Donors in kind

About the Choreographers

Sara Parker / Sara Parker Dance Artistic Director 

I was born and raised in the Willamette Valley and have been a part of the Portland dance community in varying capacities since 2009. Growing up in the spellbinding scenery of the Pacific Northwest has undoubtedly influenced my work as an artist of dance and movement. Formally, I hold an MFA in Modern Dance from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City (2015) where I was granted a Graduate Teaching Assistantship and was the recipient of the Dee Winterton Award. Additionally, I hold a B.S. in Dance from the University of Oregon in Eugene, OR (2009). These formalized experiences have provided me the ability to integrate thought and experience into action as I engage with dance and movement in the span of my career. Currently, I am a teaching artist throughout Portland, OR, working with students of all levels and training backgrounds. I teach Dance Lab at Shaun Keylock Studio, and guest with Portland Community College, Portland Public Schools, and with The Portland Ballet for their annual Dance and Film Summer Intensive Series. I am also a current participant in the New Expressive Works (N.E.W) Spring 2023 Residency Program. I believe that dance is a radical act of liberating one’s body to more fully engage and connect with the deeper and more subtle layers existence. My recent creative work has been influenced by esoteric anatomy, psychology, storytelling, myth and ritual. I am enamored by ‘what comes up’ while I’m in the studio, and the relationship between my lived experience and the ‘bigger picture’. The micro and macrocosm.

My choreographic work has appeared at BodyVox Dance Center, The Headwaters Theatre, Portland Community College, Lane Community College, Portland State University, The Hult Center, Lincoln Performance Hall, Conduit Dance Inc., Northwest Dance Project Studio and Performance Center, Mariott Center for Dance, Mudson, and the Ladies Literary Club, Portland5 at The Brunish, On the Boards, and Portland Center Stage's at The Armory. Dance is a powerful catalyst for personal and communal revolution and my aim is to make a positive impact while challenging viewers/participants through choreography, performance, and teaching.

​

Colleen Loverde / Open Space Company Artist

Colleen Loverde is a dance artist, creator, teacher, explorer and questioner. She was raised in Lake Zurich, IL and received her B.F.A. in Modern & Jazz Dance at Point Park University where she was awarded Outstanding Senior Dance Artist in 2017. Colleen has danced with LED Boise, Northwest Dance Project, Open Space, Post:Ballet, Heidi Duckler Dance, and on a variety of multidisciplinary projects. In addition to dancing with LED, she recently accepted the role as rehearsal director assisting Lauren Edson. She has had the opportunity to perform works by choreographers Ihsan Rustem, Wen Wei Wang, Felix Landerer, Patrick Delcroix, Lauren Edson, Heidi Duckler, Luca Veggetti, Johannes Wieland, Michaela Taylor, Shannon Gillen, Ryan Mason, Alice Klock, Luke Murphy, Gregory Dolbashion, Noelle Kayser, Franco Nieto, and herself. Colleen’s work is informed by the recognition that everything is connected and there is infinite wisdom to be uncovered within these connections. The intention of building awareness and cultivating balance between the interplay of the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual energies is inherent in her process. She is committed to expansion on all fronts through curiosity in partnership with a long-term, sustainable mindset. In addition to her dance career, she loves to write, read, learn, explore and PLAY. She is currently working on a series of personal essays, dabbling in live storytelling, revisiting her love of singing, collaborating with a dear friend on an upcoming music video series and exploring the ways in which comedy and storytelling may fuse with dance. 

​

Tony Carnell / Open Space Company Artist

Born in Saint Louis, adopted at age 4 and raised in Boise Idaho, Tony started their dance training in 2009 on a full tuition scholarship with Ballet Idaho’s Boy’s Dance Advance Program. They continued at Ballet Idaho and received further training from Nutmeg Conservatory Of The Arts, Burklyn Ballet Theater, Oregon Ballet Theater and Northwest Dance Project. Their professional career began as a soloist with Idaho Dance Theater. They also performed and taught with the local contemporary company Project Flux. In 2019, Tony was offered an apprenticeship with Ballet Idaho under Garrett Anderson. In 2020 they began performing with LED Boise, helping create, in collaboration with KIN Boise, an outdoor socially distanced performance experience with diverse artists from across the country. They also choreographed “REaDy Set" for Ballet Idaho. In 2021 Tony was nominated for a Princess Grace Award.  Carnell has been dancing with Open Space in Portland, Oregon since its inception in 2021.

​

Audrey Wells / Open Space Company Artist

Audrey is originally from the Portland area where she trained at Westside Dance Academy, but she spent the last three years in Salt Lake City as a company dancer with SALT Contemporary Dance directed by Joni McDonald and Oquirrh West Project directed by Sharlee Peay. Audrey has performed the works of choreographers including Keelan Whitmore, Franco Nieto, Micaela Taylor, Ihsan Rustem, Olivier Wevers, Garrett Smith, Robert Battle, Ching Ching Wong, and Courtney Mazeika, and she recently had the pleasure of performing the work of Yin Yue in Italy with YYDC. Audrey received her BFA in dance from Marymount Manhattan College in New York City and received additional training from various programs including Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, San Francisco Conservatory, NW Dance Project, Vim Vigor Dance Company, and Parsons Dance, all of which have informed the way she interprets, performs, and creates movement. Audrey is so excited to be back in Portland dancing with Open Space! She feels constantly excited by and in awe of all of the amazing artists who are part of the Open Space family.