding Student Choreography – National High School Dance Festival 2025.
INTERLUDE 2: Nimah Crews / Ella Sanchez-George
AFTER HOURS
CHOREOGRAPHY: Thomas Yale
MUSIC: The Thickening by The Last Artful Dodgr / High End by Chris Brown feat Future and Young Thug / Say It Right by Nelly Futado / Rude Boy by Rihanna / We Be Burnin’ by Sean Paul / After Hours by Kehlani
PERFORMERS: Conlan Savalli / Sorrel Maurice / Henry Roth / Piper Bott / Amira Quaranto-Aziz / Harlow Kleffner / Jay’Quan Lewis-Price / Lila Wendroff / Nimah Crews / Danica Bynoe / Lily Parrish / Zelie Hermida Logan / Jahlil Yarborogh / Ella Sanchez-George
INTERLUDE 3: Piper Bott / Jay’Quan Lewis-Price / Lila Wendroff / Danica Bynoe
WHEN THEY REMEMBER
CHOREOGRAPHY: Jordan Kindell
MUSIC: Despendida by Concrete Husband / Breathe On Me by Concrete Husband
PERFORMERS: Sorrel Maurice / Henry Roth / Piper Bott / Vivian Proctor / Harlow Kleffner / Jay’Quan Lewis-Price / Lila Wendroff / Nimah Crews / Ella Sanchez-George
INTERLUDE 4: Vivian Proctor
BE HERE
CHOREOGRAPHY: Alicia Anthony, Julie Barnes
MUSIC: Hayling by FC Kahuna ft. Hafdis Huld / Saints by Moby ft. Inyang Bassey
PERFORMERS: Conlan Savalli / Henry Roth / Piper Bott / Harlow Kleffner / Jay’Quan Lewis-Price / Danica Bynoe / Lily Parrish / Sierra Miller / Ella Sanchez-George
-INTERMISSION-
FLOATING POINTS
CHOREOGRAPHY: Ellie Thomas
MUSIC: Falaise by Floating Points / Dance VI by Philip Glass
PERFORMERS: Conlan Savalli / Sorrel Maurice / Henry Roth / Piper Bott / Vivian Proctor / Harlow Kleffner / Jay’Quan Lewis-Price / Lila Wendroff / Nimah Crews / Ella Sanchez-George
INTERLUDE 5: Henry Roth / Piper Bott
NOT WITHOUT REASON
CHOREOGRAPHY: Piper Bott
MUSIC: One Last Thought by Stacy Bessetti / Jimi Bott, Paul Brainard & Piper Bott / The Creator by Piano Marine Mike
PERFORMERS: Sorrel Maurice / Henry Roth / Payton Nabors-Hilburn / Vivian Proctor / Harlow Kleffner / Jay’Quan Lewis-Price / Lila Wendroff / Danica Bynoe / Sierra Miller
Finalist, Outstanding Student Choreography – National High School Dance Festival 2025.
INTERLUDE 6: Brixton Fairman / Sierra Miller / Ella Sanchez-George
PYT
CHOREOGRAPHY: Demetria Holden Williams
MUSIC: My PYT by Wale / PYT by Kon & Reflex / PYT by Rich Solo Kelo / P.Y.T. by Michael Jackson
PERFORMERS: Sorrel Maurice / Piper Bott / Amira Quaranto-Aziz / Harlow Kleffner / Jay’Quan Lewis-Price / Lila Wendroff / Cash Fairman / Danica Bynoe / Lily Parrish / Brixton Fairman / Sierra Miller / Zelie Hermida Logan / Jahlil Yarborogh / Ella Sanchez-George
-SLIDESHOW-
By Henry Roth and Lila Wendroff
LA CÔTE D’IVOIRE
CHOREOGRAPHY: Derrell Sekou Soumah Walker
MUSIC: Drummers - Derrell Sekou Soumah Walker / Hakim Muhammad / Daniel Lasuncet / Matt Wirzbicki / Israel Annoh /Andres Espinosa
PERFORMERS: Full Company
DIRECTOR’S NOTE
I want to thank all the contributors who have helped us financially this year and in the past. Without your financial support, it would be difficult to keep this nationally acclaimed program running smoothly. Unfortunately, we don’t have the financial resources that we once had and can only continue with your help. Your generous support makes it possible for us to continue to educate, inspire, and create new and exciting pieces for the Company.
TO OUR GENEROUS DONORS
We'd like to extend a special thank you to everyone who donated to and supported the Jefferson Dancers for 48 years.
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CREW
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IN-KIND DONORS
Nike Jordan Wings
Por Que No?
IN MEMORY AND SPECIAL DEDICATION OF PERFORMANCES
In Honor of Trinidad Eutsler
In Honor of Jasmine Garcia
In Honor of Anne M. Kearney
KEEP THE JEFFERSON DANCERS ON THEIR TOES!
Your generous donation helps to ensure that tomorrow's Portland Public School students have the opportunity to participate in this nationally acclaimed program. Your contribution to the Jefferson Dancers is tax deductible.
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Jefferson High School/Middle College for Advanced Studies
5210 North Kerby Avenue
Portland, OR 97217–2656
(503) 916-5180
Thank YOU for joining us!
JEFFERSON DANCERS | PRESS NEWS
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Artistic Director Steve Gonzales is largely responsible for the dancers’ current level of professionalism. —David Plechl, The Portland Observer
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The Jefferson Dancers have sprinkled America’s professional dance troupes with performers, and they routinely move on to elite performing-arts colleges. Bob Hicks, –The Oregonian
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Energetic, entertaining, and a joy to behold. –Phil Hunt, The Oregonian
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Gonzales has resparked the program’s energy, skill, and pride. –Bob Hicks, The Oregonian
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Teenage dancers ecstatically pushed their bodies past their limits. –Kelly Clarke, Willamette Week
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The Jefferson Dancers are so well trained, so energetic and enthusiastic that their student status is forgotten the instant the curtain goes up. –Martha Ullman West, Willamette Week
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...last winter’s sold-out White Bird/PSU Series show at Lincoln Hall to wowing the international set in the south of France, Portland’s Jefferson Dancers have had the equivalent of their performance SATs this school year. The Jefferson Dancers get an A+ for effort this year in my book. –Kelly Clarke, Willamette Week
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The Jefferson Dancers were voted the best local dance company. –Willamette Week, Best of Portland (2003)
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THEIR LEVEL OF PROFESSIONALISM CAN BE ATTRIBUTED TO ARTISTIC DIRECTOR STEVE GONZALES. –Catherine Thomas, The Oregonian
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Powerful, playful, mesmerizing, and at times gravity-defying, Jefferson Performing and Visual Arts Magnet High School’s elite troupe of dancers drew a long standing ovation Saturday night in the Astoria High School Auditorium. --Darren L. Dunlap, The Daily Astorian
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Gonzales has raised the technical bar; his dancers are also fluent in African, hip-hop, tap, and jazz. –Catherine Thomas, The Oregonian
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Reinvigorated by Gonzales, a former Jefferson Dancer himself ...exciting dancers and a wide variety of forms and moves by some of the best choreographers in the world. The combination the company will take to the Kennedy Center. –Barry Johnson, The Oregonian