Newport School of Artistic Movement
Newport School of Artistic Movement / Pacific Dance Ensemble, 454 SW 7th Street, Newport, OR 97365
About
Newport School of Artistic Movement offers classes in ballet, modern dance, jazz, African dance, Pilates, Qigong, yoga, creative movement, choreography, improvisations, dance games, and lecture demonstrations. For the littlest dancers, the program includes creative movement that incorporates basic ballet and modern dance, fun choreography, and an introduction to dance terminology. Dancers progress through leveled classes that focus mainly on ballet and modern dance techniques and also incorporate jazz and African dance, Pilates, Qigong, and yoga, with all classes including improvisations or “dance games.”
• Ages: 3–18 years old
Newport School of Artistic Movement is led by founding director and director Nancy Mittleman. The founding director has been training dancers from preschool to professional for over 45 years, and director Nancy Mittleman has been training dancers from preschool to professional for over 40 years. Mittleman specializes in developing both technical expertise, stylistic versatility and individuality in the dancers she trains and is known for a holistic approach to dance that integrates science, art, literature, music, math and more into lessons and choreography. All classes include improvisations or “dance games,” which increase students’ awareness of the power of “body language,” while enriching and developing their creativity, acting abilities and choreographic skills, and improvisation exercises encourage students to work collaboratively and help develop problem solving and leadership skills. Variations from famous choreographers are incorporated into the curriculum, and classes are designed to develop the student’s technical skills and spark their creativity through a process of exploration and discovery. Students of Newport School of Artistic Movement have gone on to study and perform at institutions and companies such as Juilliard, Mark Morris Dance Group, The Jose Limon Dance, Martha Graham Studio, San Francisco Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet, among others listed.
Pacific Dance Ensemble (PDE) is a non-profit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization that grew out of a smaller company of adult dancers directed by Mittleman, in an effort to expand opportunities available to younger students at Newport School of Artistic Movement who are interested in dance as a career. PDE is dedicated to providing young dancers interested in dance as a career the opportunity to work and perform with professional artists, produce original works and showcase their talents. PDE members are chosen through yearly auditions, and dancers are chosen through auditions and are expected to live up to the high standards of the company. All PDE members contribute to choreography in addition to dancing the choreography of others, including guest artists, and members research themes being developed into dances, drawn from literature, science, history, multi-cultural folklore and contemporary issues. Mittleman often uses improvisation as a means of developing choreography, with input from all the dancers, and collaborative choreography is a mainstay of PDE’s workings. Choreography involves dancers of multiple ages, and PDE collaborates regularly with various dance, theatre, and orchestral companies.
PDE produces two to four shows per year, including “Dances from the Heart,” a free performance and benefit auction offered to the public free of charge, and “Family Classics,” a yearly spring performance focusing on literary classics that features PDE dancers in the main roles supported by students from Newport School of Artistic Movement. Monies from “Dances from the Heart” over and beyond the cost of producing the show go to PDE field trips and scholarships. All narrations for “Family Classics” are original adaptations written by Mittleman and narrated by professional actors, and all shows employ professional set, costume and lighting designers.
PDE had a cultural exchange program with the Toshitsuna Company from Tokyo, Japan from 1990–2003, rotating in 2- or 3-year cycles in which the Toshitsuna Ensemble came to Newport, and PDE also went to Mombetsu, Newport’s sister city, as Newport’s first student Ambassadors to travel there and perform. PDE has done lecture-demonstrations in schools throughout Lincoln County and has worked with the Lincoln County School District on various projects integrating the literary and performing arts. PDE is committed to bringing cultural enrichment and education to both the dance community and the community at large, takes members to performances in other cities to see internationally acclaimed dance companies, and supplies tickets and transportation. PDE scholarships are available for PDE dancers to audition for schools of higher learning, conservatories and companies.
