Amanda Jane Olmstead

Dr. Amanda Jane Olmstead (she/her) is part time faculty in the Theatre Arts Department at the University of Pittsburgh. She also serves as adjunct faculty in the School of Drama at Carnegie Mellon University and in the English, Literature, and Communications Department at Golden Gate University. She received her PhD in Theatre and Performance Studies from the University of Pittsburgh, her MA in Performance Studies from New York University, and her BA in Theatre with a minor in Dance from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Olmstead is also the director of middle school summer programs and senior school musical choreographer at Shady Side Academy. Additionally, she is the musical choreographer for Montour Theatre Productions. At Pitt she has taught Introduction to Performance, Introduction to Dramatic Art, Enjoying Performances, Contemporary Global Stages, and World Theatre. Her research focuses on theatre history, musical theatre, choreography, embodied dramaturgy, and performance as a tool for communication. Her publications include an article titled “Développé: Katherine Dunham’s Diasporic Dance” in the Studies in Musical Theatre Journal, a chapter titled “Dance as Narrative: Storytelling Through the Ensemble Body” for the collection titled Dance in Musical Theatre: A History of the Body in Movement, and she has an upcoming monograph titled Andy Blankenbuehler: a critical companion—to be published this winter by Methuen Drama.