Viking_Yearbook_93

she m ...and dance and teach she will but perhaps not at PSU Dance instructor Tami Gray has been a part of PSU’s tradition of performing arts for 10 years. She might not be working here next year because this is the last year PSU will have a dance department. “It’s up to the whims of the wind,” she said. Her assistant professorship is up at the end of June; she is waiting to hear from the provost. Gray started taking ballet classes when she was 8 years old, studied jazz, modern, ballet and musical theater for most of her life, was teaching dance at PSU by age 22, performed in the Ten Pass dance series in New York in 1988 and got her B.S. in Theater from PSU in 1990. At 32, she balances her dance career with raising two preschool boys. Gray has taught beginning, intermediate and advanced jazz classes, Mexican Folkloric; started and directed the Repertory Company at PSU and taught several workshops. When it comes to performing, she enjoys jazz and contemporary modern dance the most. Gray has also been active choreographing and directing for many metropolitan area dance and theater companies. Danielle Malan, the producing director for the Miracle Theater, said Gray and a lot of other people in the PSU dance department have been involved with choreographing Miracle Theater productions. “She [Gray] has a real capacity for working with new and emerging talent and producing a most professional quality production,” Malan said. Miracle Theater is a Hispanic theater company that performs festival productions. The theater also has a touring production called Teatro Milagro, a teen theater group called Bridges, does film work and works closely with PSU’s Multicultural Center. “It is our hope that we can become more involved with Portland State,” Milan said. “There’s some strong individuals there.” If PSU’s dance department dies, Malan said, outside groups like Miracle Theater would come and do productions. “Then those spaces, like Shattuck 212, would be used as a community theater space,” Malan said. O Stoyt/ bjj