AMBER SLOAN is a choreographer, performer, teacher, producer, and curator based in Jersey City and New York City. She is a 2023 New Jersey State Council on the Arts Choreography Fellow. Her work has been presented by Dixon Place, Roulette Theater, Soaking WET at the West End Theatre, Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church (DraftWorks and Food for Thought), Brooklyn Arts Exchange, Green Space LIC, Dance Safari, Arts On Site, Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, the EstroGenius Festival, Dance on the Lawn, Spoke the Hub, the Flea Theater, 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Center, Stuffed at Judson Church, Dance Theater Workshop (Family Matters), Mulberry Street Theater, Location One, Dance Space Center, as well as a 19-year commissioning relationship with the DanceNow Festival.
Outside of New York, Amber’s work has appeared at Centro Cultural Los Talleres in Mexico City; the Subterranean Art House in Berkeley, California; The Garage and Studio Garcia in San Francisco, California; Educational Center for the Arts in New Haven, Connecticut; The Yard on Martha’s Vineyard in Chilmark, Massachusetts; Summer Stages Dance in Concord, Massachusetts; Cherry Valley Artworks in Cherry Valley, New York; DanceNow SteelStacks in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; Certain Bird in Stamford, Vermont; and the Katzen Arts Center at American University in Washington, D.C.
Amber is currently the 2023 Artist in Residence at Union Street Dance. She was the 2020-2021 Emerging NJ Commissioned Choreographer for Dance on the Lawn, and a 2015 Schonberg Fellow at The Yard on Martha’s Vineyard where she developed and premiered a new work for her company. In 2013 and 2016, her pieces were selected for the Encore Performance of the DanceNow Festival at Joe’s Pub, which featured the top ten performances of the 40 plus artists presented by the festival.
Amber has received space grants from Gibney Dance Center, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, Dance Theater Workshop (now New York Live Arts), Union Street Dance, The Field, Spoke the Hub, Mulberry Street Theater, Monira Foundation at Mana Contemporary in Jersey City, NJ, DanceNow Silo in Hellertown, PA, MADarts in Accord, NY, Cherry Valley’s Artworks in Cherry Valley, NY, Certain Bird in Stamford, VT, and Summer Stages Dance in Concord, MA. She has received funding from the Jerome Robbins Foundation, The Jewish Communal Fund, and the Dance New Jersey Regrant Program.
As a performer, Amber has been a member of The Bang Group since 2002. As a principal dancer with the company, she has appeared in several prestigious theaters and festivals in both Europe and the United States including Lavanderia a Vapore in Collegno, Teatro Alferi in Asti, the Nervi Estate Festival and the Carlo Felice Opera House Auditorium in Italy, Monaco Danse Forum in Monte Carlo, OT 301 in the Netherlands, Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland, Claquettes Club in Belgium, the Fisher Center at Bard College, PS21: Performance Spaces for the 21st Century, Jacob’s Pillow Inside/Out, Boston’s First Night, the Provincetown Theater, Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, SteelStacks in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center in Florida, The Yard on Martha’s Vineyard, and in New York at Dance Theater Workshop, now New York Live Arts, Symphony Space, Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church, Joe’s Pub, the Winter Garden Theater in the World Financial Center, the West End Theater, 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Center, among others. She has assisted David Parker in his work with Anna Sokolow Theater Dance Ensemble, the Juilliard School, Barnard College, Hofstra University, Marymount Manhattan College, Hunter College, and Summer Stages Dance.
In addition to The Bang Group, Amber has had the pleasure of working with Doug Elkins & Friends, Keely Garfield, Chris Elam/Misnomer Dance Theater, Sara Hook Dances, and Stephan Koplowitz. She recently had the honor of performing in the revival of James Waring’s 1972 solo Tender Buttons, staged by Richard Colton.
As a teacher, Amber serves on the faculty of the Alvin Ailey School as the dance composition teacher for the professional division certificate program. She has been a guest teacher at College of Holy Cross, Salem State University, DeSales University, Muhlenberg College, American Ballet Theatre’s Summer Intensive, Boston Ballet Summer Program, The Yard, Gibney Dance Center, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, 100 Grand, Ridgefield Conservatory of Dance, and Rivertown Dance Academy.
Amber co-directs Women in Motion NYC, an organization whose mission is to foster female-identifying choreographers through the commissioning of new work, producing, and mentoring. In addition to their concert performances, Women in Motion hosts salons in informal settings for artists to share new work and receive feedback in supportive and friendly environments. Amber has served on the advisory board of Art Omi: Dance since its inception in 2005 and is the Assistant Executive Director at Arts On Site.
She holds a BFA in Dance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she was honored with the Beverly Blossom/Carey Erickson Alumni Dance Award.