Amy Seiwert is an American

contemporary ballet Contemporary ballet is a genre of dance that incorporates elements of classical ballet and modern dance. It employs classical ballet technique and in many cases classical pointe technique as well, but allows greater range of movement of the uppe ...

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

and

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the ...

. She is the founder and artistic director o
Amy Seiwert’s Imagery
a contemporary ballet company in San Francisco.

Biography

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Amy Seiwert had a nineteen year performance career dancing with Smuin Ballet, Los Angeles Chamber Ballet and

Sacramento Ballet The Sacramento Ballet was founded in 1954 by Barbara Crockett and Deane Crockett. During Ms. Crockett’s tenure as Company Director, The Sacramento Ballet gained national recognition as one of the finest regional ballet companies. Through communi ...

. During Seiwert's time dancing with Smuin Ballet, she became involved with the “Protégé Program” where her choreography was mentored by the late Michael Smuin. Seiwert was Smuin Ballet's "Choreographer in Residence" from 2008-2018. From 2013-2015, Seiwert was

Artist-in-residence Artist-in-residence, or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs which involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs which provide artists with space a ...

at ODC Theater and in 2017 she was named the first National Artist-in-Residence with the Joyce Theater. Her work can be found in the repertories of

Ballet Austin Ballet Austin is the 12th largest classical ballet company in the US, and also operates the largest combined training facility associated with a professional ballet company in the United States. Each year the Ballet Austin company performs ball ...

BalletMet BalletMet is an American ballet company and academy based in Columbus, Ohio. Located in downtown Columbus, BalletMet facilities include a black box theatre performance space, seven dance studios, administrative offices and costume and scene shops ...

, Smuin Ballet, Washington Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, Oakland Ballet,

, Colorado Ballet, Louisville Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Carolina Ballet,

Oklahoma City Ballet The Oklahoma City Ballet is a professional dance company and school located in Oklahoma City. The company began under the artistic direction of Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo dancers Yvonne Chouteau and Miguel Terekhov in the Science and Arts ...

Dayton Ballet The Dayton Ballet is a ballet company based in Dayton, Ohio. The Dayton Ballet was founded in 1937, making it the second oldest regional ballet company in the United States. Dayton Ballet seasons typically comprise four works—familiar tradition ...

, Milwaukee Ballet, American Repertory Ballet, an
BalletX
as well as AXIS Dance and

Robert Moses' KIN Robert Moses' Kin (also known as RMK Dance Company) is an American dance company known for artistic and choreographic innovation. It is founded in the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in 1995. Founder Before starting his own dance ...

. Seiwert has collaborated with visual designer
Marc Morozumi
an
Matthew Antaky
composers Daniel Bernard Roumain
Christen Lien
and Kevin Keller, media designer Frieder Weiss and spoken-word artist Marc Bamuthi Joseph. From July 2018 to July 2020, Seiwert was

of the

. In April 2023, Seiwert was named Associate Artistic Director of Smuin Ballet, and in July 2023, Smuin Ballet announced that Seiwert will be appointed Artistic Director for the company's 31st Season in Fall 2024, following the retirement of Celia Fushille. Seiwert's compan
Amy Seiwert's Imagery
will close in Spring 2024.

Choreographic style

Amy Seiwert is known for her willingness to take creative risks to innovate classical ballet choreography. Seiwert incorporates contemporary themes, narratives, music, and collaborators. Rita Felciano of the San Francisco Bay Guardian has said Seiwert, "...quite possibly is the

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

’s most original dance thinker, taking what some consider a dead language and using it as a 21st-century lingo to tell us something about who we are.”

Awards and recognition

* 1999 Winner
Le Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur
Choreography Competition *2000 Choreographer in Residence, Le Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur *2005 Dance Magazine: "25 to Watch" *2006, 2009 Invited to New York City Ballet's Choreographic Institute * 2007, 2010, 2015, 2016, San Francisco Chronicle: "Top 10 Dance Events" * 2010 San Francisco Bay Guardian: "Goldie" *2011 Nominee, Isadora Duncan Award for Outstanding Choreography for ''White Noise'' *2012 Nominee, Isadora Duncan Award for Outstanding Choreography for ''Requiem'' *2012 Nominee, Isadora Duncan Award for Outstanding Choreography for ''When It Frays'' *2014 Nominee, Isadora Duncan Award for Outstanding Choreography for ''Devil Ties My Tongue'' *2015 Second Place, McCallum Theater Choreography Festival *2015 Winner, Isadora Duncan Award for Outstanding Choreography for ''Back To'' *2020 Nominee, Isadora Duncan Award for Outstanding Choreography for ''Renaissance'' *2021 "Office Hours" Artist Residency at the Kennedy Center's The REACH *2023 Winner, Isadora Duncan Award for Outstanding Achievement in a Revival, ''Dear Miss Cline,'' Smuin Ballet

Support

Amy Seiwert's work has been supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, San Francisco Grants for the Arts, Kenneth Rainin Foundation, California Arts Council, Fleishhacker Foundation,

New Music USA New Music USA is a new music organization formed by the merging of the American Music Center with Meet The Composer on November 8, 2011. The new organization retains the granting programs of the two former organizations as well as two media program ...

, and the Zellerbach Family Foundation.

References

External links

Amy Seiwert's Imagery

Amy Seiwert's Vimeo Channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seiwert, Amy Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People from Cincinnati