Polaris Dance Theatre Announces 2015/16 Dance Company

Tuesday, September 08, 2015

Briauna Skye McKizzie, GoLocalPDX Contributor

This week, the Polaris Dance Company proudly announced the names of their 2015/16 dance company.

Joining the company, are Brittain Jarrett Jackson and Melanie Verna.

Jackson hails from the East Coast and began his training at the Duke Ellington School for the Arts. He later graduated in 2006 from Purchase College Conservatory of Dance and has performed with Reflections Dance Company, Northwest Dance Project, and Fresco Dance Company, to name just a few of his credentials.

Meanwhile, Melanie Verna trained at Graham Technique located in Knoxville, Tennessee. Eventually, Verna went on to win the Coca-Cola scholarship with the American Ballet Theatre’s summer program, and she also became a principal artist with the Minnesota Dance Theatre in 2007.

Today, both Verna and Jackson are thrilled to call Polaris their new dance home.

Welcoming Melanie Verna and Brittain Jarrett Jackson are the returning company dancers at Polaris. The returning dancers are Kieraqumil Brinkley, Jenny Dubac, Chase Hamilton, Kateryna Mindova, Julia Ostrovskaia, Tia Zapp Palomino, M’Liss Quinnly, Gerard Regot, Blake Seidel, and Jana Tripp.

Polaris Dance Theatre is a nonprofit founded by Sara Anderson and Robert Guitron. The theatre consists of the Polaris Dance Center and the Polaris Dance Company.

Since 2002, the center has offered classes to over 850 students.

While the dance center teaches classes from hip-hop to tap to ballet, Artistic Director, Robert Guitron, choreographs contemporary dances for the company that are inspired by aerial, hip-hop, African, and Latin influences.

To view the company’s upcoming season click HERE.

Polaris Dance Theatre, 1826 NW 18th Ave.

Related Slideshow: Oregon Ballet Theatre’s Opulent Cinderella Ball

This year, Oregon Ballet Theatre kicked off a month celebrating the company premiere of Ben Stevenson's "Cinderella" - running February 28 through March 7 at the Keller Auditorium - with an opulent "Cinderella Ball" at the Eastside Exchange Building in Northeast Portland.

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"Ugly Stepsisters"

Oregon Ballet Theatre kicked off a month celebrating the company premiere of Ben Stevenson's "Cinderella" - running February 28 through March 7 at the Keller Auditorium - with an opulent "Cinderella Ball" at the Eastside Exchange Building in Northeast Portland. Pictured here are Cinderella's well-coiffed Ugly Stepsisters.

Photo by Travis Nodurft.