Jamuna Chiarini

Jamuna Chiarini is a dance artist, producer, curator, and writer, who produces DanceWatch Weekly for Oregon ArtsWatch. Originally from Berkeley, Calif., she studied dance at The School of The Hartford Ballet and Florida State University. She has also trained in Bharatanatyam and is currently studying Odissi. She has performed professionally throughout the United States as a dancer, singer, and actor for dance companies, operas, and in musical theatre productions. Choreography credits include ballets for operas and Kalamandir Dance Company. She received a Regional Arts & Culture Council project grant to create a 30-minute trio called “The Kitchen Sink,” which was performed in November 2017, and was invited to be part of Shawl-Anderson’s Dance Up Close/East Bay in Berkeley, Calif. Jamuna was a scholarship recipient to the Urban Bush Women’s Summer Leadership Institute, “Undoing Racism,” and was a two-year member of CORPUS, a mentoring program directed by Linda K. Johnson. As a producer, she is the co-founder of Co/Mission in Portland, Ore., with Suzanne Chi, a performance project that shifts the paradigm of who initiates the creation process of new choreography by bringing the artistic vision into the hands of the dance performer. She is also the founder of The Outlet Dance Project in Hamilton, N.J.

July DanceWatch: An overflow of dances as tempting as a glass or two of fine wine

From Ten Tiny Dances to dancing in the trees, July's lineup bubbles with well-seasoned complexity and frisky flavors.

June DanceWatch: Griot, Riverdance, OBT and a chat with Barry Johnson about Portland’s evolving contemporary scene

Plus: Shining the Light at The Reser, NW Dance Project's student showcase, OIBA's 10th anniversary show, Alembic Artists' new work, a Ballet Folklorico debut.

BodyVox’s bubbly Bardic double feature

The dance company's trademark humor (and Champagne for the audience) bring some welcome fizz to reimaginings of "Romeo and Juliet" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

May DanceWatch: Springing into action

Oregon's busy May dance calendar ranges from world premieres to personal solo work, rock operas, Indian dance, African dance, Shakespearean remixes and more.

April DanceWatch, Part Two: From National Dance Week to Grupo Corpo and much more, a busy month of dance continues

Oregon's dance scene is a blur of motion with Step Afrika!, esperanza spalding, dance from India and Indonesia, BodyVox, OBT originals, and Ukraine's "Sleeping Beauty."

Dance review: Sarah Slipper’s ‘Hedda’ vividly captures the intensity of Ibsen’s play

NW Dance Project's deep and resonant production is sparked by fine design, excellent score, highly skilled ensemble and Slipper's feel for Ibsen's tense tale.

A very busy April DanceWatch, Part 1

The first two weeks of a packed dance month feature a Butoh festival, an ode to Toni Pimble, "Marilyn" (as in Monroe), a look back on 1970s contemporary dance, South Indian performance, Step Afrika! and much more.

Review: ChangMu Dance Company, ‘Here’ at last

After a five-year Covid-caused delay, the South Korean company gives a mesmerizing Portland debut performance of its dance "Here" on the White Bird dance season.

March DanceWatch: More than entertaining

March is rich with dance you can sink your teeth into, from a dance film festival to South Korean and Palestinian performances, a dance take on "Hedda Gabler" and more.

The Trocks in PDX: On beyond comedy?

The all-male ballet company Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo camps things up comically at Portland's Schnitzer Hall. But there's room for grace and beauty, too.

DanceWatch: Flights of February Fancy

The month brings a range of dances from "Carmen" to Goya to Polynesian to the Trocks, flamenco, a world-premiere "Giselle," a dance on death, a spot of Jane Austen, a dance film festival and a Dragon Day parade.

DanceWatch: Oregon to India and back

Our columnist Jamuna Chiarini reports while on Odissi dance tour in India. Back in Oregon: Martha Graham, small dance, "A Woman's Song for Peace," Dark Side of the Moon and more.

