Elizabeth Whelan

Elizabeth Whelan is a movement-based artist based in Portland. As a freelance dancer and choreographer, she has presented work through the Regional Arts and Culture Council’s Night Lights, Downright Productions’ Amorphous, Polaris Dance Theater’s Galaxy Festival, Performance Works Northwest and FLOOR Center for Dance. Prior to Portland, Beth completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance at George Mason University and freelanced in Washington, DC, and Philadelphia. Her writing on dance is published in Philadelphia’s The Dance Journal and Oregon ArtsWatch. In her beloved free time, Elizabeth enjoys spending time in nature on her bike, listening to music, and drinking a good cup of coffee with her cat. See her work at beth-whelan.com 

‘Kalyana Mitra’: A dance of friendship

April 30, 2025Elizabeth Whelan

Subashini Ganesan-Forbes' new work, performed with Angela Mazziotta and Jordan Isadore, embraces Buddhist concepts and blends Bharatanatyam and contemporary movement.

Dance review: Deep dives into the NEW

December 9, 2024Elizabeth Whelan

After six months in residence at New Expressive Works, dancemakers Sean Hoskins, Jessica Post, Jaime Belden, Katherine Longstreth, and Jordan Isadore perform the works they created.

Dance Preview: Women Choreographers of the Pacific Northwest

May 13, 2024Elizabeth Whelan

A new four-day showcase of talented and innovative women choreographers from Oregon and Washington features both live dance performances and films.

Dance Review: Rejoice! Diaspora Dance Theater’s ‘Rites of Passage’ 

February 23, 2024Elizabeth Whelan

Exploring life’s transitions and one’s quest for self-actualization through an Afrocentric lens, new and re-staged works by Oluyinka Akinjiola, Derrel Sekou Walker and others find fellowship along the way.

Dance Review: NW Dance Project’s ‘New Stories – In Good Company’

December 12, 2023Elizabeth Whelan

The Portland dance company continues their 20th anniversary season with a winter showcase of new works by five Portland-based women choreographers, including Carla Mann and Andrea Parson.

Review: Bringing Dance to the Table: The Potluck of Union PDX’s Festival:22 

November 20, 2022Elizabeth Whelan

Fourth annual festival draws dance artists from around the world together for masterclasses, workshops, and to share their work.

Solo Trips: Graham Cole’s dances beyond isolation

January 24, 2022Elizabeth Whelan

The native Portland choreographer returned to his home town as the pandemic hit. He's emerged with a fresh vision and three new works at A-WOL.

Dance review: A Union PDX festival to match the season

November 9, 2021Elizabeth Whelan

push/FOLD's festival drew national and international contemporary-dance ideas from Brooklyn to New Jersey to Portland to L.A. to the Dominican Republic and Taiwan.

TBA Fest: ‘Move You: Intervention’

October 2, 2021Elizabeth Whelan

A dance form born in majorette lines and adopted by queer dance clubs hits the streets in Portland's Boise neighborhood.

Samuel Hobbs’ push/FOLD dance company prepares for a Mexico City festival

July 22, 2021Elizabeth Whelan

push/FOLD gets back to performing with a rethinking of a recent dance, "Early," for a Mexico City festival.

For houseless women, a fresh Momentum

March 13, 2021Elizabeth Whelan

Dance workshops aid houseless women, children and nonbinary people at the Rose Haven shelter.

Shaun Keylock Company: Dancing the past into the future

January 30, 2021Elizabeth Whelan

A dance troupe navigates Covid-19 shutdowns in a new studio and looks to Portland’s modern dance elders for direction.

Pandemic Ed: Dancing remotely and well

July 21, 2020Elizabeth Whelan

With studio dance classes on hold for the pandemic, dance teachers and their students have begun to adapt to the new reality: Zoom dance classes. It's working.

How Portland’s big dance organizations responded to Black Lives Matter

June 30, 2020Elizabeth Whelan

After some online tension from the dance community, Portland's Big Four dance companies agreed to change in response to Black Lives Matter.

The Show Must Go On(line)!

March 30, 2020Elizabeth Whelan

COVID-19 and Portland dance: spaces close, shows are delayed, classes shift online, financial crises loom.

Striking a reckoning with death

March 3, 2020Elizabeth Whelan

Jess Evans and Lyra Butler-Denman's "Delicate Fish/BARDO" takes a tender look at grief, pain, and death.

Darvejon Jones Dance Ensemble: Light and shadow

February 18, 2020Elizabeth Whelan

Within the joy of Darvejon Jones' dances at BodyVox is also the shadow of his social commentary.

Dance preview: Everything and nothing

January 28, 2020Elizabeth Whelan

It’s Sunday night and I’m at New Expressive Works, watching a few minutes of tech rehearsal for the upcoming Listening to Silence, a dance performance co-created by NEW founder and…