Performance Works NorthWest

Before the Foster corridor between 50^th and 70^th was cool, some artists bought an old building as a live work space. Their work is making dance and making performance.
I know them and have been to many events in the space.
One of the owners is Portland’s top lighting designer for performances in our high end performing arts theaters. The partner is a modern dancer who worked in New York with the best.
The space has a great dance floor, and there is a small garden which is sometimes open for events. The rental rates are very reasonable, for rehersal or for a show. The space is wheelchair accessible.
They publish a monthly email newsletter of modern dance events covering the whole city, including competing spaces. Subscribe!
Yes, how the space is laid out for performances with respect to bathrooms is not what you would find at the Schnitz. It’s an old low budget church.
That’s why 4 stars vs 5. This is a DIY space, but hey, they have a great floor!
That DIY attitude, graciousness to performers, and their outreach to all commer performers outweighs not being fancy, by far. Their Cabaret Boris & Natasha series and Alembic are examples of making a show accessible to all performers. So if you are a performer, keep them in mind, including for rehearsal space. And if you have movement artists visiting Portland who want a large rehearsal space, they have lovely short term lodging.
Performance Art NW is a good space for Portlanders interested in modern dance to track by their email newsletter and website. The creators are lovely and the audience is too. They have many special events a month!

Performance Works Northwest is the cultural gem of the outer east side! This is a great place to catch cutting edge, high quality dance and theater performances. This is also one of my favorite places to rent rehearsal space – some of the best rates in town.

A friend and I took a few yoga classes here, and I just recently attended a dance performance with another friend.
Since I’m reviewing the space and not the class or the performance, I’m gonna stick with (some might say dwell on) some fairly pedantic details.
The place is supposedly an old church, but seems a bit more like an old high school gymnasium. One big main room, with a bathroom/​kitchen/​utility space tucked into the side.
You enter via a ramp, and it’s not entirely clear that you’re really supposed to be there. But it’s fine, really, it’s fine, just go in already.
As a yoga studio, it works pretty well. Lots of floor, smallish enough to be intimate without seeming crowded. I’d always wondered how it would work as a performance space.
The answer is: hmmm… maybe not great. There are a few ways a person imagines configuring this space, but the way they had it was a bunch of metal folding chairs (the lucky people got cushions) spread across a few seemingly randomly-​placed stadium-​style risers.
The entrance and performance area were on the same side, which made for a bit of awkwardness when it came time to leave. The restroom was also on the performance side, so it was good that the performance was short.
The lighting was nice. The sound quality was great. The place has potential. But it seemed like a more appropriate practice space than actual venue.
If you need a space on the SE side for a private event or show… I’m not sure if they rent it out, to be honest.
But I can easily imagine high school dance wallflowers dutifully drinking their punch and covertly teasing broccoli from their braces along the edges in here. Maybe it was their ghosts that made me a little bit uneasy.