Kendra Portier

Kendra Portier is a dance artist, recognized for her contributions to the dance field as a choreographer, improviser, performer, and educator. With a reputation for rigorous creative inquiry and poeticism, Portier’s work lives in embodied research, honed through choreographic processes that shape thought, emotion, and color into felt physical action.

Born at home, on the land of the Hopewell people, Portier has taught and performed globally from San Diego to Salzburg, Dushanbe to Athens (Greece, Georgia, and Ohio). Her teaching methodology and style, distinguished by her sense of transformation and vibrance, have garnered a substantial following, leading to engagements with prestigious dance programs, festivals, and over thirty educational commissions.

Her formative training began in classical ballet, Dunham, and flamenco, expanding to include experimental dance-theater, postmodern works, and improvisational performance. Attracted to the creative and physical demands of collaborating in diverse processes, she has worked with an array of artists and companies, including a decade-long tenure with David Dorfman Dance, where she served as a senior company member in additional leadership capacities. Most recently, Portier performed in “COMMUNION” directed by Janessa Clark, “Salt and Spirit” directed by Jasmine Hearn, and “The March!,” a trisection choreography created by Annie-B Parsons, Donna Uchizono, and Tendayi Kuumba. Her current creative research includes the Pantone Variations and “red dirt glitter” (working title).

Drawing from her visual arts practice and evolving through collaborative processes, Portier’s interdisciplinary research culminates in performance. Merging artistic mediums, she brings together independent, multi-hyphenate artists to create original solo and ensemble choreographies. Her current body of work explores themes of color and ecology, producing recent works such as "untitled vital glacier," "And with This Lies the Need to Be Together," "Burnish #08," and "Elegy for Mary." Her work has been presented and supported by Bates Dance Festival (ME), Dance New Amsterdam (NY), DanceNow (NYC), DancePlace (D.C.), Dixon Place (NY), The Field Center (VT), Gowanus Arts+Production (NY), Lion's Jaw Festival (MA), and Zenon Dance Company (MN), among many others, including numerous educational commissions.

Portier holds a B.F.A. in dance with honors from The Ohio State University and an M.F.A. in dance from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Initially joining the UMD faculty as the artist in residence in dance, Portier is currently an assistant professor in TDPS, where she is awarded the Maya Brin Endowed Professorship in dance.