Getting to Know Amanda Whitworth - NACHMO Boston Interviews

Photo by Ryan Smith Visuals

By Nicole Harris

NACHMO Boston 2022 has officially begun! We are so excited to see what our artists are working on this month. Here we have a NACHMO first timer, choreographer Amanda Whitworth, telling us about her work!

​Learn more about Amanda and all the amazing things she is doing here.

Learn more about NACHMO, take the #MonkeyhouseNACHMOChallenge, and learn where you can see these amazing artists’ work by following NACHMO Boston and Monkeyhouse on social media!

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Nicole Harris: We are thrilled that NACHMO Boston is expanding into NACHMO New England! We are so excited to have you with us this year. What are you hoping to get out of this process? What will you be working on?
​Amanda Whitworth: I’m hoping to meet new artists and to prioritize joy in my own process. I’ll be working on animating soft sculptures where the body is fully or partially obscured.

N: This is your first time participating in NACHMO Boston. What are you most excited about? What makes you the most nervous?
AW: Most excited about expanding my community and being part of a creative movement that gets us talking and working. I don’t feel nervous, just glad to be connected.

N: You are currently part of NEFA’s RDDI (Regional Dance Development Initiative) program, through which you have had the opportunity to learn alongside some really incredible artists from New England. Can you tell us about what you are creating for the New England Now Dance Platform at the ICA in March and how people can come support your work?

AW: The cohort of artists at RDDI have helped me think about the kind of work I really want to make. That work is emergent, collaborative and not made for the proscenium. I’m collaborating with two badass women; Christina Pitsch, an mixed-media installation artist and Vivian Beer, a designer who works primarily in metal. We have given ourselves complete permission to play with whatever ideas we want. Together, we will show three short “experiments” that fully or partially obscure the human form. It’s definitely a WIP, very weird (hopefully in a delightful way) and not exactly intended for the stage - FUN!

N: We recognize how important mentors are to artists at all stages of their careers. Who are your mentors and how have they impacted your trajectory?
AW: I use the feedback and support from a “brain trust” to center my own process. That looks like a group of artists, friends, colleagues who I trust and check in with. Because dance shows up for me in non-performance ways, that brain trust includes folx from different disciplines and sectors. This diverse feedback helps me think about ways dance lives (for me and others) to sharpen creative projects and also as tools or modalities to support innovation in healthcare and education.

N: There are so many incredible local choreographers. Who are some of your favorites (both from Boston and New Hampshire!) and why?
AW: It’s impossible to pick favorites so let me shout out NH based artists/companies: Sarah Duclos/Neoteric Dance, Nick Neagle and Zack Betty/N-Squared Dance, Joan Brodsky/NH Dance Collaborative, Aaron Tolson/Speaking in Taps, Amy Fortier/Ballet Misha, Lissa Curtis/Safe Haven Ballet.