Descending from Relevé
Amanda Edge – Faculty Member CPYB, Former Dancer NYCB

Descending from Relevé

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Amanda Edge, CPYB faculty member, shares how she teaches students to descend from pointe in a way that creates strength and refinement.

Amanda was born in Austin, Texas, and began her training with Ballet Austin and Pat Mitchell. She continued her dance studies in Brasília, Brazil, with Norma Lília Biavaty, and at age 13 was selected to perform in Paquíta starring Fernando Bujones at Brazil’s Teatro Nacional. She then spent two years at the North Carolina School of the Arts. At age 16, Amanda moved to New York to study at the School of American Ballet. Following the student workshop, she was invited by Peter Martins to join the New York City Ballet. During her 15 years with the company, she performed principal roles in ballets by Balanchine (Harlequinade, The Steadfast Tin Soldier, Tarantella, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Nutcracker, Coppélia, Emeralds) and Jerome Robbins (Fancy Free, West Side Story), and was featured in works by Martins, Christopher Wheeldon, and Susan Stroman, among others. Company tours took her to Russia, Italy, France, Scotland, Japan, Brazil, and Denmark. Additionally, Amanda traveled throughout Spain with Angel Corella, performing in Who Cares? and Don Quixote Suite. From 2007-2009, Amanda worked in Phantom of the Opera on Broadway and on the National Tour, often performing the role of Meg Giry. In 2010, Amanda was selected to be the swing performer in the original Broadway cast of Twyla Tharp’s Come Fly Away. When the show moved to the Wynn’s Encore Theatre in Las Vegas under its new title, Sinatra: Dance With Me, Ms. Tharp invited Amanda to be the dance captain for the production, and to perform the principal role of Betsy as the alternate. In 2011, Amanda graduated summa cum laude from Fordham University with a B.A. in Arts Administration, and rejoined the Broadway cast of Phantom of the Opera, ultimately serving as the show’s assistant dance captain from 2013-2014. Throughout her performing career, Amanda has enjoyed teaching and staging ballets. From 2003-2005 she assisted Damian Woetzel as faculty coordinator at the New York State Summer School of the Arts, and this past summer she returned at Daniel Ulbricht’s invitation to be the associate artistic director of the program. She has been a guest teacher at Grand Valley State University, Mercyhurst University, Manhattan Youth Ballet, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, Piedmont Dance Conservatory, Ballet Conservatory of Asheville, the Ballet School of Stamford, Ohio Dance Theatre, and Lake Charles Civic Ballet. From 2007-2012, Amanda was the associate artistic director of Longview Ballet Theatre, where she conceived and co-choreographed many full-length productions, such as Cinderella, The Nutcracker and Peter Pan. Amanda is particularly passionate about sharing the ballets of George Balanchine. Working as a répétiteur for the Balanchine Trust, she has staged a number of his works, including Serenade, Concerto Barocco, and Valse Fantaisie, as well as excerpts from Who Cares?, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Western Symphony, and The Four Temperaments.

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