Amanda Nelson

Background

About Amanda Nelson

Amanda joined the faculty at Virginia Tech in 2013 to create and establish a new MFA program in Arts Leadership. She previously worked 11 years for the world-renowned Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York where she oversaw membership programs, government relations, corporate sponsorships, and foundation support. Prior to joining Ailey, she worked in marketing and arts education outreach. At IBM, she was part of a web marketing team; at the non-profit Girls Incorporated of Lynn, Massachusetts, she designed and implemented arts programs for inner-city youth; and at Young Audiences of the Bay Area, she worked in outreach and marketing. She holds a PhD in Drama from Tufts University, an MA in Drama from San Francisco State University, and a BA in Drama from the University of California at Irvine. She now teaches a range of theatre and arts courses, including acting, arts leadership, arts advocacy, arts marketing, development, strategic management, and human resources in the arts. As a consultant for arts organizations, Amanda facilitates planning processes and guides organizations through both internal and external campaigns to build awareness and garner support. Amanda is a board member of Mill Mountain Theatre in Roanoke, Virginia and The Lyric Theatre in Blacksburg, Virginia. She has also served on the board of Virginia's Blue Ridge Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP). Through a collaboration with a colleague in music, Amanda developed a musical theatre summer intensive course and has directed several workshop productions including "Babes in Arms,""Oh, Kay," and "Fiorello!" for the Blacksburg Summer Arts Festival and "Songs and Scenes from 'The Sap of Life'" at Virginia Tech. Collaborating with a colleague in the Theatre department at Radford University, Amanda developed a new hands-on course concept called “Performing History.” The new course was piloted in spring 2020 with “Performing History: Women and the Vote.” To view the digital performances created for this project, please see: Amanda's recent creative work explores the intersection of theatre and technology through the development of multidisciplinary performance projects that mix traditional theatre texts with new media, including spatial audio, video projections, and virtual reality. Recent collaborative new media projects:"Shakespeare's Garden: An Immersive Sound Stroll Through His Sonnets, Soliloquies, and Scenes," and "Poe's Shadows: An Immersive Theatrical Installation."