2024 in Review: The year in dance

From story ballets to contemporary experimental works by Oregon companies and visiting troupes, it's been a year filled with the power and excitement of choreographed movement.

December DanceWatch: A winter wonderland of Nutcrackers, a NOT-Cracker, a Snow Queen and more

The season casts its spell on Oregon's dance scene, with companies from OBT to Ballet Fantastique to Grand Kyiv Ballet to BodyVox and many more joining in on the enchantment.

‘Casual Act’ and ‘Yidam’: Electrifying dance

NW Dance Project kicks off its season with Sarah Slipper's dazzling evocation of Harold Pinter's time-reversing tale of love and betrayal and Ihsan Rustem's equally compelling journey into the meanings of meditation.

November DanceWatch: A rich design for Toni Pimble’s ‘Mowgli’ at Eugene Ballet

A busy month also features Māori dance, traditional and hip-hop Nutcrackers, a Jefferson Dancers extravaganza, Bridge City Dance, the return of Alonzo King LINES Ballet, and a double bill of "Firebird" and "Petrushka."

October DanceWatch: Scaring up some ghosts and ghouls (and a lot more, too)

From a seasonal "BloodyVox" and dancing murder mystery to White Bird's season opener, jingle dancing, and OBT's "Hansel and Gretel," the month's dance scene is filled with stories.

September DanceWatch: The pace speeds up

Oregon dance meets fall with a flourish of events, from BodyVox's open floor night to TBA Fest, dance from India, world premieres, the Portland Dance Film Festival and more.

SKN Dance Festival: A feast of Indian performance

The festival at New Expressive Works was a profoundly satisfying sensory feast of symphonic sound, stunning visuals, superb dancing, and thought-provoking intellectual stimuli.

The Olympics’ big break: Dance as sport, sport as dance

For the first time in the history of the Olympic Games, hip-hop's b-boys and b-girls join the crowd of competitors. A few Portland breakers have some things to say about that.

August DanceWatch: Kickin’ it outside & in

Greater Portland's August dance schedule is busy -- and a lot of it's happening in the great outdoors in parks and squares and other public spaces.

Oregon DanceWatch: The summer edition

With the sun shining, Oregon's dance scene skips happily into the great outdoors (and a few indoor performances, too).

June DanceWatch: The joint is jumpin’

As summer approaches, Oregon's dance scene brings a broad array of statements and styles to the party.

May DanceWatch: Celebrating women dancemakers

A busy bloom of storybook ballets, world premieres, film festivals and experimental dance is highlighted by a festival featuring the work of women choreographers.

April DanceWatch: A spring blossoming of movement from Butoh to ballet

The dance photography of Jingzi Zhao kicks off a busy month that also features contemporary, collaborative, experimental and aerial works and the chance to see elite student performers.

March DanceWatch: Alvin Ailey, ‘Secret Stories,’ Kalakendra and more

As the Oregon dance card fills up for a busy month of movement, a performance space goes away and another springs to life.

DanceWatch Monthly: Back to the future

Jamuna Chiarini looks back on December and January shows and ahead to February's dance, from BodyVox's "Flights" to Rejoice!'s "Rites of Passage" to OBT's "Peter Pan" and more.

January DanceWatch: Moving into a new year

From dancerly Broadway musicals to Éowyn Emerald's return to a Bantu circus, a mystical being from Buenos Aires, Linda Austin's birthday bash and more, 2024 kicks off in grand style.

2023 in Review: Jamuna Chiarini’s year in dance

From a magnificent dancerly takeover of Zidell Yards to a push/FOLD contemporary festival to her own solo Odissi show, our DanceWatch columnist steps deftly through a busy year.

Dance review: The Holding Project’s ‘precious cargo (always the point)’

Part Two of choreographer Amy Leona Havin's "Precious Cargo" adds more dance to its poignant look at shifting landscapes, memory, and the urgency of life.