ABOUT
Rachel Slater is a dancer, choreographer and teacher living in Portland, Oregon. She began her training with Metro Dancers and also studied with Sarah Slipper and Northwest Dance Project, Steve Gonzales and the Jefferson Dancers, Tracey Durbin, Cynthia Tosh, the Ailey School, the American Dance Festival and Anouk van Dijk's Countertechnique.
She holds a BFA from Philadelphia's University of the Arts in Modern Dance, with an Emphasis in Choreography. Also while living on the east coast she danced with and choreographed for Group Motion Multimedia Dance Theater, several independent choreographers and co-founded Pink Hair Affair, a Philadelphia-based dance collective which is still active after twelve years.
Rachel's choreography has been presented in festivals around the country such as the Philly Fringe Festival, San Francisco's Women on the Way Festival, 12 Minutes Max and Open Studio in Seattle, JAW Festival, the 1 Festival, Pacific Dance Makers and Alchemy in Portland. Rachel was a 2014 recipient of the Oregon Arts Commission Career Opportunity Grant and a New Expressive Works Resident in 2013. In 2015 she co-founded Muddy Feet Contemporary Dance with Suzanne Chi, which she currently presents choreography through along with producing and curating the work of other Portland artists. In Spring 2019, Muddy Feet travelled to Banff, Canada for a two week Performing Arts Residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Muddy Feet's first dance film, Unfolding (made in collaboration with SubRosa Dance and directed by Dylan Wilbur), is screening internationally with summer engagements in Greece, France, Mexico, New York City, Houston, Seattle and North Carolina at the American Dance Festival and winter screenings in Romania, Portugal and Argentina.
In Portland, Rachel has performed for Rachel Erdos (IL), Franco Nieto (NWDP), Tracey Durbin, Carla Mann, Tere Mathern, Sara Parker, Kristine Anderson, Jim McGinn and Éowyn Emerald. She has served as a guest teacher for wonderful organizations such as Northwest Dance Project, Reed College, Pacific University, Vancouver School of Arts and Academics, and A-WOL Dance Collective. She is currently on faculty at BodyVox Dance Center and Jefferson High School's Dance Department, co-directs Muddy Feet Contemporary Dance and dances for Minh Tran & Co.