Amanda Morgan
Amanda Morgan (born 1997) is a dancer at Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB).[1] She is the first black woman soloist at PNB. [1][2][3] She is an activist for taking care of all people who work in the arts.[4][2][3] She protests against racism.[4][5]
Early Life
Morgan is from Tacoma, Washington.[6] She began dancing at the age of two at the Dance Theatre Northwest.[1] Morgan went to the PNB school.[1] She did PNB's exchange with the Palucca University of Dance in Dresden.[1] She attended summer intensives at Alonzo King LINES Ballet, Boston Ballet School, and the School of American Ballet.[1] Morgan started PNB school at 14, and later joined the company.[1]
Career
Morgan is the first Black and LatinX dancer for PNB.[1][4] She often had problems being the only Black ballerina in her company.[1][2][3] She is also 5 feet 10 inches tall, so she is one of the tallest dancers in ballet.[6][5] Many choreographers, people who create dances, do not pick Black women to be in their dances.[3] So, Morgan decided be a choreographer and make her own dances.[3][5]
Morgan founded “The Seattle Project”.[3][7] The Seattle Project is a group of collaborative artists.[8][3] They choreograph dances for dancers from many different backgrounds.[3][8] Morgan has choreographed for PNB’s Next Step program.[7] Some of those works include “Pages” and “The Argument”.[9][6] Her first show “The How of It Sped” premiered in February 2020.[7] Morgan collaborated with Nia-Amina Minor to create a film titled "Musings" in 2020.[4] In December 2022, Morgan played Hot Chocolate, Coffee, and Dewdrop in PNB’s version of “The Nutcracker”.[1]
Morgan is now studying arts management at Seattle University.[10]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Medium, Seattle (2022-11-30). "Amanda Morgan Becomes First Black Woman Soloist For The Pacific Northwest Ballet". The Seattle Medium. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Amanda Morgan talks breaking barriers in the ballet world, The Seattle Project". King 5 News, Seattle - on YouTube.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 "Amanda Morgan". National Endowment for the Arts. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Catching up with PNB's Amanda Morgan on changes in the ballet world in the past two years". The Seattle Times. 2022-05-25. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Murray, Lydia (2020-06-14). "PNB's Amanda Morgan Is Raising Her Voice Against Injustice". Dance Magazine. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Amanda Morgan: 'I don't think there's a dancer out there like me'". KUOW. 2018-06-12. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "Leadership". The Seattle Project. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Amanda Morgan | Seattle Dance Collective". SDC Official Website. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
- ↑ (in en-US) Amanda Morgan | Soloist. https://www.pnb.org/artists/amanda-morgan/. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
- ↑ Batista (2023, January 29). Seattle Times, The (WA), p. 57. Available from NewsBank: Access World News – Historical and Current.