Jefferson Dancers

Staff -- School Year 2010 to 2011

Biographies

Kristi Bacon (Ballet)

Ms. Bacon began studying ballet at the age of 3. She trained with the Joffrey Ballet, Boston Ballet and the Houston Ballet Academy. In 1989, at the age of seventeen, she was asked to join the Houston Ballet. Under the direction of Ben Stevenson, Kristi enjoyed a fruitful career dancing many Soloist and Principal roles. She also had the opportunity to work with many world renowned choreographers such as Jiri Kylian, Margot Fonteyn, Paul Taylor, and Sir Kenneth MacMillan. While enjoying a full performance schedule at home with Houston Ballet, the company toured throughout Europe and China. Ms. Bacon also filmed several works for Danmarks Radio in Aarhus, Denmark.

In 1996, Ms. Bacon joined the Oregon Ballet Theatre. During her tenure with the company, she danced Principal roles in The Nutcracker, Giselle, Romeo and Juliet, Serenade, Alice in Wonderland, and many others.

After leaving Oregon Ballet Theatre in 2003, Ms. Bacon enjoyed dancing with the multimedia modern dance company, Bodyvox.

For the past 5 years, Ms. Bacon has taught ballet throughout the Portland and Vancouver area. She has a passion for teaching dance and is thrilled to be able to share the gift of movement with others. She feels extremely grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the amazing dance program at Jefferson High School. [back to the top] 

Lori Dones (Company Manager)

Ms. Dones is the Company Manager for the Jefferson Dancers. She was a parent volunteer with the company for the past 5 years. She has worked for the last 16 years for Westside Dance & Gymnastics Academy as their Accounting Manager & HR director. The last 20 years of her life have been surrounded by dancers of all ages. Ms. Dones is proud of her son, Lex who was a former Jefferson Dancer and is a member with the Luna Negra Dance Company in Chicago. Her daughter Autumn currently lives New York City and dances with Broadway Dance Center. Since her “dancers” have grown up and moved on, she continues to be a part of the dancing community and loves all the kids like they were her own. She wishes to say “Group High Five” to all the Jefferson Dancers! [back to the top] 

Annie Ellett (Tap)

Anne has been a tap instructor in the Jefferson Magnet Performing Arts Program for over 25 years and has also taught in almost every Middle School in the PPS. She has felt extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to be a part of this incredible program and loves teaching her students. She is the owner of Anne's Dance Studio, where she teaches Tap and Jazz to younger students.

Anne is the Director and Choreographer for the Centennial Hi Cs Dance Team, which has been State Champions nine times. Anne was past Chairperson for the Oregon Dance Drill Coaches Association twice and was a member of the Board for over 25 years. She was selected and received Oregon's first "Coach of the Year" Award in 1994. She has judged competitions in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Utah and California.

Anne has her B.S. in Physical Education and Health and her M.S. in Counseling Education from Portland State University. She has been married to Mick Ellett for 38 years and they have two married children, Jenn and Justin. [back to the top] 

Steve Gonzales (Artistic Director-The Jefferson Dancers / Jazz / Ballet)

Mr.Gonzales, a native of Hawaii, began dancing and acting at Jefferson Performing and Visual Arts High School in Portland,Oregon, under the direction of Mary Vinton Folberg in 1983. He performed with the Jefferson Dancers for three years then went on to dance with Pacific Ballet Theatre (now Oregon Ballet Theatre) in 1986.

Mr. Gonzales continued his dance training at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he was a member of the Second Avenue Dance Company. At NYU, he worked with directors and choreographers such as Kevin Wynn, Elisa Monte and Stephen Petronio. He also choreographed several pieces for Second Avenue Dance Company members and collaborated with other choreographers at NYU. He also performed Charles Wiedman’s role in the Humphrey-Wiedman retrospective performance of New Dance Variations and Conclusions, presentedat the Danny Kale Playhouse in New York. He began dancing with MOMIX Dance Theatre just days after graduating from NYU in1994.

