biography
Amy Stoddart is Montana Ballet Company’s Director of Community Engagement and an Academy Faculty Member. Ms. Stoddart began her performance career with the Lake Erie Ballet in 1990 and throughout her professional career has danced principal roles with the Empire State Ballet, Ballet Caravan, Opera Colorado, Boulder Ballet, and Dance Theatre of Oregon. She has toured both nationally and internationally while performing varied repertory from Romantic and Classical Era Ballets as well as contemporary works by George Balanchine. Ms. Stoddart has also performed contemporary modern works by Bella Lewitzky and was a principal dancer with Rita Honka Dance.
Ms. Stoddart holds a BA in ballet from Mercyhurst College, an MFA in dance performance and choreography from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and is a STOTT Pilates Certified Instructor. She has trained at professional organizations such as Boston Ballet, Cincinnati Conservatory, and was a full-scholarship student at Tulsa Ballet Theatre and the David Howard Dance Center in New York City.
Ms. Stoddart has actively choreographed for universities, professional organizations, and ballet companies throughout the United States. Her 2003 commissioned work Night Divides The Day was created for the Illinois Ballet and resulted in a feature article in the Chicago Tribune. She has also created original works for Empire State Ballet, Youth Ballet Colorado, Eugene Youth Ballet, Boulder Ballet, University of Colorado, Boulder, University of Oregon, The UO-Repertory Dance Company, and most recently the Montana Ballet Company.
Ms. Stoddart served as a professor of dance specializing in ballet technique and dance history at the University of Oregon from 1998 – 2008. Additionally, Amy has presented and published her scholarly research through the Society of Dance History Scholars, the National Dance Education Organization, the Congress on Research in Dance, and Dancing in the Millennium organizations.
Ms. Stoddart is happy to be in the Rocky Mountains with her family and working with the Montana Ballet Company.