June Taylor-Dixon
School Founder and Artistic Director
June Taylor-Dixon began her formal ballet training in Coventry, England at the Pattison’s Academy of Dance and Drama. Pattison’s Academy merged academic studies with extensive performing art education. Upon the completion of her rigorous training, she graduated as an Associate of the following: Cecchetti Ballet Society, Royal Academy of Dance, International Dance Teacher’s Association, and the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance. She then began her professional career, first dancing in a small company in England, then continuing her career with musical theater productions in the west end of London. Later, she toured as a musical theater dance and comedy duo, eventually going on to dance with the Wiesbaden Stadtsopera company in Germany.
Upon retiring from the stage, she chose to teach what she loved. She underwent further training as a teacher, and received teaching certificates from the Royal Academy of Dance, the International Dance Teacher’s Association and the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance. She then founded a school and opened a pre-professional jazz company in Wiesbaden, Germany. As the artistic director and founder of her school, she offered a strong curriculum based in the Royal Academy of Dance and Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance modern syllabus. Under her tutelage, fourteen of her students became associates of the International Dance Teacher’s Association. Many of them later went on to teach and open their own dance schools.
In 1983, Miss June moved to Portland, Oregon to be married to Wayne Dixon. Following her passion for dance education, she founded June Taylor’s School of Dance in 1984. Her keen eye for detail and heartfelt devotion to her students are only a few of the reasons her studio is the prestigious school it is today. Many of her students have gone on to dance in professional ballet companies (American Ballet Theater, Ballet Idaho, Colorado Ballet, Eugene Ballet, Greensboro Ballet, Houston Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theater and Pacific Northwest Ballet), compete as finalists in international ballet competitions, and gain acceptance to distinguished schools (The Australian Ballet School, The Banff Centre, Carolina School of the Arts, Goh Ballet Academy, Houston Ballet Academy, Indiana University, School of Oregon Ballet, and Suny Purchase).
Gretta Murray-Marchek
Ballet
Gretta Murray-Marchek, born in Invercargill, New Zealand began her training in the Royal Academy of Dance method. After completing all of the examinations from Primary to Advanced she moved to Portland, Oregon to further her studies abroad. Gretta’s pre-professional training was at Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle, WA where she also danced with the company in many performances. On to Oregon Ballet Theatre, dancing professionally then Burklyn Ballet Theatre and Louisville Ballet, each company providing a variety of styles and repertoire. Roles have included The Sugar Plum Fairy from the Nutcracker, Odette from Swan Lake and Aurora and the Lilac Fairy from The Sleeping Beauty. Ballets danced include La Bayadere, Raymonda, Giselle, Romeo and Juliet and Cinderella to name a few. Teaching has been a part of all this dancing starting in New Zealand at the National Ballet School then in the United States at Burklyn Ballet Theatre, The Dance Academy, Arizona Ballet School and now June Taylor’ s School of Dance. 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!
Cameron Smith
Ballet and Jazz
Cameron Smith hails from Portland, Oregon where she was trained in the Royal Academy of Dance method under Marjorie Soriano. Ms. Smith also trained extensively in tap and jazz at June Taylor’s School of Dance in conjunction with her technical ballet training. Ms. Smith has had an impressive professional dance career spanning fourteen years. She has danced as a soloist with Houston Ballet, principal with Ballet Memphis and principal with Ballet Florida. In her career she danced a wide range of both contemporary and classical roles by some of he dance worlds most renowned choreographers like Glenn Tetley, Paul Taylor, George Balanchine, Ben Stevenson, Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Christopher Bruce, William Forsythe, James Kudelka, Trey McIntyre, Stanton Welch, Vicente Nebrada, Lila York, Mark Godden, Sean Lavery and Peter Martins. Ms. Smith has been teaching since she herself was a student. She has been involved in teaching programs throughout her dance career at Houston Ballet Academy, Ballet Memphis School, at studios throughout South Florida and at the New American Youth Ballet and Conservatory. She has choreographed for Ballet Florida Step Ahead, Northwest Dance Theatre and for Jupiter Dance Academy. In addition to teaching at June Taylor’s School of Dance, Ms. Smith is also the assistant artistic director of Northwest Dance Theatre. She is please to be back in the Portland area to share her experience and knowledge with the future dancers of tomorrow.
Rachel Fleming
RAD Registered Teacher
Ballet, Tap and Jazz
Rachel Fleming is a native of Portland, OR where she studied ballet (R.A.D.), classical jazz and tap with June Taylor-Dixon from the age of 7. In addition to her studies at June Taylor’s School of Dance, Rachel continued her dance training at the University of Oregon and San Jose State University and has worked with tap mentors Lou and Patti Richards and Janet Descutner. Rachel has received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Dance from the University of Oregon and is a certified Royal Academy of Dance teaching member. She has performed with Santa Clara Ballet, University of Oregon Repertory Dance Company and Northwest Dance Theatre. In May 2002, she received the Outstanding Leadership in Service to Dance Award for her involvement with Dance Oregon, a dance organization at the University of Oregon, where Rachel acted as fundraising coordinator from 1999-2000 and director from 2000-2002. Aside from her love for teaching, Rachel is a member of the Skylark Tappers, a Portland tap company. Rachel has been teaching at June Taylor’s School of Dance since 2002.
