Mission & History

Founded in 2018, the Shaun Keylock Company (SKC) is one of the Pacific Northwest’s leading contemporary dance companies. It is the resident dance company of Conduit Dance, Inc. based in Portland, Oregon.

As a commissioner, collaborator, and presenter, SKC performs locally and nationally with the top choreographers, artists, and dancers while proudly celebrating LGBTQ+ identity in dance and the performing arts. Since its founding, the organization has been an originator of many unique projects and collaborations, from staging the first queer chamber opera “When the Sun Comes Out” to preserving the archives of community dance elders.

In the progressive, independent spirit of Portland, the mission of SKC is to advance new developments in contemporary dance while expanding our understanding of the art form’s history, practice, and performance. We create, preserve, perform, and make accessible materials on modern and contemporary dance to support learning, appreciation, and creativity within a national community of artists, researchers, and the general public.

Through modular exhibitions, screenings, performances, artist residencies, and education programs, SKC acts as a platform for new movement research and interdisciplinary collaboration. In our programs, SKC is committed to serving the needs of established and emerging artists, providing opportunities to participate in cultural experiences that further stimulate new ideas and enhance the understanding of contemporary dance and queer performance today.

From 2020-2024, SKC operated our creative studio inside the historic Baker Building in North Portland. The studio served as a central hub for our mission, providing a space for connections between dancers, musicians, choreographers, and other artists interested in working with dance. It was both the primary rehearsal venue for the company and a community resource, offering classes and workshops, as well as free and reduced cost creative space and residencies for artists.

SKC believes a community is most alive when there is dialogue, interaction, collaboration, networking, and critical discourse. We value diversity in our programming and are committed to fostering an environment in which students, dancers, and artists from a variety of backgrounds are able to collaboratively learn, work, and perform.

We embrace inclusion, diversity, equity, and access, and recognize our responsibility to be an open, welcoming, and anti-racist organization. This is instrumental in the fulfillment of our mission and core values and continues to inform the development of our growing organization.

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