| June Taylor-Dixon, Co-Artistic Director |
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June Taylor-Dixon was born in Warwick, England and educated at the prestigious Pattison’s Academy of Dance and Drama in Coventry. She is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dance, the International Dance Teacher’s Association, and the Imperial Society of Dance Teachers.
Miss June danced with the Northern Ballet in England and with the Wiesbaden Stadtsopera. She performed extensively on the London musical theatre stage, and toured the world as part of a music, comedy and dance duo known as “Con and June”.
After opening a successful school in Wiesbaden, Germany, she used her unique choreography and teaching talents to create a prize winning modern jazz company under her own name. By invitation, she returns to Europe to lecture and teach for the International Dance Teacher’s Seminars. She currently owns and directs the June Taylor School of Dance and is the artistic director of NWDT.
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| Cameron Smith, Co-Artistic Director and Outreach Director |
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Born in Eugene, Oregon, Cameron grew up in the Portland area. After spending her childhood training in the Royal Academy of Dance classical ballet and jazz and tap dancing at the June Taylor School of Dance under Marjorie Soriano and June Taylor-Dixon, Cameron left Portland to pursue a ballet career. She spent a year of pre-professional training at the Goh Ballet Academy in Vancouver British Columbia under the tutelage of the Gohs and the esteemed Royal Adademy of Dance examiner Lynnette Kelley. The highlight of that year was dancing on the Palladium Theatre stage in London at the renowned international Genee competition and making it through to the finals.
Cameron was then accepted into the Houston Ballet under the directorship of Ben Stevenson where she rose to the rank of soloist. She was featured in both classical and contemporary works dancing in ballets by leading choreographers like Balanchine, Sir Kenneth Macmillan, Ben Stevenson, Glenn Tetley, Christopher Bruce, Paul Taylor, Trey McIntyre, Stanton Welch and Lila York. She then joined Ballet Memphis where she broadened her classical repertoire with such roles as Kitri in Don Quixote pas de deux and Myrta in Giselle.
Cameron then went on to dance with Ballet Florida. Here she fully recognized her artistic potential dancing Vicente Nebrada’s Cinderella and his Lento a Tempo y Appassionato, Ben Stevenson’s Four Last Songs pas de duex, Three Preludes pas de duex, Bartok Concerto pas de duex and Balanchine’s Allegro Brilliante.
Cameron is now teaching and choreographing for June Taylor’s School of Dance and Northwest Dance Theatre as Assistant Artistic Director.
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| Gretta Murray-Marchek, Ballet Mistress |
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Gretta Murray-Marchek, born in Invercargill, New Zealand began her training in the Royal Academy of Dancing method. After completing all of the examinations from Primary to Advanced, she moved to Portland to further her studies abroad.
Gretta’s pre-professional training was at Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle where she also danced with the company in many performances. She went on to dance professionally at Oregon Ballet Theatre, Burklyn Ballet Theatre and Louisville Ballet. Each company provided Gretta with a variety of style and repertoire. Roles have included The Sugar Plum Fairy from The Nutcracker, Odette from Swan Lake, Aurora and the Lilac Fairy from Sleeping Beauty. Ballets danced in include LaBayadere, Raymonda, Giselle, Romeo and Juliet, and Cinderella to name a few.
Teaching has been a part of Gretta’s dance experience starting in New Zealand at the National Ballet School, then in the United States at Burklyn Ballet Theatre, The Dance Academy, Arizona Ballet School, June Taylor’s School of Dance and NWDT.
Choreography is also one of Gretta’s loves – having won numerous awards, she continues to enjoy creating new works. Gretta’s goal in teaching is to get the most out of each student’s individual talent and to pass on the joy of dancing.
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| The Company |
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| The Company includes 22 dancers, including seven apprentice members. Most of these dancers have trained in the Royal Academy of Dance method at June Taylor's School of Dance for several years. Some dancers have been accepted into summer programs at Boston Ballet, Houston Ballet, and Burklyn Ballet. One of our dancers was recently a finalist at the prestigious Royal Academy of Dance Genee competition. Many former company members have gone on to dance with professional companies such as Houston Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, and Miami City Ballet. |
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