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Amberly M. Simpson is a dancer, educator, and choreographer local to Louisville, KY. Before moving to Louisville, Amberly attended Purdue University, where she received a minor in Dance and bachelor's degrees in Psychological Sciences and Creative Writing. During this time, she trained and performed with the Purdue Contemporary Dance Company (2011-2015), traveling and performing in multiple American College Dance Association Festivals (2013-2015), the American Dance Festival (2013), two TED Talks (2013, 2015), and the Prague Quadrennial (2015), as well as co-directing a production for Obsessive-Compulsive Dance (2014).  She later attended Bellarmine University (2015-2017), where she received her Master of the Arts in Teaching and is now a full-time Dance teacher at Noe Middle School.  Through her work as an educator, Amberly was able to present her work on empowering youth through nontraditional partnering forms at the National Dance Education Organization's National Conference (2019) and receive a full Professional Development Scholarship to attend the conference.

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In 2019, Amberly took a significant step in her career by founding Ambo Dance Theatre, a contemporary/modern dance company. She used her childhood nickname "Ambo" to represent the intimacy, vulnerability, complexity, and intense honesty she hoped the organization would invoke. Through this platform, she has showcased her creative vision and leadership. Ambo Dance Theatre has presented work at prestigious events such as the Brighton Dance Festival (2019), Lighthouse Dance Festival (2019), the Kentucky Refugee Ministries (2019, 2020), the Louisville Dance Series (2019, 2020), the Louisville Arts Network (2020), the Going Dutch Festival (2020), and Princeton Research Day (2019), where her collaboration with David Vartanyan received the Impact Award. Her innovative approach and dedication to the arts were further recognized when she was honored as one of the Hadley Creatives (2019-2020, Generation III) through the Community Foundation of Louisville.

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Amberly's artistic journey is marked by a rich tapestry of performance and choreography credits. She has collaborated with esteemed organizations such as Blackbird Dance Theatre (2015-2016), Kentucky Conservatory Theatre (2016 - awarded Commonwealth Ambassador for Excellence in the Performing Arts), Voices HEaRD (2017, 2018), the 6th No Borders Project (2018), Kasari Dance (2018, 2019), Fund for the Arts Opening Night at Churchill Downs (2017-2019), Suspend Productions (2016-2019), and the Allegro Dance Project (2016-present). Her ability to adapt and thrive in diverse artistic contexts is a testament to her versatility and passion for her craft.

Amberly M. Simpson
Founder and Artistic Director

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