Laura Green
RAD Registered Teacher
Ballet
Laura Green, born in Beaverton, Oregon, began her dance training at June Taylor’ s School of Dance at the age of 12. She has completed Grades 3 through 8 of the Royal Academy of Dance examinations as well as Intermediate through Advanced 1 of the RAD Vocational exams. She is currently working towards her Advanced 2. Miss Laura has been teaching ballet at June Taylor’s since 2005 and received her Royal Academy of Dance Teaching Certification in October 2008. In addition, Miss Laura has been teaching beginning Tap, Ballet, and Creative Movement at the Conestoga Recreation Center in Beaverton since 2006. She has taught from ages two to eleven and has lead and co-taught a number of dance camps over the summer for the Parks and Recreation Center. Miss Laura currently dances with Northwest Dance Theatre and has performed in Coppelia, Alice in Wonderland, Les Sylphides, Paquita, La Bayadere and the Nutcracker.
Laura Haney
Jazz – Pilates
(Blaine Covert photo)
Laura Haney attended Walnut Hill school for the Arts in Natick, MA where she studied dance and music. She was a member of River North dance company and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, toured nationally as a featured performer in the Broadway show “Fosse” and was a cast member of the Broadway musical ‘A Christmas Carol’ for two seasons. Laura was a company member of BodyVox from 2005-2008 and most recently performed in Lane Hunter Dance’s ‘The Beginning is Near’ and ‘PSYkO’. She is a Stott-certified Pilates instructor and has taught numerous dance workshops and master classes across the country. Laura currently directs the dance program and student company at Multnomah Athletic Club.
Rebecca Hasler
RAD Registered Teacher
Ballet – Jazz
Rebecca Hasler began her dance training at June Taylor’s School of Dance at age 11. She completed her Royal Academy Grade exams and went on to Vocational exams, successfully passing her Intermediate Foundation through to Advanced 1. She was accepted into Northwest Dance Theatre and danced in Coppelia, Alice in Wonderland, Les Sylphide and Snow Queen in the Nutcracker.
In 2006 she decided to pursue a teaching career and enrolled in the Royal Academy of Dance for two years teaching program with June Taylor-Dixon as her mentor. In 2008 she gained her teaching diploma and was invited to teach at the Regional School of Ballet in Corvallis where she taught classes of every age level as well as beginning and intermediate Jazz, beginning Pointe, and adult ballet. On top of dance instruction, she took on the responsibilities of office manager while helping to coordinate and choreograph for the Nutcracker and Spring recital. In the Fall of 2010, Rebecca returned to the Portland area and is thrilled to be teaching at June Taylor’s School of Dance again.
Gail Bruner
Yoga
Gail’s yoga practice draws from 6 years of Ashtanga experience and 12 years of Iyengar classes and workshops with Julie Lawrence, Rodney Yee, Gay White, Donald Moyer, John Schumacher, Richard Freeman, Richard Miller, Jane Carlson, Gabriella Giubilaro, Rebecca
Lerner and Patricia Walden. She spent Fall 2010 in a Teacher Development program learning about the Iyengar tradition.
Gail is a competitive gymnast with over 25 years of teaching experience. She has a B.S. in Human Services and Therapeutic Recreation and a Teaching Certificate in Elementary Education.
Guest Teachers
Jessica Zisa
Ballet
Jessica Zisa began her Royal Academy of Dance training at June Taylor’s School of Dance, where she completed her Grade 3 through Advanced 2 examinations with Distinction under the instruction of June Taylor-Dixon. In 2002, she went on to continue her professional dance training at the Goh Ballet Academy in Vancouver, B.C. She performed extensively with the Goh Ballet Company through China and British Columbia. She began dancing professionally with Colorado Ballet in 2005. She later went on to dance with Eugene Ballet and Ballet Idaho, and in 2009 began teaching at Ballet Idaho. Miss Jessica returned to Portland, and began teaching at June Taylor’s School of Dance in 2010. Miss Jessica currently teaches ballet and serves as social media and public relations coordinator for June Taylor’s School of Dance. She is also pursuing a Bachelor degree in English Literature with a minor in Public Relations at Marylhurst University. Miss Jessica has a great passion for dance and art education, and is honored to share her love of dance with the community. Jessica still makes guest appearances as a dancer, and in 2009/2010 danced tha Sugar Plum Fairy in Northwest Dance Theatre’s Nutcracker.
And…..by special request
Alice May – the calico cat!
Given to Miss June by the Kritler family after June Taylor’s School of Dance production of “Alice in Wonderland” in 2008, Alice has been the source of Love, Inspiration and Motivation for many years.
