Photo taken by John Klicker & Julie Keefer, shared to da Vinci community via e-mail

My apologies if I’m sharing information out of turn, but I know that there’s been a flood of inbound traffic looking for memorial service information for Keith Goodman.

I received the following email tonight from the da Vinci middle school parent mailing list I’m now on sharing the official district statement about Goodman’s death, am presuming the ‘I’ in the statement below is from Superintendent Carole Smith (I’m told that this communication will also be up on the PPS site shortly.) I’m also sharing one of the two photos shown here from that list (am still nailing down proper photo credits for same.)

It is with great sadness that I announce the death of beloved dance teacher Keith V. Goodman, who worked extensively in the district, most recently at Buckman Elementary School. Keith lost consciousness immediately following a performance outside the Beaverton library Saturday afternoon June 27 and died soon after. He was 54.

Keith was a celebrated figure in the Portland arts community and beyond but to many Portland Public Schools students, he was the man who opened the world of dance to them. He was especially known for inspiring boys.

“He was really quite masterful at taking shuffling, I-don’t-want-to-do-it boys and helping them become more comfortable and confident with their bodies and their movement,” said Tom Breuckman, director of student services and a friend of Keith’s.

Keith taught dance at Jefferson High School from 1986 to 1993 and at Mt. Tabor Middle School for the 1993-94 school year. He returned to the district in 1997 and taught at Buckman until his untimely death.

Keith had just finished performing at the Beaverton Farmer’s Market Saturday with four students – two from da Vinci Middle School, one from Mt. Tabor Middle School and one former Buckman student – when he suffered an apparent heart attack on stage. Many students from Buckman and other schools were in the audience after completion of a week-long dance camp with Keith.

…

(photo of part of the memorial tribute assembled at Buckman Elementary school)

On Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., a memorial service for the PPS community to remember Keith will be held in the Buckman cafeteria. (More information about the Buckman gathering here, although it should be noted that it’s primarily for the Buckman community, as you’ll see. I have more photos I’ve taken of the memorial tribute crafted by Buckman kids and families on the Buckman site.)

Information about a Portland-wide memorial service Thursday at Gerding Theater and a fund to further Keith’s legacy can be found on the Dance Gatherer Web site, the dance company Keith formed and directed.

Keith is survived by his partner, Bill Flood, daughter Anahelena of Portland and his mother and brother in Atlanta.

Finally, for those on Facebook, join the group “In loving memory of Keith V. Goodman” to share your stories and photos.

Related Posts

• June 28, 2009 -- The Losses that are Closer to Home (0)
• October 27, 2009 -- OurPDX shared links for October 26th (0)
• December 17, 2008 -- OurPDX Shared Links (0)

It might be easy to overlook the passing of Portland’s Keith Goodman. Goodman — who died yesterday of an apparent heart attack at the conclusion of a dance performance — wasn’t nationally notable, after all. As a result, his death will be missed by many PDX people, sandwiched in as it is between the recent high-profile celebrity deaths of Ed, Farrah, MJ and now Oxi-Clean pitchman Billy Mays.

But Keith — a noted dancer and choreographer — had more direct positive impact here in Portland over the years than any of the aforementioned celebrities for thousands of kids here in Portland. As a long-time dance instructor and staff member at Buckman Elementary, he taught students — especially boys — that dance was powerful, accessible, moving, and yes — cool. He continued that work with his troupe Dance Gatherer, holding annual summer camps for kids. And his gentle spirit impacted everyone around him, dancer or not.

My own daughter, now a former Buckman student (as of two weeks ago) has her own strong memories of Keith. And even though she’s not much of a dancer (she says, anyway), we stopped by to say goodbye to Keith on the last day of school. (I reminisced about the fact that he was the first one to give her a voice solo as part of a dance performance back in 1st grade, and chuckled about the fact that, even then, she didn’t think it was notable enough to mention to her parents ahead of time so we’d be prepared with the camera!)

The recent spate of celebrity deaths have left my two kids unaffected, for the most part (although I was able to share my appreciation for Jackson’s talents via old YouTube video clips in a “this was once cool, children” kind of way.)

My daughter’s at the coast right now with her dad for the weekend. I could answer the questions about Jackson’s alleged craziness, or Farrah’s pop icon beginnings with ease before. (I won’t need to go into detail about Mays, thankfully; he’s not on her radar.)

But I honestly don’t know how I’m going to be able to tell her about Keith later tonight.

(There will be a memorial for Keith at some point, and the Buckman community & staff are planning how best to honor him as part of that memorial. I’ll post and/or point to details once I know them.

More about Goodman here:

The O – Keith Goodman: A celebration of grace
Keith V. Goodman, Portland dancer, dies at 54)

Related Posts

• June 30, 2009 -- Celebrating Keith Goodman’s Life (1)