Page 54 - Demo

54 || FASHION MAGAZINE || DEC - JAN 2015wanted to concentrate on. IU also had professors (like Violette Verdy) and visiting guest artists that I wanted to work directly with.%u201d After two years at Indiana, she attended San Francisco Ballet%u2019s summer program, which led to a scholarship to stay and study there in lieu of returning to Indiana. She eventually became a full-fledged company member in SFB, a dream come true for a ballet dancer, and it was only a year after dancing there that, at age 20, she would encounter her first taste of her new career.iscovered after a nationwide search, Amanda was chosen to be the lead in Center Stage, the chance of a lifetime. I remember approaching it like any other job; working my hardest, showing up prepared, applying notes given to me, and attempting to create something interesting for people to watch. I remember thinking that I couldn%u2019t believe that I was being paid to have such a great summer with such amazing people. I think it was a little surreal for me, which is probably a good thing. If I had thought about how incredible the opportunity was at the time, I probably would have been a little intimidated!%u201d It%u2019s hard to believe someone fearless and focused like Amanda being intimidated by anything. She excelled in her role in Center Stage, which propelled her on to fame and recognition, and ended up leaving SFB to pursue acting full time. In the first few years of her acting career, she divulges that %u201cI still identified myself more closely with dancers. It was an existence I spent an entire lifetime living. I think now that I spend so much time working in television and film, I lean more towards an actor%u2019s identity. I don%u2019t think I will ever classify myself strictly as a %u201cnon-dancer,%u201d it will always be in my blood. People still remark that I move like a dancer when I%u2019m not thinking about it, and I use my physical awareness to dictate the body language of every character I portray on film.%u201d And on making the transition from dancer to actor, she admits that %u201cOne of the obvious obstacles I had to first overcome was that as a dancer we never speak! Being comfortable portraying a character through movement is very different from delivering lines in addition to embodying a character. Many of my early roles were dancers, so that was so close to home, it was easy for me to embody. When I started to take on characters that were much more unlike myself, I really had to work to develop a person who wasn%u2019t similar to the real me.%u201d cting clearly seems to utilize her many talents perfectly and thus far, she has had recurring and guest starring roles in various hit television shows including Two And A Half Men, The Mentalist, Psyche, Grimm, One >>>