Amy Fitterer became the Executive Director of Dance/USA in 2011, after serving as the Director of Government Affairs for Dance/USA and OPERA America. Under her leadership, Dance/USA revised its mission, vision, and values, to champion a more equitable and inclusive dance field; established the Institute for Leadership Training, a national dance mentorship program; created Dance Business Bootcamp to support small budget dance ensembles and independent artists; and more recently launched Dance/USA Fellowships to Artists, awarding over $1 million to 31 artists working in dance and social change. In 2016, Amy oversaw the integration of Dance Heritage Coalition into Dance/USA, expanding core services to the field to include Archiving and Preservation programs, resources, and professional development.
Amy is a former Board Chair, and current Board member, of the Performing Arts Alliance, the national policy advocate, leadership forum, and learning network for America’s nonprofit performing arts organizations, artists, and allies. From 2014 – 2018, Amy served on the Advisory Board for the Dizzy Feet Foundation whose mission is to support, improve, and increase access to dance education in the United States. She has served on grant panels for 3Arts, MAP Fund, the Dizzy Feet Foundation, and has enjoyed serving as a speaker, facilitator, and moderator for a variety of national arts conferences, dance organizations, and college dance and arts administration programs at American University, George Mason University, the University of South Carolina, among others.
Prior to joining Dance/USA and OPERA America, Amy served as the president of Student Advocates for the Arts, a national club committed to engaging students in cultural policy and lobbying. She has lobbied on the city, state and national level to increase government support for the arts and arts education and has motivated students throughout the country to participate in local advocacy efforts. From 2001 – 2006, Amy performed as a soloist with Peninsula Ballet Theatre and served as the Administrative Director and Piano Instructor for Lisa Spector’s Music School, both in the San Francisco Bay Area. Formally trained in ballet and classical piano, Amy graduated from The Nutmeg Ballet Conservatory in Connecticut after 13 years of training and performance in the Vaganova technique. She holds a bachelors degree in piano performance and French and a minor in art history from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, and a masters in arts administration from Teachers College, Columbia University in New York City. Amy lives in northern Virginia with her husband and young son.
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