Meet Amanda Phelan!
Amanda Phelan is a New York based choreographer and performer with a love for crossword puzzles and green tea. She was born and raised in Princeton, NJ, with three younger siblings, all of whom have been her choreographic muses since the age of 7.
She was the assistant choreographer for Amelie the Musical, and has worked with choreographer Sam Pinkleton on other projects including Pretty Filthy (The Civilians), A Doll’s House (TFANA), The Lightning Thief (Theatreworks USA), and the CBS Upfront presentations. She recently choreographed Mr. Burns at Ramapo College and a workshop reading of Good Children for New George’s. She choreographs plays and musicals at Acting Manitou every summer. Some of her performance credits include Clare Barron’s I’ll Never Love Again and the Clubbed Thumb workshop of Sarah DeLappe’s The Wolves. BFA- NYU.
Where did you go to school/train?
Who inspires your choreography?
OMG! OK, um…..I want to say my choreography is inspired by
the ballet I watched as a kid. If you inter-splice
silly dancing with ballet, you will get my style. My choreography is very much the dance that I use to express myself when no one else is
watching, it is the cousin to the dance I have seen my friends do while they are uninhibited. I
would say my dance its borderline cartoonish, but in a good way!
How did you get into choreography?
I took an amazing class from a choreographer/director at
NYU. I was so excited and moved by his classes
and eventually TAed for him. He offered
me my first job assisting as a choreographer and I fell in love with it! At a young age, I would choreograph musical numbers
on my sister and cousins and make them perform these pieces for our family at the
holidays.
How was the process of working on Amelie?
It was incredibly informative and challenging. I trusted the vision of my boss, the
choreographer, and went with it. His vision
wasn’t necessarily trusted by other members of the creative team but I was
there to back him up. I had a great time
working with the actors and facilitating the choreography on the actors. It was frustrating to see his creative juices being stifled.
Describe your choreographic process!
This is the thing that I feel sets me apart from others. My process is very inspired by prompts and doing
work in the actual space. I give
artistic freedom to those I am working with to create off of what I give them and
allow them to put their own touches on things. I will reign in their ideas if they differ too greatly from my
intentions but I am always open to hearing their input. I love that this approach to choreography make people’s
movements look natural.
I will sometimes task cast members to come up with movements
that express a plot line and I will incorporate them into my work!
What advice would you give to young people who may want to
pursue a career in choreography?
The best thing I have found is that practice makes
perfect. Go out there and be a part of a
process where you are constantly making new work. You will learn from every process! The more creative processes you are involved
in, the more you will learn! You will
work with people who will inspire you and you will learn from them!
Want to know more about Amanda Phelan, check out her website!
Keep in mind dancers, a choreographer is a dancer's best friend and they are always welcome around the rosin box!
No comments:
Post a Comment