James Healey

James Healey, a native of Grants Pass, Oregon, received a BA from the University of Nevada–Las Vegas. James has been an adjunct professor at Pacific University (Forest Grove, Oregon) and an assistant coach and choreographer for the Canby High School Dance Team (Canby, Oregon) for over a decade. James is primarily a modern and contemporary choreographer, often a choreographer for the Pacific Dance Ensemble, and has led the Canby High School Dance Team to several Oregon State Athletic Association (OSAA) state championships in the Show Division, as well as Modern and Contemporary Category championship awards.  James finds the path that dancers take from high school environments to college refinement a rewarding and beautiful journey to mentor and guide.

Before returning to Oregon in 2013, James was a founding member of Shen Wei Dance Arts in New York (2000), where he served as a lead dancer and rehearsal director for over ten years. During his time with Shen Wei, James experienced the creation and refinement of Shen Wei’s “natural body development technique” and was among the original cast for many of Shen Wei’s groundbreaking works, including Near the Terrace, Rite of Spring, and Connect Transfer. James has been sought out nationally for his excellence in teaching and choreography. Other teaching engagements have included dance faculty at the Governor's School of North Carolina, guest artist at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Rutgers University, and Reed College in Oregon. Other professional performance credits include dancer and acrobat in Imagine at the Luxor in Las Vegas, Nevada, dancer with Malashock Dance in San Diego, California, dancer with Skinner/Kirk Dance, performer at the Portland Institute of Contemporary Art's TBA Festival with Ten Tiny Dances, and a New Expressive Works Artist Residency.