Bio
Amy West currently holds the position of Lecturer II in the Department of Dance, and is the Health and Wellness Coach for the School of Music, Theatre & Dance (SMTD) at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. She is certified as a health and wellness coach through the Mayo Clinic and the National Board of Health and Wellness Coaches (NBHWC), and as a Personal Trainer and Master Coach Instructor through the American Council on Exercise (ACE). Ms. West is on-ice coach, ballet instructor, choreographer, and health and wellness coach at the Michigan Ice Dance Academy (MIDA), founded by Olympic gold and silver medalists Charlie White and Tanith Belbin. Ms. West works with individuals and groups through her professional website: amywestwellness.com where she helps individuals achieve their wellness and fitness goals. She also presents workshops throughout the United States on wellness related topics.
Ms. West joined the Dance faculty at the U-M SMTD in 2009. She teaches undergraduate and graduate level ballet technique, ballet repertoire, Teaching Methods and Pedagogy, First-Year Seminar (which she created), and is a mentor for senior BFA capstone concerts. She has taught for New Jersey Ballet, the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, David Taylor Dance Theater and was a guest teacher for the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program. She also founded her own studio, The Dancer’s Studio, in Littleton, CO.
Ms. West had a 24 year career as a professional ballet dancer and freelance artist. She danced with internationally acclaimed ballet companies such as Pennsylvania Ballet and Ballet West and as soloist with New Jersey Ballet, Colorado Ballet and Nevada Dance Theater. She was principal artist with contemporary dance company David Taylor Dance Theatre in Denver, CO, and has also been a featured soloist with the opera companies of Santa Fe, Seattle and Dallas.
Ms. West traveled extensively throughout Europe, taking company classes with the Deutsche Staatsoper Ballet (Berlin), Bayerische Staatsoper Ballet (Munich), Paris Opera Ballet, Salzburg Festival Ballet, and trained on scholarship at the David Howard Studio in New York City. She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Utah where she was the recipient of the Willam F. Christensen Scholarship. She is married to opera singer and U-M professor bass-baritone Stephen West and is the proud mother of three young-adult children.
