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 San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

Biography

Born in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state lin ...

, Amy Seiwert had a nineteen year performance career dancing with

Smuin Ballet Smuin Contemporary Ballet, formerly known as 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 Smuin Contemporary Ballet, formerly known as Smuin Ballet,

, she became involved with the “Protégé Program” where her choreography was mentored by the late

Michael Smuin Michael Smuin (October 13, 1938 – April 23, 2007) was an American ballet dancer, choreographer and theatre director. He was co-founder and director of his own dance company, the Smuin Ballet in San Francisco. Biography Born in Missoula, Montan ...

. 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 The Joyce Theater (“The Joyce") is a 472-seat dance performance venue located in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City. The building opened in 1941 as the Elgin Theater, a movie house, and was gut-renovated and reconfigured in 1981-82 to ...

. 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 Smuin Contemporary Ballet, formerly known as Smuin Ballet,

Washington Ballet The Washington Ballet (TWB) is an ensemble of professional ballet dancers based in Washington DC. It was founded in 1976 by Mary Day, and has been under the artistic directorship of Julie Kent since 2016. Septime Webre was artistic director for ...

Atlanta Ballet Atlanta Ballet is a ballet company, located in Atlanta, Georgia. It is the longest continuously performing ballet company in the United States and the State Ballet of Georgia. History Atlanta Ballet was founded in 1929 by Dorothy Alexander ...

Oakland Ballet The Oakland Ballet Company is a non-profit ballet company based in Oakland, California. OBC was founded in 1965 by Ronn Guidi, an Oakland native, and gained international recognition through its historical reconstructions of ballets from the leg ...

Colorado Ballet Colorado Ballet encompasses a 31-member professional performing ballet company, a studio company for advanced dance students, an Academy, and an education and outreach department. Based in downtown Denver, Colorado, Colorado Ballet serves more tha ...

Louisville Ballet The Louisville Ballet is a ballet school and company based in Louisville, Kentucky and is the official state ballet of The Commonwealth of Kentucky. It is led by artistic and executive director Robert Curran, an Australian dancer and choreograp ...

Cincinnati Ballet The Cincinnati Ballet is a professional ballet company founded in 1958 in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States and had its first performance in 1964. The current artistic director is Victoria Morgan. Founding Organizing founders Nancy Bauer, Virgini ...

Carolina Ballet Carolina Ballet is one of America’s premier arts organizations, programming traditional ballets by legendary masters and new works by contemporary choreographers. The Ballet was launched as a professional company in 1998 under the direction of F ...

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 Fo ...

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 The Milwaukee Ballet is a professional ballet company founded by Roberta Boorse of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It is located in Milwaukee, and is currently run by Michael Pink, the artistic director. History The Milwaukee Ballet was fou ...

American Repertory Ballet The American Repertory Ballet (ARB) is an American ballet company based in New Jersey. The company was founded by Audrée Estey in 1963, as the Princeton Regional Ballet Company. In 1978, it became a professional company and was renamed Princeton ...

, 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 Daniel Bernard Roumain (known by his initials, DBR; born 1970) is a classically trained composer, performer, violinist, and band-leader, whose work combines classical music with jazz, hip-hop and rock. Composer In September 2010, ''Dancers, Drea ...

Christen Lien
and Kevin Keller, media designer Frieder Weiss and spoken-word artist

Marc Bamuthi Joseph Marc Bamuthi Joseph (born 1975) is a spoken-word poet, dancer, playwright, and actor who frequently directs stand-alone hip-hop theater plays. Early life Joseph was born to Haitian immigrant parents and grew up in Laurelton, Queens, New York ...

. From July 2018 to July 2020, Seiwert was

of the

. In April 2023, Seiwert was named Associate Artistic Director of

Smuin Ballet Smuin Contemporary Ballet, formerly known as 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 The ''San Francisco Bay Guardian'' was a free alternative newspaper published weekly in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1966 by Bruce B. Brugmann and his wife, Jean Dibble. The paper was shut down on October 14, 2014. It was relaunc ...

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 Go ...

’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 New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company' ...

's Choreographic Institute * 2007, 2010, 2015, 2016,

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The pap ...

: "Top 10 Dance Events" * 2010

: "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 The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federa ...

, San Francisco Grants for the Arts, Kenneth Rainin Foundation,

California Arts Council The California Arts Council is a state agency based in Sacramento, United States. Its eight council members are appointed by the Governor and the state Legislature. The agency's mission is to advance California through arts, culture and creativi ...

, 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