Conduit began in 1995 when Mary Oslund and Linda K. Johnson discovered an empty studio in the Pythian Building on SW Yamhill in downtown Portland. Conduit Core Artists, Keith Goodman, Gregg Bielemeier, Michael Menger, and Tere Mathern joined Oslund and Johnson, sharing the space for making and performing their work and teaching as independent dance artists. Conduit quickly became a hub for contemporary dance in the region.
For the last 30 years, Conduit has supported hundreds of dancers, choreographers, performers, dance students, and teachers. Conduit’s accomplishments include providing affordable space for ongoing movement investigation, dance-making, and performance, a weekly schedule of classes taught by accomplished dance artists, annual Summer Dance Intensives, work exchange opportunities, artist residencies such as its Charged Commission Project, regional, national, and international artists performing and teaching, and a range of performance platforms over the years, most prominently Dance+ - a festival of curated, fully produced performances from 2011-2015.
In 2022, after more than six years of dormancy, Conduit’s board of directors—Michael Griggs, Chisao Hata, and former artistic director Tere Mathern—enthusiastically and unanimously voted to transfer Conduit Dance, Inc. to the Shaun Keylock Company, recognizing a shared mission to advance contemporary dance. This acquisition strengthened Conduit’s transformative model, enabling SKC to attain nonprofit status while preserving more than 20 years of Portland’s dance history through Conduit’s programs.
Mathern and Shaun Keylock first connected when Keylock began taking classes at Conduit. In 2010, he participated in Conduit’s work exchange program, supporting its programs in exchange for dance classes and creative space. Over time, Keylock and Mathern developed a mentor-mentee relationship that evolved into a lasting friendship and professional collaboration. It was at Conduit that Keylock began shaping his vision for a future in dance—one that led him to earn his degree in Art History from Pacific University and establish his own dance company.
Under Keylock’s leadership, Conduit has expanded its performance capacity, presenting both the work of our founding Core Artists and Keylock’s own innovative choreography. As Conduit’s resident company, SKC is known for its distinctive visual style, at once both technically sound and radically subversive, frequently exploring the complexities of LGBTQ+ identity.
Keylock is currently developing several new projects with his company and most recently was commissioned to create a new world premiere for the 2024 Portland Jazz Festival.