About Center For Movement Arts

Center for Movement Arts was established in 1997 by the husband and wife team of Tim Ryan and Sherie Blankenship Ryan.

CMA is located in inner southeast Portland, adjacent to historic Ladd's Addition. The physical space of CMA encompasses two dance studios totaling over 2,000 square feet. Our facility includes three dressing areas, four restrooms (ADA compliant), a comfortable waiting area for parents, and a play area for siblings of students.

CMA was created with the philosophy that constructive learning is a product of positive self-esteem. This basic concept guides our interaction with our students and their families. Discipline and respect for others are crucial to a positive learning environment and is expected from students, teachers and guests.

All classes are taught in an encouraging atmosphere that enables students of all ages to achieve, grow, and always to have fun.

Students at CMA dance for the love of dance and we work hard to make that love a life-long one. However, some students with above average passion and skill are often curious about performing as a career. For these students we have developed an intensive pre-professional track where additional classes and private lessons augment their regular class schedule.

Students in our pre-professional track have gone on to several prestigious programs including: San Francisco Ballet, Houston Ballet Academy, North Carolina School of the Arts, Boston Ballet, Miami City Ballet, Juilliard, Harid Academy, Whitman Summer Dance Lab, Interlochen School of Performing Arts, San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, Alonso King's Lines Ballet and Joffrey Ballet (NYC). For more information about this program, please speak to the Directors.

Tim Ryan, Director

Tim has taught dance since 1977 in public and private schools in both Portland and Eugene, Oregon. He was a recipient of a Graduate Teaching Fellowship and earned his M.S. and B.S. in Dance pedagogy from the University of Oregon. He completed his post-graduate study, as one of five students accepted from a pool of five thousand applicants, at the Royal Academy of Dance Teachers College in London, UK. In 2010 the University of Oregon honored Mr. Ryan as Alumni of the Year.

Students of Mr. Ryan have been accepted to some of the most respected dance programs in America including Houston Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Miami City Ballet, Julliard, Chicago Ballet, North Carolina School of the Arts, The Harid Conservatory , Lines Ballet of San Francisco, the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, the University of Utah, Goucher College, Belhaven College, the University of Oregon, Interlochen Arts Academy, Joffrey II, and the Boston Ballet.

Sherie Blankenship Ryan, Director

Sherie began her teaching career in 1987 at the University of Oregon and has taught for CMA for 14 years. An experienced teacher of ballroom dance, folk dance, tap, modern dance, and ballet, she additionally holds a Masters degree in Arts Administration from the University of Oregon and is chief administrator and co-founder of Center For Movement Arts.

Ms. Ryan performed with the Mary Miller Modern Dance Company and Skandia Leikerringen, a Scandinavian folk ensemble. She is a veteran musical theater performer and choreographer whose credits include: Oklahoma, Camelot, The Sound of Music, Annie, The King and I, South Pacific, The Fantastiks, Kiss Me, Kate and Brigadoon. She has also co-written, directed and choreographed a variety of original musical productions for children.