Quick Facts
Biography
Amanda Morgan (born 1997) is a dancer at Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB). She is the first black woman soloist at PNB.She is an activist for taking care of all people who work in the arts. She protests against racism.
Early Life
Morgan is from Tacoma, Washington. She began dancing at the age of two at the Dance Theatre Northwest. Morgan went to the PNB school. She did PNB's exchange with the Palucca University of Dance in Dresden. She attended summer intensives at Alonzo King LINES Ballet, Boston Ballet School, and the School of American Ballet.Morgan started PNB school at 14, and later joined the company.
Career
Morgan is the first Black and LatinX dancer for PNB. She often had problems being the only Black ballerina in her company. She is also 5 feet 10 inches tall, so she is one of the tallest dancers in ballet. Many choreographers, people who create dances, do not pick Black women to be in their dances. So, Morgan decided be a choreographer and make her own dances.
Morgan founded “The Seattle Project”. The Seattle Project is a group of collaborative artists. They choreograph dances for dancers from many different backgrounds. Morgan has choreographed for PNB’s Next Step program. Some of those works include “Pages” and “The Argument”. Her first show “The How of It Sped” premiered in February 2020. Morgan collaborated with Nia-Amina Minor to create a film titled "Musings" in 2020. In December 2022, Morgan played Hot Chocolate, Coffee, and Dewdrop in PNB’s version of “The Nutcracker”.
Morgan is now studying arts management at Seattle University.