Department of Theatre & Dance Staff - Amanda Clark

Amanda Clark

Associate Professor / Dance Program Coordinator

Office:  GWH 212
Phone:  270-745-2956
Email:  amanda.clark@wku.edu
Teaching Areas:  Dance Pedagogy, Jazz, Tap & Choreography

Biography

Amanda Clark is an Associate Professor and Dance Program Coordinator at Western Kentucky University, where she teaches all levels of jazz and tap dance technique, Dance Appreciation, Choreography, and Dance Pedagogy. She is the artistic director of the WKU Dance Company, and creates original work for bi-annual mainstage dance concerts as well as several WKU mainstage musicals. She earned her BFA in Dance Performance with an emphasis in jazz, tap, and musical theatre dance from Oklahoma City University. She was a Graduate Fellow at The University of Oklahoma where she received her MFA in Dance with an emphasis in ballet and modern dance.  Amanda has completed the Nan Giordano Jazz Dance Basic Certification and the American Tap Dance Foundation Rhythm Tap Teacher level one training program.

Amanda performed extensively with the American Spirit Dance Company and Oklahoma Ballet Festival and has appeared in the Leo’s Competitive Event of the Jazz Dance World Congress in Buffalo, New York and Monterrey, Mexico. Amanda’s choreography encompasses a range of dance styles and genres and has been presented internationally in Civitiveccia, Italy and Monterrey, Mexico.  She has created work for performance at the Jazz Dance World Congress Leo’s Choreographic Competitive Event in Chicago and in Pittsburgh, the Big Apple Tap Festival, the St. Louis Tap Festival, Inaside Dance Chicago’s Choreographic Competitive Event, Cultivate: A Choreographer’s Showcase in Indianapolis, the Tennessee Dance Festival, St. Gregory’s University, various regional American College Dance Festivals, the Baylor School, and Chattanooga Center for the Arts. Additionally, she choreographs and guest teaches annually for an Indiana based dance ensemble, and is an adjudicator for International Dance Challenge events held across the country.

Amanda has taught ballet, jazz and tap dance at The University of Oklahoma and within the private sector in Indiana, Illinois, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania. Her primary research interests lie in dance history and pedagogy, with specific focus in the development of jazz and tap dance.