. . dancer, choreographer and teacher holds an M.F.A. degree in Dance from Mills College and a B.A. degree from U.C. Berkeley in Dramatic Art-Dance.  She has performed and choreographed for many years in the San Francisco Bay Area with such companies as The Assortment, The Dance Exchange and Six Thumbs Dance Theatre and with the Oregon based contemporary music ensemble SoundMoves, as well as for other independently commissioned projects.  A tenured Full Professor at Western Oregon University in Monmouth, Ms. Jones has taught for the Theatre/Dance Department since 1991.  Ms. Jones has been a guest artist at various colleges and universities including University of California at Davis and San Francisco City College.  Other faculty positions include San Jose City College, CA and Linfield College, OR.

For the past several years, Ms. Jones’ area of research has been within the field of creativity.  One outcome of her continuing studies led to Ms. Jones creating an academic course, “Creativity”, dealing with both the nature and development of personal creativity and the understanding of the creative process.  Her innovative curriculum assists students in understanding this process and developing their own creativity.  The course has been widely praised for the contribution it has made to the Western Oregon University Liberal Arts experience.  The success of this course resulted in Ms. Jones being invited to teach “Creativity” for the Honors Program.   Her work in the area of creativity has attracted the attention of health and counseling professionals, resulting in referrals for her private classes as well as invitations to teach at places such as the Hawaii Wellness Institute on Oahu.  Requests for her work have also included upper management training for local corporations to develop the creative potential of the individuals and the business. Deborah continues to offer ongoing workshops in the Salem area.