Lower School Performing Arts Instructor Amanda Lower Featured by National Dance Education Organization

Jan 8, 2021 | Fine Arts, Highlights, Impact, Lower School News, Share the Well

In December, Lower School Performing Arts Instructor Amanda Lower was featured in an article by the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO) about the future of dance education during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

The NDEO provides resources, research, and support to dance education professionals to allow them to focus on the importance of dance in the human experience. In their December newsletter, the article “Our Members Envision the Future of Dance Education”, featured a multitude of dance professionals, sharing what they believe to be on the horizon in this area of education.

Mount Vernon’s own Amanda Lower was quoted sharing, “The future of dance is truly collaborative. With emerging technologies and performance formats, dancers need to be multi-skilled, multi-talented, and comfortable in multimedia settings. If we want to be successful in this new world we must realize that our art forms are not only interrelated, but interdependent. In this moment, it is thrilling to teach the finer technical points of dance genres and use movement to achieve wellness (mindfulness, patterning, crossing the midline, mind-brain education) all while employing the creative process as we edit, play, explore, and iterate in real space and time. This type of approach to dance/movement engages the full artist by connecting mind with body in new and exciting ways. Student’s artistic explorations bolster their literacy, problem solving, and critical thinking. With a spirit of collaboration, our field will grow, redefine, and rediscover what it means to move.

This is Amanda’s first official year as a Mustang, but she is not a stranger to Mount Vernon. Last year, she partnered with the School as Assistant Director and Choreographer of the Upper School fall production, The Arrival, which used movement and wordless storytelling.

She is both a seasoned performer and educator, with more than 20 years experience teaching dance, theater, music, and interdisciplinary studies to elementary, middle, high school, and college students, Amanda is a force on the stage and in the classroom.

She is a professional choreographer and dancer with dozens of credits including the New York International Fringe Festival and The Julliard School. She holds degrees from New York University, Duke University, University of Ghana, and was certified at The Pilates Studio of New York.