Shaun Keylock ’15 Aquires Conduit Dance, Inc.

Shaun Keylock Company (SKC), a leading contemporary dance company in the Northwest owned by Shaun Keylock ’15, merged with Conduit Dance, Inc, in September 2022.

The merger combines two prominent contemporary dance studios in Portland, Ore., and their shared mission to advance contemporary dance and preserve its history.

SKC shares Conduit’s mission to advance contemporary dance while fostering an exchange of ideas between artists and communities. The company is known for its distinctive visual style, which is both technically sound and radically subversive, often exploring the many facets of LGBTQ+ identity. SKC’s first full-length production was developed through a 2019 New Expressive Works artist residency.

In 2019, SKC also began building national recognition receiving the White Bird Dance Barney Creative Prize for “New Voices in Dance '' and touring to Houston to be presented at the annual Barnstorm Dance Festival. SKC is currently developing several new projects, including staging the U.S. debut of When the Sun Comes Out, a queer chamber opera.

SKC will bring the perspective of Conduit’s history and impact to its work, finding new ways to carry that work forward, placing marginalized artists, contemporary issues, and unique and radical experiences at its heart.