JENIFER CRAIG
UORDC Director
She first performed at the University of Oregon as a junior dance major in DANCE ’70, the annual faculty dance concert. Jenifer has been Department Chair of Dance since 1992. Since 1987, she has choreographed over 20 works for University of Oregon dancers, and designed lighting or over 150 works created by department faculty and guest artists including Claire Porter, Creach/Koester, Fred Strickler, Bryan Hayes, Barry McNabb, Gabriel Masson, and Dianne Markham. She is Director of UORDC (University of Oregon Repertory Dance Company) and travels with the company as touring production Manager and Lighting Designer. She has served on the Editorial Board of CORD (Congress on Research in Dance) and also on the Board of Directors of SDHS (Society of Dance History Scholars). Jenifer received her B.A. in Dance form UO in 1971, her M.A. in Dance, Theater, and Public Service and Community Affairs from UO in 1973, and her Ph.D. from the University of Southern California in 1982, where as an instructor her choreography was shown from 1977-81. She was a visiting instructor at UO form 1973-76, and joined the permanent faculty in 1986.

RITA J. HONKA
UORDC Co-Director
She is a dancer and choreographer in Modern and African Dance with a specialization in movement science. She has crated nearly 40 original modern works and has created or restaged more than 50 African dances. A co-director of University of Oregon Repertory Dance Company since 2003, Rita choreographs, teaches and tours throughout Oregon with the company. In 1989, Rita received her BS in Dance Education from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. During that time, she performed extensively for the “Michigan Dance in Schools” program. In 1993, she received her MS in Dance Science at the University of Oregon where she concentrated in Human Motor Control. She began teaching at the University of Oregon as a part-time adjunct in 1994, a position that became full-time in 2001. She has now been promoted to Senior Instructor teaching African and Modern Dance, Somatics, and Dance in Traditional Cultures: Africa. Rita founded the Department of Dance Repertory Company Dance Africa in 1993, and has been touring in Oregon schools as the Director since 1995. From 1993-2001, Rita was also dance faculty at Linfield College and Director of the Linfield Dance Ensemble. In 2005, Rita founded Rita Honka Dance, and Oregon-based contemporary dance company that debuted nationally in September of 2006 in Chicago, Illinois.