JEFFERSON
DANCERS
MEDIA
National High School Dance Festival Press 2023
Koin News - Jefferson High School dancers make history in national competition.
OPB - Jefferson High School dancers win national award,
includes interview with John Kearney and Steve Gonzales
Portland Tribune - Jefferson Dancers reveling in top honors by choreographers John Kearney, Eli Bryan
Oregon Arts Watch - Gaining Altitude: Jefferson Dancers annual Spring Concert to feature students’ award-winning choreography
"The Jefferson Dancers were voted the best local dance company. " -- Willamette Week, Best of Portland (2003)
"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
"...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
"Artistic Director Steve Gonzales is largely responsible for the dancers' current level of professionalism." -- David Plechl, The Portland Observer
"Gonzales has raised the technical bar; his dancers are also fluent in African, hip-hop, tap and jazz." -- Catherine Thomas, The Oregonian
"Gonzales has resparked the program's energy, skill and pride." Bob Hicks, The Oregonian "Teenage dancers ecstatically pushed their bodies past their limits." -- Kelly Clarke, Willamette Week
"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
"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. That's the combination the company will take to the Kennedy Center." -- Barry Johnson, The Oregonian
"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
"Energetic, entertaining and a joy to behold." -- Phil Hunt, The Oregonian
"A particular standout was Rhythm is the Key, choreographed by the Jefferson Dancers' new artistic director Steve Gonzales. This thrilling piece showcased the raw energy, endless enthusiasm and ultimate optimism that comes with being young." -- Byron Beck, Willamette Week
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