The Dancer
Amanda Rose is an internationally acclaimed instructor and performer originally from the United States and currently based in Barcelona, Spain. Known for her technical precision, emotionally captivating performances, and insightful instruction, Amanda Rose has made a name for herself in the worldwide Oriental dance community. In addition to over a decade of teaching experience and almost 2 decades of Oriental dance, she also has a master's degree in Dance Movement Therapy from La Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, which greatly shapes how she approaches her work. She has received wide recognition for Amanda Rose Online, where she has been offering online prerecorded series, creative process and artistic development coaching, competition training, and unique comprehensive personal feedback for over 5 years. Focusing largely on more advanced class material, her students from around the world enjoy classes that provide clear and detailed instruction while being enjoyable, insightful, and in-depth on a variety of topics.
The Technique
Amanda Rose's background is as an athlete and a natural competitor. Her journey started in her teens and the rest you might say is history. The beginning of her studies was centered mainly around technical precision and effect. Pushing herself not just to be technically precise enough to move like her teachers, but challenging herself to mimic the movement styles of every instructor she would stand behind. Analyzing the mechanical differences between dancers, and deducing the proper technical implementation to move like them as well. Her study with Ava Fleming was pivotal in this aspect of her development. Studying with Ava for 3 years, as well as being a member of her Black Opal Dance Company, Amanda Rose was privileged to many opportunities and a teacher that could constantly challenge her thirst for technical advancement and precision.
The Emotion
After a time, the obvious need to balance the technical with the emotional became apparent and Amanda Rose set out to deepen her expressive abilities. This challenge took just as long, if not longer to achieve, but every experience and opportunity seemed to crack the mold sightly deeper. Amanda Rose's participation in international competitions was used as a way to push her skills further and draw out more of herself than she was previously able to. When she won Egyptian Bellydancer of the Universe in 2008, just 5 years after she had started to learn to dance, Amanda Rose saw this not as a declaration that she had "made it," but the acknowledgment that she was heading in the right direction.
The Culture
While on the path to discover her emotional expression and depth, Amanda Rose began to dive deeper into the Middle Eastern culture and dance roots that are so pivotal yet so often overlooked. Her fondness for folkloric dances and Egyptian style was diverged from this period, studying with many Egyptian master instructors. This exploration dramatically changed how Amanda Rose saw dance and envisioned it. Her time working with master instructors always left her with an insatiable feeling, like someone had tugged on just the right string in her heart. Through her exploration of folklore, she has felt ever closer to the natural essence of the art form. In efforts to grow her understanding, she has studied with Sahra Saeeda and partaken in her Journey Through Egypt program, as well as studying the Arabic language and culture.
The Outcome
Amanda Rose is now a teacher and performer on the worldwide scene, internationally recognized for her unique and soulful approach to her craft, as well as a leader in the online dance community offering a wide array of classes. Combining her folkloric training with modern Raqs Sharki technique, and using coaching and dance movement therapy techniques to support her students, Amanda Rose is breaking the mold. Amanda Rose balances cultural and social dances, with self-expression, creativity, and evolution, offering Raqs Sharqi dance classes as well as exploratory movement and dance movement therapy.