The School at Open Space
Disjecta Studio at Oregon Center for Contemporary Art, 8371 N Interstate Ave, Portland, OR 97217
About
The School at Open Space offers regular weekly classes in ballet, pointe, contemporary, jazz technique, and creative movement, along with additional weekend workshops in choreography, somatics, and hip-hop. The program includes ongoing rehearsals, performances, and educational seminars, with performances that range from ticketed theater events to site-specific outdoor performances and interactive experiences.
• Ages: 2–18 years old
Open Space was born in 2020 as a nonprofit dance organization that nurtures dancers of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds. The School at Open Space offers professional dance training and fosters artistic development through collaboration, inclusiveness and performance, and operates in partnership with the performing company, faculty and students along with their families. Open Space is described as a creative container for dance and movement where every body is welcome, and it is building a space where everyone feels encouraged to speak through movement.
The School at Open Space enrolls over 200 young dancers and offers $55,000+ in scholarships annually, with scholarships based on financial need, merit and creating a diverse student body, and states that no student is turned away due to financial need. Adult open classes welcome the wider community, 25% of adult open class offerings are free of charge, and judgment-free, community-based open classes are available for movers of all backgrounds and experience levels ages 14 and up. Open Space brings together contemporary dance artists from Portland for an interdisciplinary approach that harnesses the creativity of artists from many backgrounds.
The School at Open Space is led by co-founders Franco Nieto (Artistic Director), Charlene Hannibal (Executive Director), and Maeve Dougal (Director of Education / Education Director), with additional leadership from Programs Manager and Company Artist Annie Borden and School Manager Mara Hays. Princess Grace Award winner Franco Nieto was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, spent 10 years as a principal dancer with NW Dance Project in Portland, Oregon, and holds a BFA in Jazz from Point Park University. Charlene Hannibal trained for over a decade at The School of Oregon Ballet Theatre before joining Oregon Ballet Theatre as an apprentice, danced professionally with Company C Contemporary Ballet, The Oakland Ballet, Imagery and Berkeley City Ballet, is a classically trained pianist, holds an English degree from UC Berkeley, became a certified yoga instructor in Pahoa, Hawaii in 2001, and in 2011 became a posture coach after extensive study with posture specialist Esther Gokhale. Maeve Dougal holds an MA in Dance Education/ABT Ballet Pedagogy from New York University and a BFA in Dance from Utah Valley University, serves on the Artistic Board of Examiners for American Ballet Theatre’s National Training Curriculum, and is an ABT Teaching Fellow who has completed the ABT Teacher Training Intensive in Primary through Level 7 and Partnering.
Open Space Too is a two-year pre-professional program for dancers 18 and older that includes 30+ hours of weekly classes, performance opportunities, and mentorship. The School at Open Space asks students to arrive dressed for class whenever possible to avoid crowding restrooms, provides refill stations in both studios and asks dancers to bring a reusable water container, requires dancers at The Station to remove shoes before stepping onto the dance floor, and directs students at Disjecta to walk only through hallways and not enter gallery spaces. A student described The School at Open Space by saying, “I would not think of it as a place, I would think of it as the people in the place.”
Last updated April 5, 2026.
• Ages: 2–18 years old
Open Space was born in 2020 as a nonprofit dance organization that nurtures dancers of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds. The School at Open Space offers professional dance training and fosters artistic development through collaboration, inclusiveness and performance, and operates in partnership with the performing company, faculty and students along with their families. Open Space is described as a creative container for dance and movement where every body is welcome, and it is building a space where everyone feels encouraged to speak through movement.
The School at Open Space enrolls over 200 young dancers and offers $55,000+ in scholarships annually, with scholarships based on financial need, merit and creating a diverse student body, and states that no student is turned away due to financial need. Adult open classes welcome the wider community, 25% of adult open class offerings are free of charge, and judgment-free, community-based open classes are available for movers of all backgrounds and experience levels ages 14 and up. Open Space brings together contemporary dance artists from Portland for an interdisciplinary approach that harnesses the creativity of artists from many backgrounds.
The School at Open Space is led by co-founders Franco Nieto (Artistic Director), Charlene Hannibal (Executive Director), and Maeve Dougal (Director of Education / Education Director), with additional leadership from Programs Manager and Company Artist Annie Borden and School Manager Mara Hays. Princess Grace Award winner Franco Nieto was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, spent 10 years as a principal dancer with NW Dance Project in Portland, Oregon, and holds a BFA in Jazz from Point Park University. Charlene Hannibal trained for over a decade at The School of Oregon Ballet Theatre before joining Oregon Ballet Theatre as an apprentice, danced professionally with Company C Contemporary Ballet, The Oakland Ballet, Imagery and Berkeley City Ballet, is a classically trained pianist, holds an English degree from UC Berkeley, became a certified yoga instructor in Pahoa, Hawaii in 2001, and in 2011 became a posture coach after extensive study with posture specialist Esther Gokhale. Maeve Dougal holds an MA in Dance Education/ABT Ballet Pedagogy from New York University and a BFA in Dance from Utah Valley University, serves on the Artistic Board of Examiners for American Ballet Theatre’s National Training Curriculum, and is an ABT Teaching Fellow who has completed the ABT Teacher Training Intensive in Primary through Level 7 and Partnering.
Open Space Too is a two-year pre-professional program for dancers 18 and older that includes 30+ hours of weekly classes, performance opportunities, and mentorship. The School at Open Space asks students to arrive dressed for class whenever possible to avoid crowding restrooms, provides refill stations in both studios and asks dancers to bring a reusable water container, requires dancers at The Station to remove shoes before stepping onto the dance floor, and directs students at Disjecta to walk only through hallways and not enter gallery spaces. A student described The School at Open Space by saying, “I would not think of it as a place, I would think of it as the people in the place.”
Last updated April 5, 2026.
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