James Canfield

James Canfield was born in Corning, New York, and received his early dance training at the acclaimed Washington School of Ballet under the direction of Mary Day. After joining the Washington Ballet in Washington, D.C., he joined the Joffrey Il Dancers in New York City. Following one season with the Joffrey Il Dancers, he was invited to join the Joffrey Ballet under the direction of Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino. During his career, James danced an extensive repertoire of works by noted choreographers such as Sir Frederick Ashton, Anthony Tudor, George Balanchine, Gerald Arpino, Robert Joffrey, William Forsythe, John Cranko, Marius Petipa, Jirí Kylián, José Limón, Agnes de Mille, Choo San Goh, and Val Caniparoli among others. In addition, James was featured in two Dance in America PBS Series' as well as An Evening with Diana Ross. He left the Joffrey Ballet and was appointed Oregon Ballet Theatre's (OBT) Founding Artistic Director and served in that role from 1989 to 2003. James choreographed over 30 ballets for the year-round company and established the School of Oregon Ballet Theatre to provide the best classical training to dancers throughout the Northwest. His students have gone on to dance with New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, San Francisco Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Dusseldorf Opera Ballet, Ballet West, Colorado Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, and many others.

Along with his many dance credits, James has also played a lead role in establishing OBT as a major arts institution in Portland through artistic programming, education and outreach, sound financial footing, community visibility, and national recognition. In early 2000, along with HOLST Architects, James and OBT secured funds and designed a city block and remodeled a former Wells Fargo Bank on the city's inner eastside. Completed in September 2000, this $3.5 million acquisition of this 21,000 square foot building became the permanent home of OBT's dance studios, school, and offices. Mr. Canfield remains active with the NW Dance Project in Portland, Oregon where he has choreographed numerous works and instructs the company dancers weekly as well as top dancers from around the country alongside some of the dance world's most recognized directors and choreographers.