Under the direction of Moses Pendleton, he has been performing the company’s entire repertoire all over Europe, Canada,South America, Australia, Israel, Greece, Russia, Japan and the United States, including their annual season at the Joyce Theatre in New York. In addition to performing with MOMIX, he has also been teaching master classes worldwide, performed live for several television shows in Spain, Italy, Germany, and for the BBC in London. He has appeared in numerous fashion magazines, and has assumed the responsibilities of rehearsal director, choreographer and company spokesperson to ambassadors and dignitaries around the world.

Mr. Gonzales was featured in Michael Curry’s World Premiere Production of Spirits in 2001. He worked closely with choreographers Moses Pendleton, David Parsons, Trey McIntyre, Jamey Hampton, Ashley Roland and Sylvia Hase.

In 2003, Mr. Gonzales was featured in the 70th anniversary of Jacob’s Pillow, where he performed in Moses Pendleton’s full-length of Passion.

In the summer of 2007 Mr. Gonzales had the wonderful opportunity to tour with MOMIX again performing Passion all over Italy.

As the artistic director of The Jefferson Dancers, Mr. Gonzales has taken the company to a whole new level. In addition to bringing in cutting-edge choreographers, he has set new and exciting works on the company, including Rhythm is the Key, Primitive, Cancao Do Mar, Eye of RA, Time Signatures, IMPACT, Aquatique and Tantango, which were recently performed in the gala concerts at the National High School Dance Festivals in Long Beach, CA, Miami, FL, and Philadelphia, PA. He credits the program at Jefferson with exposing him to the dance world, and ultimately launching his career. He is determined to see the program flourish to its greatest potential, and dedicated to ensuring that the Jefferson Dancers will continue to influence generations to come. [back to the top] 

John Lansing (Audio technician)

Mr. Lansing is the resident audio technician for the Jefferson Dancers and the Dance Department at Jefferson High School. He is also a professional singer, songwriter and composer of award winning jingles and music for local and nationally broadcast radio and TV advertisements. [back to the top] 

Earlene Munnerlyn (Costuming)

Ms. Munnerlyn is the resident costume designer at Jefferson High School. She has learned to sew from an early age from her mother. She has been sewing professionally for 30 years. Besides costuming for Jefferson students, local dance studios and other high schools, she also does dressmaking and interior design work. Some of her award winning costumes have traveled to Florida, Los Angles, Reno, Las Vegas, Japan and France. She particularly enjoys working with the Jefferson Dancers because it allows her to do two of her favorite things – sewing and mothering. Ms. Munnerlyn is also a proud of her daughter Marcie who was a former Jefferson Dancer and is a member with the Merce Cunninghan Dance Company in New York. [back to the top] 

Melissa St. Clair(Modern)

Melissa St. Clair is the modern dance teacher at Jefferson High School. She received her training at the Ailey school in NY, Rine Woodbury, UT and was a full scholarship student at Jacob’s Pillow in Lee, MA. Ms. St. Clair danced with the Company We Keep here in OR, V.K. Martin Dance Company, Broadway Dinner Theatre in CA, and the Ford Foundation Grant in Alaska. She was also the artistic director of American Dance Theatre in OR.

Ms. St. Clair has taught in many venues including Oregon Ballet Theatre, Portland State University, University of Portland, Pacific University and Dancers Workshops in OR and was a guest teacher in Japan at Mariko Dance Theatre and Goethe Institute Kansai. Ms. St. Clair has choreographed many works for her students over the last 20 years at Jefferson. She was also a Star choreographer for Oregon Ballet Theatre, Tygers Heart Shakespeare Co., Dallas Texas Arts Conference and Tyee Video Productions. Ms St. Clair was featured in Who’s Who Among Americas Teachers in 1996, 1998 and 2005. She was also recognized in Cambridge’s Who’s Who among Professional Women Teachers in Education in 2006. Ms St. Clair has also produced a Dance Training DVD - Contemporary Dance with Les Watanabe and MADD Productions. [back to the top] 

Derelle Walker (African) 

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