Awards connected with this work include an Honorary Award from the Oregon Arts Commission for 20 years of excellence in dance education, Oregon Dance Association’s “History in the Making” award to Mittleman in 1989, and numerous awards from the Oregon Coast Council for the Arts (1993, 1997, 2016), The Confederated Tribes of Siletz and Georgia-Pacific. In 1986, the company expanded to include dancers ages 10 through adult.
Last updated December 29, 2025.
• Ages: 3–18 years old
Newport School of Artistic Movement is led by founding director and director Nancy Mittleman. The founding director has been training dancers from preschool to professional for over 45 years, and director Nancy Mittleman has been training dancers from preschool to professional for over 40 years. Mittleman specializes in developing both technical expertise, stylistic versatility and individuality in the dancers she trains and is known for a holistic approach to dance that integrates science, art, literature, music, math and more into lessons and choreography. All classes include improvisations or “dance games,” which increase students’ awareness of the power of “body language,” while enriching and developing their creativity, acting abilities and choreographic skills, and improvisation exercises encourage students to work collaboratively and help develop problem solving and leadership skills. Variations from famous choreographers are incorporated into the curriculum, and classes are designed to develop the student’s technical skills and spark their creativity through a process of exploration and discovery. Students of Newport School of Artistic Movement have gone on to study and perform at institutions and companies such as Juilliard, Mark Morris Dance Group, The Jose Limon Dance, Martha Graham Studio, San Francisco Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet, among others listed.
Pacific Dance Ensemble (PDE) is a non-profit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization that grew out of a smaller company of adult dancers directed by Mittleman, in an effort to expand opportunities available to younger students at Newport School of Artistic Movement who are interested in dance as a career. PDE is dedicated to providing young dancers interested in dance as a career the opportunity to work and perform with professional artists, produce original works and showcase their talents. PDE members are chosen through yearly auditions, and dancers are chosen through auditions and are expected to live up to the high standards of the company. All PDE members contribute to choreography in addition to dancing the choreography of others, including guest artists, and members research themes being developed into dances, drawn from literature, science, history, multi-cultural folklore and contemporary issues. Mittleman often uses improvisation as a means of developing choreography, with input from all the dancers, and collaborative choreography is a mainstay of PDE’s workings. Choreography involves dancers of multiple ages, and PDE collaborates regularly with various dance, theatre, and orchestral companies.
PDE produces two to four shows per year, including “Dances from the Heart,” a free performance and benefit auction offered to the public free of charge, and “Family Classics,” a yearly spring performance focusing on literary classics that features PDE dancers in the main roles supported by students from Newport School of Artistic Movement. Monies from “Dances from the Heart” over and beyond the cost of producing the show go to PDE field trips and scholarships. All narrations for “Family Classics” are original adaptations written by Mittleman and narrated by professional actors, and all shows employ professional set, costume and lighting designers.
PDE had a cultural exchange program with the Toshitsuna Company from Tokyo, Japan from 1990–2003, rotating in 2- or 3-year cycles in which the Toshitsuna Ensemble came to Newport, and PDE also went to Mombetsu, Newport’s sister city, as Newport’s first student Ambassadors to travel there and perform. PDE has done lecture-demonstrations in schools throughout Lincoln County and has worked with the Lincoln County School District on various projects integrating the literary and performing arts. PDE is committed to bringing cultural enrichment and education to both the dance community and the community at large, takes members to performances in other cities to see internationally acclaimed dance companies, and supplies tickets and transportation. PDE scholarships are available for PDE dancers to audition for schools of higher learning, conservatories and companies.
Awards connected with this work include an Honorary Award from the Oregon Arts Commission for 20 years of excellence in dance education, Oregon Dance Association’s “History in the Making” award to Mittleman in 1989, and numerous awards from the Oregon Coast Council for the Arts (1993, 1997, 2016), The Confederated Tribes of Siletz and Georgia-Pacific. In 1986, the company expanded to include dancers ages 10 through adult.
Last updated December 29, 2025.
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