Amelia Rose Unsicker

Amelia Unsicker, born and raised in Portland, Oregon, has been dancing and creating movement since childhood. She is an artist, teacher, mover, dreamer, and environmentalist. 

Amelia trained at the School of Oregon Ballet Theatre (SOBT) for several years, under the instruction of Damara Bennett, Elise Legere, Tracey Katona, Elena Carter, Lavinia Magliocco, and Josie Moseley, among other renowned instructors. With SOBT, she performed in Il Distratto, Napoli, Peter and the Wolf, Snow White, Swan Lake, and George Balanchine's Raymonda, La Source, and The Nutcracker. 

While studying science at the University of Oregon (UO), Amelia danced as a soloist with Ballet Fantastique for four seasons, performing many original contemporary ballet works in Eugene and throughout the Pacific Northwest. In 2011, she graduated from the UO with a Bachelor of Science in biology and a minor in dance. 

Since then, Amelia has worked as a freelance dancer and choreographer in Portland. She appeared as a guest artist with Portland Festival Ballet, under the direction of John Magus, where she performed in his renditions of The Nutcracker, Don Quixote, and Hansel and Gretel. Amelia also danced for choreographer Jennifer Camp in the 2012 (A)merging Dance Festival, and for artist Emily Schultz in the 2013 (A)merging Dance Festival. In 2013, she joined the Agnieszka Laska Dancers, where she performed The Rite of Spring, The Chopin Project, and Broken Flowers in Portland, and toured to Chicago and through multiple cities in Poland. In June of 2014, Amelia collaborated with Emily Schultz and Amanda Coleman to co-produce, choreograph and perform in Chiaroscuro, a choreographer's showcase at Performance Works Northwest, featuring local choreographers and dancers. 

Most recently Amelia earned a Master of Fine Arts in Dance from the University of California, Irvine (UCI), where she taught ballet and Pilates, choreographed, and performed. She choreographed several pieces at UCI, including her thesis concert, Carbon Footprint: Watch Your Step, which premiered May 4th and 5th of 2016 at UCI's Experimental Media Performance Laboratory (xMPL). Amelia's thesis research, Using Dance as a Transformative Tool of Communication, explores how renowned choreographers have effectively created works regarding social, political, and cultural issues. Amelia used her research to choreograph a concert that poetically interprets the challenges of climate change. 

Amelia is currently in professional development toward earning her Pilates certification. She recently moved back to Portland, Oregon where she teaches dance throughout the Portland Metro Area. She continues to work on projects with local choreographers, and plans to showcase her own choreographic  work in the Portland area shortly. 

Awards

Kris and Linda Elftmann Scholarship, 2016

Carbon Neutrality Initiative Communications Fellowship, 2015

UCI Graduate Student Fellowship, 2014-2016

Carl and Dorothy Crow Scholarship, 2007